After the launch of Command & Conquer: Rivals in June 2018, EA has been receiving a large amount of disappointment from gamers due to the microtransactions and the overacting performance of the fictional character in game, Kane. But if you actually play the game, you will see that it has certain strengths as well.

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Both you and your rival own a base. The main gameplay contains three capture zones embracing a missile launcher. Your task shall be, together with your pre-selected team, find the way to gradually boost up the missile and hit your opponent’s base once it is pushed to the ready point. If you successfully do that twice, you will destroy the enemy's base and win the game. Alternatively, you can try attacking it directly if your armed forces are strong enough. To release the missile, you will need to hold two out of three capture zones for a definite time period.

To complete the mission, you can find many supporting tools. It could be a harvester, which helps you raise the resources' collecting speed. Once the mineral are filled up, you could tap on a unit card to get them ready for the battle. A hex could be used to move units to different places and make it easier to attack the enemies. Everytime you have a unit deployed, it will take a short while to wait for another deployment.

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In addition, some other new features are presented in this game version such as an exceptional capacity allowing you to throw out a turret, or you can also take advantages of different weak points of your enemy’s base to defeat them. For example, instead of occupying the missile launch base, you could purchase cheap fodder units to put your enemy in a retention and prevent them from approaching the launching base. Another example is that you can target the harvester of your rival in order to hold them back from collecting resources, while you could produce your own in amount.

Another point about the positioning of the armed force, due to the narrow area around the missile, you will need to take the positioning strategy under full consideration. And you could certainly take the advantages by, for example, using the low-priced infantrymen of 10 mineral each to hold narrow areas.

To win the battle, you need to have a good strategy. There are three types of units including infantry, vehicles and planes. Each of them is strong against one and weak against another. You could also get stronger units through the loot boxes, but not always due to its randomness. Normally you could get one after every three or four games.

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For many people, the microtransactions in game could affect the long-term balance and turn this into a pay-to-win game. Many microtransaction-driven games seem to initially give you a free entrance and then gradually steal money from your pocket. Paying an identified amount for entertainment could be acceptable, however, in further future, its effect may just not stop at entertaining purpose.

It is still quite early to judge this game as it is in testing process. However, if you are seeking for a strategy game to play when you have a little bit of time,  this game could be a choice.