I have been waiting for
months to play Command and Conquer 3, my friends and I have been drooling on
every screenshot, movie, and article you can find on the net. I was extremely
excited to get this game and put it in my PC as I knew what awaited me: pure RTS
bliss from one of the granddaddy’s of this genre. After playing this game for a
few missions, I realized how much I truly missed this series, playing Generals
was great, but nothing beats the original game Universe.
Incase you didn’t know the
story for Command and Conquer, here is a quick rundown. The game is set in the
year 2047, and there has been a long and vicious war between the Global Defense
Initiative (GDI) and The Brotherhood of Nod. Both of these factions are fighting
over an alien resource called Tiberium, which is a green crystal that is both
extremely powerful and dangerous for the environment. It has come down to
whoever controls the stockpile of Tiberium will hold the fate of the planet in
their hands. In Command and Conquer 3 both GDI and Nod are about to find out
that they are not alone in the Universe and that they have a hunger as well for
this precious resource. Now you will have to fight off two different factions if
you want to become the ruler of this world, are you up to this monumental task?
As stated
previously in Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars you will get to play as three
different factions. Before you rush off and go into a skirmish to try each race
out, I highly suggest playing though the campaigns for each race to get a firm
understanding of how each faction operates. The way the mission structure is
designed will allow you to get acquainted with all of the faction’s military
units and tech tree that will help you out when playing against human players.
It also shows you how to counter act some of the opponents military, which is
also very useful.
Once you are
finished with all of the games campaigns, you will want to hop in to the
multiplayer aspect where this game really shines. The multiplayer for this game
is really well done. Playing online or even on a LAN gave no difficulties. The
only thing that is a disappointment is that there are not unique and new
multiplayer modes for this game. It is a shame, but what players are given is
great. One of the things that I like the best is that if you decide to play
against computer AI, there are five different AI personalities that help give
the game diversity.
First off there is the
balanced typed that favors an even handed style of gaming, meaning it doesn’t go
all out offense or defense. Next up is the Turtle which focuses on all out
defense and resource gathering. The opposite of this is the rusher which will
set out immediately attacking you once you start the game. Then there is
Guerilla which means you must always expect the unexpected, this AI type will
harass you with many diversion tactics to get you confused before it goes in for
the kill. Last up is the Steamroller which likes to beat you with overwhelming
forces. It is great to have this many options to play with if you are hankering
to play a computer to get your skills up.
BattleCast is new and
allows you to view various battle matches going on throughout the world. If you
think that you are the best around, then you can prove it by “televising” your
matches to other players and show them how you get things done. This is a pretty
cool option if you want to learn various skills and strategies from other
players around the world to use in your own games. There can also be an
announcer that tells you what is going on in the game. This feature is
bound to get better as players get to know more about the game.
The graphics for Command
and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars are really outstanding. All of the character models
are extremely detailed and have a nice animation set. Then you have the
environments that are being overrun with the Tiberium and just look dilapidated.
The best part is when you start to fight and destroy enemy buildings that people
are taking cover in start to chip away until they come crumbling down
realistically. Then you have all of the enemy gun and laser fire that sparks up
the battlefield rains down a beautiful looking death to your soldiers.
Everything in this game looks just fantastic; you can tell the developers took
plenty of time with the graphics engine as it shows.
What I really enjoy about
the Command and Conquer series is that the developers do something different
then everyone else for their cut screens. Instead of using the in-game engine or
getting CGI movies, the developers get real live actors and make it seem like
you are watching this on TV. It really draws the players into the game and
makes it feel more realistic. When you see the news conferences and various
actions from both sides going on makes you want to get into battle and fight the
enemy as soon as possible. The actors did a great job of conveying the
seriousness of what was happening during the game and made it really believable.
The music is wonderfully
done. The musical score will carry you throughout all of the missions egging you
to continue on your quest to beat your enemies. During the more tense moments
the music picks up and has you ready for the impending battle that is just
ahead. To compliment the music the sound effects are also really well done. The
various explosions that you will hear sound extremely realistic and give you the
sense that you are in the middle of a heavy battle for life. Lastly the voices
for all of the units are really good and have some pretty hilarious lines.
Command and Conquer 3
Tiberium Wars is rated Teen for animated blood, mild language, and violence.
The system requirements
are as follows:
Windows XP or Vista (32 bit)
2.0 GHz or greater processor
512 MB of RAM
8X or faster CD/DVD drive
5.6 GB of disk space
64 MB Video Card
Direct X 9.0c
|
Review Scoring Details for Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars |
Gameplay:
9.5
If you have played any of the previous
Command and Conquer
games you will feel right at home when you first pick up this game. Both the NOD
and GDI forces have that very familiar feeling to them and the Scrin feels like
it belongs here as well. The gameplay is fast and furious and even more
addicting then in previous games. What I liked about the mission structure of
the game is that the missions are always varied so you will never feel beat down
by doing the exact same things over and over again. The developers did a great
job of fleshing it all out to make you want to continue to come back for more.
Graphics: 9.3
The graphics are really great. The character models have a lot of detail in them
and animate really nicely and even the environments are chocked full of detail.
I really enjoy how the buildings will start looking dilapidated when you
continually bombard it with gunfire. The special effects are really nicely done
and give you the sense that you are really in a frantic battle.
Sound: 9.5
The music for this game is great! It helps motivate you as you
are being attacked by myriads of enemy forces and makes you want to come back
from the rubble and beat your enemies into submission. As always the voice work
is done really well, especially in the cut scenes. Sound effects help round out
this entire section of goodness with really well done explosions, gun fire, and
more.
Difficulty: Medium
If you have played any of the previous Command and Conquer games then
you will feel right at home here and understand what to do and get adjusted to
the new things pretty quickly. Even though this is the case you will have
difficulty in later campaign missions as they get hard quickly, but it is not
too hard to the point where you feel the AI is cheating.
Concept: 9.0
I love how the developers tell the story in this game, with real time
footage, and I am glad that the developers kept this tradition going. The new
faction meshes up really well with the other two. The BattleCast multiplayer
feature is pretty neat, but personally I prefer to play games then watch them.
Multiplayer: 9.0
The online support for Command and Conquer 3 is really well done. EA is
constantly updating
www.commandandconquer.com with various stats from all of the online games.
Getting on and playing online is really smooth and I didn’t have any issues
playing online or even via LAN. It is great to see the amount of support that
they have already in place so players will know that it will be around for a
while.
Overall: 9.3
Command and
Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars is a great game and if you are a
fan of the franchise or even genre, you owe it to yourself to get a copy the
next time that you see it in the stores. There is a lot for gamers to keep busy
with and coming back to for a very long time, or until the inevitable expansion
gets released.
