Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

"Rawr. I am a console RTS, I will provide you with solid gameplay, Rawr."

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." ~ Albert Einstein.

One thing that Einstein didn't know, was that World War III would be fought with 200 ton double barrelled tanks, satellite beams raining down from the sky, Tanks which can turn themselves invisible, and last but not least; a highly radioactive, ancient species-attracting element mysteriously arriving in a meteor.

A console RTS is indeed a rare breed, and Command and Conquer 3 is one of the first to grace this frontier of game genres. The controls of Command and Conquer 3 are not awkward or difficult, but they do not in any way, shape or form come to the level of efficiency brought to you by a mouse and keyboard.

This is really the only reason that Console RTS's are so rare, because the absence of a keyboard for hotkeying and a mouse for quick selection and orders is an absence that can potentially destroy the fundamentals of the game, and gameplay would suffer for it. (They used to say the same thing about shooters). However, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars takes another step in breaking down this barrier, and little is lost in the transition from PC to 360.

But as long as I'm ranting about controls, I may as well tell you what you're controlling. There are three basic steps to the Command & Conquer series.

Step 1 - Command
Step 2 - Conquer
Step 3 - Profit

In a more in-depth sense, Command and Conquer 3 lets you take the role of commander of one of three different factions, the Global Defense Initiative (GDI, the good guys), NOD, a terrorist organization, and last but most awesome, the Scrin, an ancient, super technological race from outer space.

These units are all entirely dependent upon one resource: Tiberium. This highly radioactive substance is hazardous to any unit that steps too close, save the harvester, which has the duty to venture into the glowing green pool of death. Although only having one resource does lend to simplicity, it can also come across as one of the game's fatal flaws. As soon as an enemy takes out your harvester, your economy is screwed. You won't be able to afford any more units, and you'll probably need to sell a building or two to buy a new harvester.

For this reason, Command and Conquer 3 revolutionizes the age old concept that its predecessors created, simply due to lack of a reliable economical system. There is no massing of units to prepare for the epic battle at the end, there are no large scale offensives where both sides assault each other's bases. It's more like making a last ditch stand, then pooling together whatever is left after the defense to attack their base, which they will beat back with newly created units of their own, only to attack you again. The game becomes the wartime equivalent of two men slapping each other, and that may or may not be a good thing. On one hand, it forces commanders to think of newer, more innovative ways to defeat their foes, but on the other hand, it removes the epic, large scale battles that hardcore RTS players enjoy.

The units that you will control, whether or not they're breaking a stalemate or in a last ditch defensive, are unique and fun to toy around with. About four Mammoth Tanks can cut a swath of destruction through anything in their path, but there is still nothing more breathtaking and intimidating than the sight of a fleet of Scrin Assault Carriers. Although the units are very interesting and just awesome in general, they can be too difficult to destroy at a certain point, leading to commanders "spamming" the particular type of unit. At that point, there is no strategy involved, which simply destroys one third and the most important part of the name of the genre.

An RPG tactic actually comes into play in C&C3. When some of your units destroy enough enemies or stagger upon the proper bonuses, they level up, and are made stronger, as you might expect. However, certain units can level up in unique ways. Take, for example, the NOD Warmech. This bad boy can destroy your own units and take their abilities. Before long, you could have a Stealth Flame Warmech of undefiable awesomeness!

But to tell the truth, you don't even really need units to defeat your enemy. A well placed Ion Cannon will fare just fine, as will a nuclear missile, or best yet, the Planetary Assault Carrier. Whenever you use one of these, just sit back and imagine the look on your enemy's face as his base is annihilated with one press of the "A" button.

The missions however, do not allow you much freedom to choose your path. Throughout the entire GDI campaign, I felt like my hand was being held, which I believed detracted from the open-endedness of the game. The secondary objectives even seemed to force me into situations. For example, in one mission, our base suffered frequent raids on our harvester. One of the secondary objectives was to stop the raids with a sniper team... as if I couldn't figure out that I needed to stop them on my own. Why couldn't I build a turret, or a bunker full of riflemen instead?

Another time, I was given the choice of taking one of two different missions, one which (I was told) would give me Air Support throughout the rest of the campaign, the other would give me more units to begin with. I was delighted at the possibility of a branch in the story, and I spent several minutes pondering which mission I should take. I ultimately decided to take the one which would give me air support, and I completed a very fun mission. However, much to my chagrin, after the mission, I was forced to do the other mission. It would've been great to have a choice to do either one, instead of simply a choice to do which one first.

This linearity is barely noticeable however, and should not detract too much from your experience. There is only one thing that is significantly mediocre enough in this game to do that, and that is the graphics. Although they are by no means awful, they don't impress nor blow anybody away. This is a shame, because some of the simply awesome things that happen in this game deserve better.

The cutscenes deserve a mention too. Command and Conquer 3 does the same thing that its predecessors did, bringing in live action cutscenes. Although it is very cheesy to go from average graphics to something that seems like it was taken straight out of Star Wars, complete with flashing buttons that do nothing and random personnel at their stations pushing these useless buttons, oblivious to your presence, it can almost add a sense of realism and comedic relief at the same time. Kane is still as creepy as ever, and I know that many will be pleased about that.

Final Score - Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is a very solid game, and exceptionally good for a console RTS. However, it lacks the polish to make it an excellent game.

Gameplay - Solid, minor errors - 8.5/10
Graphics - Meh - 7/10
Sound - Love it or hate it - 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/29/07