Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour

Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour
Developer(s)	EA Los Angeles, Aspyr Media (Mac OS)
Publisher(s)	EA Games (PC), MacSoft (Mac OS)
Engine	SAGE (Strategy Action Game Engine)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Macintosh
Release	September 22, 2003 February, 2005
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Command and Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour is the expansion pack for the computer game Command & Conquer: Generals.

Zero Hour added several new abilities to each side, and a new mode of play called Generals' Challenge. In Generals' Challenge the player takes on the identity of one of nine generals (three representing each faction) and does battle against most of the other generals, eventually confronting a powerful "boss" general, General Leang.

Campaigns

Zero Hour also contains three new campaigns of five missions each, one for each side, with their chronological order being USA first, GLA second, and China last. Unlike the previous campaigns, which were noted by Command and Conquer fans for not having full motion video cinematic sequences during mission briefing, the Zero Hour campaigns return to that Command and Conquer tradition, each showing a live-action video of a news reporter of the respective side giving details about the situation behind the current mission. The plot behind the Zero Hour campaigns picks up where it left off at the end of the previous campaigns.

USA

At the beginning of the USA campaign, the Global Liberation Army (GLA) launches a biological weapon using a refitted Soyuz launch station from the captured Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at a USA military base located in Northern Europe. The United States Army retaliates quickly, destroying the launch platform, before the GLA can fire another missile. As the campaign continues, the United States learns that a GLA general codenamed "Dr. Thrax" has been developing a more lethal variety of anthrax known as "Anthrax Gamma". When the USA locates his base of operations, they discover that he is planning on launching several missiles loaded with this toxin at major population centers within the USA itself. A swift strike by the USA, with the help of rogue GLA forces, succeeds in preventing this atrocity, and brings an end to "Dr. Thrax".

GLA

In the GLA campaign, the GLA, though disappointed by the death of Dr. Thrax, receives a boost in morale with the successful appointment of their new leader, General Mohmar "Deathstrike". The GLA first attempts to reunite its splintered factions under Deathstrike's command, which it succeeds in doing after eliminating the defector Prince Kassad's forces in Egypt, and then begins a fervent mission to drive the Americans from Europe. Despite their lack of technology, the GLA succeeds in inflicting tremendous harm against the USA, by capturing an American particle uplink cannon which they then use to destroy the USS Ronald Reagan (splitting her in half from port to starboard, as shown in the game's cover) and infiltrating the US West Coast to steal toxins from a chemical storage facility. This reaches its climax when the GLA overruns the USA’s European central command base in Southern Germany, partially with the use of captured Chinese weaponry. The GLA's primary objective accomplished, they now begin to invade a vulnerable Europe and cause a new repressive state.

China

In the Chinese campaign, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) sends its army into Europe to relieve the USA and gain revenge against the GLA for their humiliating use of Chinese technology in the capture of the German military base. In order to prevent the GLA from making use of advanced USA weapons, China launches a nuclear missile at the military base, destroying it, and then sends its forces into Germany, where the GLA invaders are concentrated. After a series of devastating losses, the nearly defeated GLA takes control of an evacuated USA military base and uses its weaponry against the Chinese army. China succeeds in recapturing this base, and eliminating the GLA for good, rooting out their influence in Europe. Establishing the Eurasian Unity League with the newly liberated Europe, the world looks forward to a new era of Chinese leadership.

Characters

File:Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour general selection screen.jpg

The general selection screen in the Generals' Challenge.

Each general has unique units and modifications to the standard arsenal. The United States of America Generals are:

General Alexis Alexander

Alexander specializes in weapons of mass destruction and fortification, using advanced supersonic Aurora bombers, cheaper superweapons, strengthened power grids, and EMP base defenses. She cannot deploy main battle tanks, and all her vehicles and aircraft cost significantly more. Her forces are suited to mounting a stubborn defense; but have difficulty in mounting a sustained offensive.

General Malcolm "Ace" Granger

His army specializing in aircraft deployment, and advanced airborne general abilities. He has upgraded F/A-22 King Raptors, and all his aircraft sport an automated laser defense system from deployment. His forces cannot produce main battle tanks.

General "Pinpoint" Townes

Townes plays more like the regular USA Army than the other two generals. He has Crusader Tanks outfitted with a high powered laser cannon and laser Defense Turrets. His army cannot deploy Tomahawk launchers.

The Generals of the Chinese Army are:

General Ta Hun Kwai

Kwai's general strategy is focused on the use of heavily armored tanks and vehicles. He is unable to build artillery units and must pay more to deploy aircraft, and receives cheaper and more powerful tanks. Strategies involving reliance on heavy vehicle assaults and rapid troop movements are suited to General Kwai's forces. However, the overall lack of long-ranged support units leave Kwai's forces vulnerable to long range bombardment, to which his forces cannot effectively retaliate against.

