Before each mission, players will be taken to the tech depot, a load out screen where players will be able to determine which units and potential abilities will be available to your troops in the field. Unlike prior C&C games, the class that you select will determine the basic units that you can deploy (infantry for Offensive, buildings for Defensive and aircraft for Support). From there, you'll specialize by selecting which individual troops your crawler unit will be able to produce, as well as skills like improved firing and movement speed or additional slots to take more troops. These additional abilities are purchased by battle credits, the game's form of currency, which plays into the new progression system based on your side and class. I was told that as you work more with a particular class, you unlock additional levels, providing you with new skills that you can purchase, all of which is designed to give you a leg up on the next mission. Currently, there are twenty levels for you to take advantage of, but that could change by the time the game is released. I was also told that this will be the same regardless of whether you play as GDI or Nod within the game.

Once you've chosen your weaponry, you move into the mission. The level that I was able to play was a refined version of the crash scenario that I'd seen two months ago, which had actually been redesigned in a number of ways. Although my large aircraft carrier-like Transport had still been shot down, there was no longer a specific dollar amount that I needed to focus on earning. Instead, I needed to lead my troops to locations around the map, which were being held by enemy soldiers. By surrounding these areas for at least fifteen or twenty seconds, I was able to swing the balance of power for these checkpoints over to my side, allowing me to control the flow of resources to my side. In many ways, this was easier said than done, because not only did I have to worry about fending off Nod forces, I also had to deal with the Forgotten, tribes of humans whose exposure to Tiberium had transformed them into mutants. The Forgotten didn't care about GDI or Nod, since they'd felt abandoned by both sides, and were perfectly willing to attack anyone that got near their bases.

Once we picked up on this nuance, we were able to roll over the defenses at the first Forgotten base much more easily, and after killing them off, we moved our forces in close to switch the control point's alignment to ours. Once we did, we were able to commission Forgotten units of our own and run roughshod over the remaining two control points. We then gained experience for our kills in the process and picked up several glowing bonus items. Currently, the game has two sorts of bonus items that can be dropped: a glowing blue box, which provides an immediate veterancy upgrade to the unit that picks it up (as well as makes the unit much tougher in battle); and a glowing green box exclusive to the offense class, which gives an attack boost to any unit that nabs it. Throughout the course of our sojourn, we discovered the husk of a gigantic mastodon walker, which was a huge armored unit with heavy-duty weapons that we were able to repair with help from one of our own engineer units. Later on, we encountered Forgotten troops that had commandeered a few mammoth tanks, which, when defeated, also left salvage that could be repaired under our control.

After capturing all three Forgotten bases, a working mastodon, and a handful of mammoth tanks, we figured we were in the clear and ready to start repairs on the dropship. Unfortunately, our activity had given away our position to Nod, which, as it turns out, had key locations of its own on the map. We scrambled back to the carrier to peel off the Nod forces that were hammering the ship, including light attack bikes, raiders, and the infamous scorpion tank. Nod still seems to be a tricky faction on the battlefield, and its scorpion tanks are not only as agile as ever, but they can also burrow underground and reappear elsewhere. However, thanks to our heavy artillery and our continuous supply of Forgotten troops, we were able to pound them into the ground as well, leaving the dropship to finally repair itself and take off. With the mission completed, we were free to head back to the command center interface to spend our experience points buying new upgrades and move on to the next mission.