C&C 4 is an abomination. There remains nothing of the final Westwood games (specifically TibSun/Firestorm). Thankfully, EA realized this and said "Let's release the good C&C games for free so people will buy our shitty interpretation!"
With that done (Free TibSun forever? Yes, please!) and the fiasco of BFBC2, chances of EA seeing my money again are low.
The gameplay - Collecting tiberium, basebuilding, STRATEGY, has been stripped from the game.
I didn't buy it, so I couldn't say on the story or anything. I didn't mind C&C 3 and RA3, simply because the stuck more or less to the idea. They've now destroyed everything that made C&C what it was.
Yes, I'm well aware I sound like a raving fanboy. Because I am. I grew up on C&C and seeing its carcass raped and hung out for one last round of cashcow makes me sick.
*Sighs*

This sounds remarkably like the discussion of another game that was rebooted by another company.....

At least Fallout 3 didn't suck. Well ok it didn't suck depending on who you talk to.

At least EA lost the LOTR license. I couldn't be happier about that. Seriously, the games they pumped out were awful and got worse and worse until the poop finale that was LOTR conquest. Sounds familiar...

Actually I enjoyed the first Battle for Middle Earth game, the hack and slash Two Towers/Return of the King and I especially enjoyed the LOTR skin they applied to Final Fantasy X in The Third Age.

I was trying to avoid directly naming the game in question because I didn't want to derail the thread :D.

It made sense in SupCom because you were teleported to a whole new planet. Your only choice was to build the factories there. Very few strategy games make sense of base building and SupCom is among those few. Not so much in Dawn of War. DoW 2 was a lot closer to a proper 40K game that made sense of the license. More so than the tabletop game in some respects.
To be honest, EA could have abandoned base building without abandoning the essence of C&C. But it's clear from what I've seen that they've completely failed to do so. If anytihng Generals was closer to being a true C&C game than this.
Something which is compounded by the fact that it needs online support simply for it to survive at all. Something which EA is notorious for severing as fast as they can. Basically you're left with a rental. It's going to make Hellgate look playable.

As a big westwood fan, I loved the C&C series.
C&C3 was poor though, and RA3's "comedy" got old really fast. Now I couldn't care less about it, EA have ruined it.
For those looking for something a bit different though, I recommend "Men of War". It's absolutely fantastic. Even though I find it quite difficult (on easy!), that's probably just cos I'm a bit poor at RTS games (unless I can turtle).

I think that turtleing is the reason most people aren't good at RTS.

" Pretty much, they removed the fun of the C&C series by removing all resources, base building, skill, strategy and fun. "
reminds me DoW II

I haven't played C&C4, but I enjoyed C&C3 far more than Tib Sun, although RA2 was definitely the high point of the series.
EA's seems to be locked in a double bind by consumers. If they keep the gameplay similar, they're accused of just releasing the same game, and if they overhaul the gameplay, they're criticized for changing it and bastardizing the game series. It's actually sort of annoying. I respect that EA tried something new. If might suck, I wouldn't know, I won't ever play it because of the DRM, but at least they tried something new.
Anyways, base building is generally a pain in the ass and I'm glad that they decided to branch out. Just remember, even if you don't like a new style of gameplay EA is trying out, others will. Just look at Mirror's Edge - many people hated it, and others absolutely loved it.

I wouldn't mind if they'd made a new series without the base building, but the C&C series has always had bases. It seems like a slap in the face to get rid of that for the final game in that series.

Except DoW2 is awesome. Best W40K game ever. Better even than Final Liberation. Warhammer isn't supposed to have base building.
C&C is supposed to be about base building and Tiberium. Basically C&C4 got rid of all the things that made the Dune series awesome.
Bottom line: EA just needs to die. The only thing holding them up anymore are there sports games (which are awesome, if that's what you're into). The problem is they try and push everything toward console play. I won't play Modern Warfare 2 either, because it's a consolized piece of garbage. How can you justify multiplayer without dedicated servers?
EA has killed Westwood and Maxis (say what you want, Sims 3 was a downgrade). I'm just dreading the day they acquire Firaxis. I'd be afraid for Blizzard as well, but I don't see them as ever being in trouble. Or stupid enough to sell off.

Uhhh...a few points.
Modern Warfare 2 was an Activision game.
Sims 3 actually WASN'T developed by Maxis.
Firaxis is part of Take Two and Blizzard is part of Activision. It's not like either of them is an independent developer as it is.