Command & Conquer fans are a dedicated
bunch, so needless to say, C&C 3: Tiberium Wars is getting a lot of
hype throughout the gaming community. Plenty of fans are skeptical,
worrying that this new and improved C&C experience won’t stay true
to the experience of the original. I was recently invited out to EA Los
Angeles where I was given the opportunity to test the game.
While I must admit that the game still has plenty of work to be done,
it seems to be shaping up really good and certainly exceeded my
expectations.
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Keep in mind that all of my impressions are based on an
early build of the game, so a lot can change between now and the
release date. We were asked to give suggestions and feedback about the
game, so ideally a lot of the flaws that we noticed will be fixed.
C&C
3 will chronicle the events of the third Tiberium War… in the words of
Kane himself, “The war to end all wars.” Tiberium Wars will have a
single story that will be cannon for the C&C universe. Each of the
three campaigns shows a different perspective of an overall story. We
were told that this was a very challenging thing to do, but personally
I’m excited to see a single story. Not only will it leave gamers with
more closure to the story, but a grander, more epic story is always a
good thing in my opinion. Despite having a single overall story,
C&C 3 promises a unique and in depth story for each campaign with a
lot of detail put into the characters.
Most of us out there are
familiar with the GDI and NOD, but you can expect to see some
differences in this game. Tiberium Wars will be filled with shades of
gray, and the concept of “good” and “bad” will become a bit cloudy. The
game hopes to explain the NOD perspective, pulling in some sympathy for
the faction and revealing why it is that the NOD have been able to
amass such a great following. We were also told that the Brotherhood of
NOD will be less focused on robotics and cyborgs and go back to the
idea of being a cult. Players will see a different side of the GDI as
well as they try to enforce their power on the people and tackle issues
like collateral damage.
The game’s third faction will be
extraterrestrial in origin, but very few details have been revealed
regarding their history or intentions. What we do know is that these
Aliens have been monitoring Earth for many years, and have arrived in
order to gather Tiberium. They’re extremely surprised to see that
mankind is still alive, and expected the Tiberium to have killed them
off. They find themselves in the middle of a planet wide conflict, but
they won’t show up until the later parts of the campaigns. The Alien
campaign will actually have to be unlocked by completing the GDI and
NOD campaigns first. I’ve also been told that the Alien campaign will
be the most difficult, because you should have learned the basics of
the game by that point and won’t need the tutorial experience.
Tiberium
Wars features a fairly impressive cast, including Billy Dee Williams,
Josh Holloway, Michael Ironside, and of course, Joe Kucan. Fans of the
series will be glad to see much improved acting and video quality in
this game. From what I’ve seen of the FMVs, they look great, featuring
high quality performances and very cool events. Although, I must admit
I’m a bit skeptical of Billy Dee Williams. I’m a huge Star Wars fanboy,
so I love Billy Dee, but it seemed to me that he was doing a bad Jesse
Jackson impression in this game. Hopefully I’m wrong and his overall
performance will turn out better.
One thing that the developers
have always tried to do with Command & Conquer is allow you to
control your base operations while roaming the map. I’m pleased to say
that base control works pretty smoothly in this game, with a side bar
that allows you to easily create units and structures. The bar includes
tabs for each type of unit and structure, so clicking the tabs will
move you through your different building options. This way you don’t
have to waste time scrolling up and down. When a structure is complete,
the tab will glow, alerting you that the structure is done and ready to
be placed.
This time around you can also build multiples of a
structure and train units from both at the same time. You can simply
click the troops you want to train on the side bar, or click the
specific structure you want to train units from. This should speed up
the building process significantly, and will allow you to organize your
troops even better. Your army is also equipped with abilities that line
the left side of the screen. As you create more structures, you’ll
acquire even more abilities. These abilities are easily accessed by
clicking the icon on the left side of the screen. Each of these
abilities has a cost, though, so you’ll have to use real strategy
rather than simply relying on destroying your enemy with a barrage of
nukes.
The game’s camera is fully rotatable, and you can do a
fair amount of zooming in and out if you care to see the game from a
different perspective. During campaign missions the game offers arrows
that point to your mission objectives. If you click the arrow, the
camera will instantly be taken to the objective. I was impressed with
this addition, which should make it easier to stay focused on the
mission’s objective. You can assign your army into different
formations, and there is a very handy lasso tool that you can use for
selection, which proved very useful in organizing your troops. Building
is fast and the controls are intuitive, so each battle is action packed
and fluid.
