Real time strategy games have had a history, or should we say a lack of history, of appearing on video game consoles. It was almost regarded as fact throughout the gaming community that a strategy game would never be able to work on any platform other then a PC. This mindset was proved ultimately wrong last year as EA’s Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth II was brought to the Xbox 360, which actually turned out to work really well with the innovative controls engineered for the game. EA Games once again has PC gamers sucking their teeth in disapproval as they release one of the more popular franchises of strategy games, Command and Conquer, to the Xbox 360.
Command and Conquer, regarded as one of the trump cards or regarded as an icon of the strategy genre has been released on the Xbox 360, and it is reason to rejoice. C&C is a game about fast paced action, and as such, is quick to get into intense matches and firefights in its online multiplayer. If a more solo affair is desired, there is also an absurdly long single player campaign which will take gamers a worthy investment of time to complete. C&C will keep gamers busy regardless of where they wish to extract their enjoyment.
C&C has a unique way of telling the story, and by unique we kind of mean outdated. C&C’s cut scenes make use of a style we have not seen for many years, which is live action video. EA did not stop short of going all out for this installment. EA hired on high level talent such as Sam Fisher voice actor Michael Ironside and the two hot chicks from Battlestar Galactica(Grace Park and Tricia Helfer). Not only are the actors laying on the cheese and overacting their parts, but are doing it in such a way it actually turns out to be unexpectedly awesome. There is just something about a real live person telling you to go do an objective or saying about how crucial the next mission is. It gives the player a sense of attachment, but also a sense of meaning and placement in the growing conflict.
As the game opens you will be greeted to the prologue about how the world currently is in 2047. A large portion of the world is covered in Tiberium, and any of these areas infested with Tiberium are unsuitable for human life. What is Tiberium? Tiberium is a substance discovered in the first Command and Conquer game. It is a crystal like material that slowly converts anything surrounding it into more Tiberium. The crystal is also highly toxic and radioactive. This all means that Tiberium spreads quickly, and any areas it spreads to become completely inhospitable. Although this seems like it is entirely horrible, the great thing is that Tiberium is a cheap and easy to harvest substance that houses much power. Players will gather Tiberium in the game to supply their troops with weapons, power their tanks, and build more powerful weapons of mass destruction. Tiberium is a unique gameplay mechanic to the C&C universe, as not only is it a dangerous substance that plays a large role in the story and survival of humanity, but it also is the main currency and resource of the game which players will need to control to ensure victory.
But back to the story. The world has been in peace for many years now. The main conflict from years was between two factions. The Global Defence Initiative is a UN funded organization formed to keep the peace. The other faction is a cult of global proportions that believes Tiberium is the catalyst to bring humanity into its next stage of evolution. This group is called the Brotherhood of Nod. Throughout the campaign players will be able to play as both the GDI and Nod through their respectful campaign missions, which are 15 missions each. The beginning of the game is quiet peaceful, until the next mission where the GDI space station Philadelphia is blown up in a Nuclear explosion. Some believe this to be the Nod’s doing. Those some would be correct as shortly after the Brotherhood launch a full scale invasion on Washington D.C., launching the world into the third “Tiberium War.†At some point in the campaign aliens known as the Scrin land on earth and begin to harvest Tiberium, completely unaware of humanities existence. They are quickly lunged into the war and it turns into a three-way battle.
The story in the single player game is held together nice by both in game dialogue and the full motion cut scenes between missions. One of the best parts of the cut-scenes is a man named Kane. Who is Kane? Kane is the charismatic leader of the Brotherhood of Nod. His character is so over the top, so ridiculous, but yet so convincing and down to earth that it is hard not to like him. When players play the Nod campaign, they can’t help but understand why Kane has the following he does. Not much is expected of a story in a real time strategy game, but when you have some one like Michael Ironside barking orders at you, or worshiping Kane’s Tiberium prophecy, it is an experience that can only be found in Command and Conquer.
The missions objectives aren’t as great as the cut-scenes though, and the objectives, while difficult at times, are rather bland. Some missions give you set resources with the objectives being something along the lines of don’t get wiped out, or wipe them out. There are missions where you are given complete freedom, where you can build up a base and produce whatever units you desire. These are by far the better missions of the campaign as you are allowed to proceed with the objectives how you choose to.
That brings us to the gameplay. Some might be unfamiliar with the concept of a real time strategy game, so an explanation is in order. A real time strategy game is a game not about shooting people, not about driving cars, and not about you playing the game at all. A real time strategy game is a game where you watch the action unfold on screen. That may sound boring, but in actuality it is quiet fun. In an RTS, players are tasked with building up a base, training soldiers, developing technology, and building a force that any of your opponents will be unable to stop. Once you think you have achieved this, you will probably give them the order to lay siege to the enemy base, and hopefully, succeed. A real time strategy game is not a game about one person; it’s not about controlling one guy… A real time strategy game is about controlling entire armies, and testing yours against your opponents’. You can control how you build you base, how you build your armies, and what they do with complete freedom.
