Game:

Command & Conquer: Renegade (2002)

Duration: 0:00

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2

Original stream date: 10/07/2024


I am leaving this open at the moment because I have made a grave error and I think that warrants replaying this later down the line.


So, I have since learned this game does have FMV cutscenes, which explains why the level transitions seemed so jarring, but I just kind of assumed the game was like that since the early/mid 2000's was kind of a wild west era in terms of level transitions.


Anyway, the issue I think came from how I have this installed. This game is running from a physical install, which had to be patched over. You see, this is one of those games that has DRM, and not just any DRM, but SafeDisc.

SafeDisc and SecuROM are two DRMs that are basically guaranteed to never work on modern systems due to some changes Microsoft made. This means in order for me to run any game that uses either of these DRMs, even from a physical install, I have to find a patch that lets the game run without a CD.

The issue comes in here. My guess is this game either gets the FMV cutscenes from the CD, or it needs the DRM check to work in order to play the cutscenes properly.

The patch I went with borked the game in this weird way where it let me play the game, but it acted like there was a missing CD (I tested this a while ago, the game acts like there's a missing CD even when the game CD is put into the tray), which means that it wouldn't let the cutscenes play due to this problem.


This was definitely an error on my part since I didn't make sure this was working 100% before doing this. I probably should've looked more into that missing CD message before continuing, and I will probably replay this game due to this error just to see the cutscenes, because Command & Conquer cutscenes are usually really good.

Problem is that the only way I think I will have the ability to see the cutscenes, I will either need to run the game from an older OS that allows DRM to work properly (never happening), or I will have to get this game digitally (either Steam or EA's platform, whatever they're calling it nowadays, since it is part of the Ultimate Collection) and try to get that working.

. . .

Either way, the game itself was kinda cool in its own weird "why does this exist" kind of way. I liked how the game translated the GDI & Nod architecture and various units from the original games into a 3D first-person environment, the soundtrack is great (not my favorite but still great), and pretty much all the levels visually stand out in pretty good ways.

I also don't think there was a single weapon in this game that stood out to me as being bad, even the grenade launcher with the weird projectile arc. Every weapon seemed to have their own individual use case since quite a few of the enemies in the game have their own resistances & immunities, which influences what weapons you end up using in a given scenario.


My main gripe with this game (as a whole package) is mostly just that the overall quality for the mission design varied quite wildly between levels. This wasn't such a problem in the first 1/3 of the game, but in the back 1/3 this became much more noticeable, as missions got sadistically difficult and encounters oftentimes felt like the game just giving me the finger, between constant backspawning, airdropping enemies, or having areas with literal infinite respawns and no clear indication of it doing that.

There was also a weird reliance on escort missions, which would've been fine if the people I'm escorting didn't actively have a death wish and throw themselves directly into ambushes or firefights, usually by running sprinting ahead of me at breakneck speed.

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Timestamps:
0:00 - Start / Deadly Reunion
56:30 - The Grip of the Black Hand
1:18:54 - Obelisk of Oppression
2:03:07 - Evolution of Evil
3:06:22 - All Brains, No Brawn
3:47:38 - Tomorrow's Technology Today
4:55:47 - Stomping on Holy Ground
5:54:16 - End Stuff