Graphically, C&C 3 is a colossal step forward. Units are highly
detailed, even when zoomed out all of the way. I remember struggling to
tell units apart in the old days, but the level of detail in this game
makes identifying units a breeze. There are also some beautiful weapon
and explosion effects in the game that make each brawl a splendor for
the eyes. Unfortunately, the effects go over the top a bit, and make it
difficult to tell who is shooting who and where each blast is coming
from. The array of explosions and effects is beautiful, but also
distracting. I’ve been told that they’re working on finding a happy
medium here, so let’s hope for the best.
In a skirmish mode, you
have a variety of settings you can choose. Obviously, you can change
the map you are using and the color of your team. However, you can also
change the difficulty and personality of your AI opponent. The
personality will influence the fighting style of your opponent. For
example, a defensive opponent should be slow to attack and spend a lot
of time building up their base. On the other hand, an optimal
personality should be pretty much balanced in their style, taking
advantage of all strategies. There are a fair variety of different
personalities to choose from, and while it was clear that they still
have some bugs to work out in the AI, there should be style that fits
everyone. The difficulty is more straightforward, and will simply
influence how difficult your opponent is. N00bs can start out on easy,
and those with a death wish can move up to the brutal level.
Tiberium
Wars features a wide variety of units, including familiar units from
C&C’s past, as well as all new units. Fans will be glad to know
that many of the classic favorites, like the Flame Tank and GDI
Commando, will be returning. Probably the new unit that stood out the
most was the NOD Avatar, which is a gigantic mech. This is an extremely
powerful and cool looking unit that can really deal out some major
damage. The general consensus was that this unit was a bit overpowered,
and Avatar swarms were all the rage during our 1 vs. 1 time. However,
I’m sure this is something that will be worked on and hopefully changed
by release time. Other units you can expect to see are the Mammoth
Tank, Stealth Tank, Predator Tank, The Orca, The Juggernaut, Vertigo
Bombers, and many more!
Obviously, the addition of the new Alien
faction will introduce many new units. Probably my favorite of the
Alien units was the Annihilator Tripod, a massive unit very similar to
the vehicles in The War of the Worlds movie. Another interesting unit
was the Alien Mothership, which is a potential game winner if you can
get it over your enemies’ main base. Basically, this ship shoots a
giant beam down on the ground below it, obliterating everything in its
path. On the downside, though, is that it’s extremely expensive and
very slow moving. I was attacked by several Motherships during my
gameplay time, and managed to take them down without much trouble long
before they reached my base. Still, the sight of an enormous Mothership
hovering across the screen will surely strike fear in the hearts of
your enemies. Controlling the Aliens took a little bit of getting used
to, but after a few minutes you’ll get the hang of things.
I
was extremely excited about the new Alien faction, and had a lot of fun
playing them. However, it seemed to me that many of the Alien units
weren’t particularly original. As I mentioned earlier, the Tripod
seemed like it was straight out of War of the Worlds, but the worst
example is the Alien Carrier, which obviously taken from Starcraft.
Of
course, hardcore RTS fans will be most excited about the online play.
One of the most massive additions to the multiplayer will be the
ability to broadcast each match just like a sporting event. Gamers
won’t even have to own the full game in order to watch a match, because
you can download the client separately (however, the full game comes
with the client built in) for free!
Giving players the ability
to watch your match may leave plenty of room open for cheating, which
might scare some gamers. However, EA has taken a few precautions to
make sure things are safe. Your first option is to black out the game,
making it not viewable until the entire match is over. A second option
is to set a time delay on the broadcasting. Third, you can simply not
broadcast the game if you don’t want to.
The game’s host may
even designate a commentator for the match, who has special tools. This
commentator will be able to draw on the screen, and announce the match
to his listeners. Of course, you don’t have to listen to the
commentator. Viewers can also choose to turn off the fog, or watch the
game from a certain player’s perspective.
Many gamers were
worried about advertisements in C&C 3, but it’s really not too bad.
There will be an unobtrusive ticker at the bottom of the spectator
viewing screen that will feature advertisements. You can turn this
feature off, though, in the retail version, so it’s not really a big
deal.
CommandandConquer.com will become the official
headquarters for online play. It will integrate community management
and marketing by featuring news, ladder results, forums, blogs,
replays, downloads and pod casts.
After each match the players
have the option to rate each other. Ideally, this system will allow for
you to find the honest players who are at a skill level that you’re
interested in battling. However, I’m worried about the dishonest gamers
who rate their opponents down. Hopefully this won’t happen, and it does
sound like a great idea in theory. Players will have profiles that will
integrate CommandandConquer.com and online play. This will include
avatars, ranks, achievements, reputations and clan affiliations.
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I had a lot of fun playing Tiberium Wars, and
was pleasantly surprised to discover that it really does feel like a
Command & Conquer experience. Unfortunately, we still have to wait
a few months before the release of the game, but it definitely looks
like they’re on the right track to creating something great!