General Tsing Shi Tao

Tao's army is boosted by nuclear energy. His nuclear technology enables more output per power plant than that of other Chinese divisions. His nuclear technology is also safer to his own units than when compared to other Chinese forces, apart from the tendency of his tanks to explode and destroy nearby units until an "isotope stability" upgrade is purchased. Other than these additions, there are no significant changes, and Tao's forces play much like the mainstream PLA.

General "Anvil" Shin Fai

"Anvil" specializes in Infantry units, and has a significant early tactical advantage against the infantry of other Generals. All infantry under his command start as veterans; He also can requisition elite minigunners to replace the standard Red Guardsmen. These high-caliber weapons they carry are the bane of aircraft in larger numbers. However, he is unable to build heavier battle tanks, but is still able to deploy primarily anti-personnel and support vehicles. This reliance on infantry leaves his force very vulnerable to the effects of radiation and toxins; and under less common circumstances, mass vehicle rushes, where infantry are vulnerable to being run over. He is not faced in the General's Challenge.

The Generals of the Global Liberation Army are:

"Dr. Thrax"

The GLA Toxin General's units and some structures are boosted with toxins, and he sacrifices very little for his tactical advantages when fully upgraded. Most notable of advantages, is the fact that his units are granted the more potent toxin, Anthrax Beta (a late-game upgrade) from the beginning of a match.

Prince Kassad

A GLA General specializing in stealth tactics. All of his buildings can be covered in camo netting, making them invisible to most enemy units, he gets an improved GPS Scrambler ability, allowing him to cloak more units than other GLA cells can in a period of time, and has improved steath rebels. He cannot build main battle tanks, or long range SCUD launchers. Ambush, surprise, harassment and attrition are the optimal strategies for Kassad's forces. However, the lack of heavy armor leaves them even more vulnerable than regular GLA cells to direct and concentrated assaults. Also, the inability to deploy long range SCUD launchers means that at most times, his forces operate without in-direct fire support. The stealthy presence of his forces provide a psychological edge over human opponents, but AI can somewhat detect the player's presence without using satellite scans or other stealth-detecting devices.

General Rodall "Demo" Juhziz

A GLA general specializing in explosives. Most of his field units and buildings are granted a self-destruct capability, encouraging the use of suicide attacks. He does not have access to most stealth units or Anthrax weapons. He also does not face the player in the Generals' Challenge.

Unaffiliated:

General Leang

The final general in the Generals' Challenge. She has a massive army consisting of units & structures of all factions, in addition to a Particle Cannon, Nuclear Missile, and Scud Storm. She is not a playable general.

Modifications

The large fan base around Zero Hour has developed many modifications of the units, maps, missions, etc. These include Blitzkrieg II, ShockWave, Cold War Crisis, Zero Hour Reborn: The Last Stand., ZeroHour Reborn: The Rise To Power, Pro:Gen, Command and Conquer All Stars, and 'Vietnam Glory Obscured'.

Online play

Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour includes online play through GameSpy on Windows, or GameRanger on Macs. The two services are not compatible. For the former players must first create a free GameSpy account in-game. Once in the main online lobby, players can choose from a number of options, including Quick Match, where players can have themselves matched up with other players of similar skill for 1 vs. 1 games, and Custom Game, where players can create their own games with the settings they want, and wait for other players to join them. The latter, though also free, is more so manual, and requires players to make, match, and start games without the benefit of an active central server to record stats, etc.

Custom games can have up to eight players playing in one online game. Performance may decline in games with large numbers of players, however, due to the computation, memory, and communication demands of larger games. It is to be noted, though, that the Zero Hour expansion has a noticeably more efficient engine than the original Generals, so games run more smoothly than compared to the original Generals. Lag and failed connections do, however, remain a problem online, as do mismatches when playing across ADSL and Cable internet. A common problem includes not being able to connect to anything ever at all times of the day. Some members of the community speculate that a fault in the coding of the game exists. This causes it to consume more and more resources over time causing low frame rates and multi player lag.

In order to allow for better performance in large matches online and over LAN, players are recommended to reduce their graphical quality settings. This heavily reduces the amount of lag, and the chance of a mismatch. In fact, failure in computers meeting the computational requirements of the game is the primary reason for lag and mismatches, as tests have shown that during battles with 2 or more people occupies only 5kB/s maximum of bandwidth.

External links

• Generals – Zero Hour Official Site
• Command & Conquer: Zero Hour at Planet C&C
• Template:StrategyWiki