YouGamers.com

Previews

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

It's been a long while since GDI and NOD have been on our screens, with Command & Conquer: Renegade being the last real outing to the C&C Universe that we're all accustomed to (excluding Generals series, but to me it's not really C&C as it was nothing to do with the C&C universe). Let's take a look at the current demo of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, which gives us a taster of what is to come.

The demo comes with a training level and 1 main level both for GDI plus a cut down Skirmish mode to allow you to play with more technology. Skirmish is restricted to 1 map for 2 players only and still only allowing you to be GDI, so if you want to have a taste of NOD’s power, you are going to have to send your engineers out!

The recognised battle between GDI and NOD is still here, but the most intriguing new entrance to the battlefield is the new Scrin. The Scrin are an alien race that have been lightly touched in previous C&C outings, but with the Tiberium outbreak so bad now, the Scrin are invading Earth to take it for themselves. The only view you get of the Scrin in the demo are from the cut-scenes at the beginning of the demo, so little is known about this new faction as of yet.

Command & Conquer 3 carries on the story from Tiberian Sun/FireStorm where the Tiberium outbreak has grown further and taken up to 80% of the worlds surface. Each infestation has now been rated into Zones:

• Red Zone - 30% of Land Coverage
• Yellow Zone - 50% of Land Coverage
• Blue Zone - 20% of Land Coverage

The Red Zone is the worse of Tiberium infected landmass, so bad in fact, no life can live there. The Yellow Zone has most of the world’s population. While still heavily infected and war struck, it is still a liveable environment. The population here are jealous of GDI and believes they are not sharing their fortune, which NOD has taken grip of to increase its army. The only original recognisable Earth, as we know it, is the Blue Zone, which GDI has control over. This section is wealthy and gorgeous, which the Yellow Zone are jealous of.

A few familiar faces

Like all C&Cs (excluding Generals), the story lines are given with FMV but now in high definition! Some people found these tacky and riddled with dodgy acting in the past, but now you will find yourself wondering "where have I seen them before?" with famous actors and yes....KANE IS BACK!

We are going to have to act, if we are to live in a different world

The engine is in 3D, just like Generals, allowing you to zoom in and out plus moving the camera angle to show hidden units behind buildings. The battles can be huge so you need to be able to act fast in tough situations. EA have re-designed the control system, so lets take a look.

The building and intelligence has returned to the right side of the screen. You now have two ways of building your army and base; either by clicking on the relevant building or selecting the option under the relevant heading in your right pane. If you select via the building, it appears at the bottom of the building pane and if you select your Construction Yard, it shows your base boundary where you can build.

The top of the building pane, shows the current map and like Tiberian Sun/Red Alert 2, video updates during your mission. Unit/building intelligence is also found in the furthest top right to give you detailed information on anything in the battlefield. Newly issued main objectives are rather.....how to put it nicely.....interesting. You have a very shaky camera zooming in and out on your main objective.

Unit control has been expanded and separated from the main building pane. This is now located at the bottom left of your screen; where you can force fire, guard and defence attack to name just a few options now available. Controlling your units is roughly the same as before, with click-dragging to allow you to select multiple units on screen at a time, but now you right click to tell them to go somewhere where previously it would cancel the command. Unfortunately this can be somewhat confusing as you have to think if you are cancelling a command or actually sending them off to battle!

Demo Impressions

So C&C has had an update, but the question you all want answered is "has it lost its feel that we all know and love?" The good news is that first impressions from the demo are very good, and taking us back to the roots of C&C with a few helpful updates. It looks like C&C is back and it will take our lives away once again! EA have done a very good job at quenching our thirst....I WANT IT NOW!

Keep an eye out at YouGamers for the full game review soon!

Related Stuff

Tags