What good is complete freedom is there is not unlimited potential? Thankfully Command and Conquer has you covered on that angle. C&C has one of the most balance real time strategy systems, one that allows for almost any play style. If you want to create an undefeatable base with a large army watching your doorstep, or if you want to create a large amount of huge, lumbering juggernauts and watch them blow the hell out of everything within a couple miles. Do you want to try guerrilla warfare and eliminate your opponent using small units that are designed to hit hard and fast, or do you wish to lure your opponent into an ambush that will assure his doom? Any play style is supported in Command and Conquer, as long as you, the player, are smart enough to pull them off.
The three factions in Command and Conquer are quiet varied in their abilities. The GDI has more of an emphasis on vehicles and larger units, such as their juggernauts and their mammoth tanks which can be hard to stop if not taken with a high level of care and caution. The Brotherhood of Nod has a high emphasis on guerrilla warfare and extreme tactics through use of their ability to cause a huge ruckus on one front while their stealth units sneak around and damage areas not currently defended. The Scrin seem to have an uncanny ability to dominate the skies, with their flying units being almost unstoppable once you have given them energy shields and mass-produced them. Granted these are only simple and basic strategies, as players will soon enough develop their own strategies that players have not yet encountered. After all, one of the ways to succeed is to use a style of warfare that your opponent has yet to face, so players will be encouraged to constantly improve and mutate their strategy. A good player will be playing an entirely different style every week.
One of the fun features of Command and Conquer is the powers. Powers are simply the support abilities of the game. They are not game altering abilities within themselves, but they can save your bottom at times. The GDI get powers such as calling in transport ships, using radar to see into the enemy base, and bombarding a location with bombs. The Nod seem to have less subtle abilities, with a large portion of them being directly warfare related, like EMP blasts which temporarily shut down buildings, various destructive missiles, and radar jamming technology which stop your enemies from viewing the mini-map. The Scrin have things like a wormhole, which allows you to transport troops from one point to another instantly, a stasis field that protects all units within it from any sort of damage, but also prevents them from moving or attacking. The powers are a lot of fun and mix up the gameplay to various degrees.
One thing that players will never ignore, no matter what strategy is being used, is the effectiveness of “super weapons.†Each faction has its own super weapon that they can unleash on the opposition. The GDI have the Ion Cannon, a satellite weapon that shoots down a beam of energy that destroys everything on screen. The Brotherhood of Nod has something that merely does not require an explanation: a tactical nuke. The Scrin have what can only be described as the coolest of the super weapons: The Rift Weapon. The Rift Weapon, when used, opens up a sort of black hole on the enemy base that sucks everything within range into it. All the super weapons look absolutely stunning when used. The downside to super weapons is once constructed, your enemies are made aware of its presence and are able to see it at all times. On top of that, it takes seven minutes to charge it, and once discharged, requires another seven minutes. This means that super weapons are not only one of the greatest weapons you can have in this game, but it tends to make you a very large target, and extremely fragile if you do not defend yourself properly.
Multiplayer on C&C is handled quiet well. You sign onto EA’s servers and will play various other gamers around the globe. All your statistics are saved and tracked throughout your ranked career, so you will be able to review them at any time. While it is easy to find players for a ranked game online, it is annoying that you are unable to play with a friend, even if you are playing a team game. This means that to play with the majority of the players online, you will be forced to play with people you have never met. This can get annoying on team games, especially if you get unlucky and partnered up with someone not even the same skill level as yourself. You can play games with your friends in player matches, but it is much more difficult to find people to play with in player matches. A nice feature about Xbox live play is the ability to use your Xbox Live vision camera to see you, and your opponent’s faces. In the lobby, and during the match, each player will have their face displayed on the screen in a small box in the top left or right corner. This is a nice feature as you can see your opponents face change as you slowly desecrate his military force and raze his base to the ground. Also, a cool feature about online is the “Winners Circle†which, if you win the match, will give you ten seconds of uncontested freedom to brag about your victory. Players are unable to back out of the match during this time so your dancing around on the camera singing folk songs will be guaranteed to be witnessed.
The graphics and visuals of C&C not only make it a delight to watch, but easy to play. Whenever something happens, like a unit coming under attack, the area will flicker on the mini-map. By pushing a button you can warp to this event and watch the carnage unfold. The graphics are pretty good, considering there is hundreds of units on screen at one time in a giant brawl of death and destruction. The sound cues are what make the game easy to play, as the games “A.I.†will tell you when each building you construct has finished. Also, every time a unit has been made, there will be an audio cue specific to that unit. The GDI and the Scrin have pretty nice ones that are easy on the ears, but the Nod have ones that are downright annoying. For example, when you construct a rocket troop, they say “We got the rockets!†or whenever a raider vehicle is made they say “Lets go on a raid!†It gets annoying real fast, and some players will wish they could turn off the sound without muting their TV.
Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is just a really solid and fun to play game. The strategy in the game, while fast paced, is almost unchallenged in its depth… at least on the console. From attacking a player’s harvesters and cripple his ability to gain money, to tactically nuking his base nothing but a smoldering crater, any play style is supported. There is a very large Xbox Live following so finding challengers will not be a problem. Command and Conquer really is one of the best RTS’s of all time, and it now has a home on the Xbox 360 console. Any fans of tactical gameplay, RTS, or just straight up fun should really look into the game.
