Released on 19/03/2010

• Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight Review

  Time for change

  Long time players of the Command & Conquer series may be in for a bit of a shock when it comes to the final chapter in the Tiberian story. Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight breaks almost all connections with its predecessors in terms of the basic mechanics of combat, which have stayed largely the same throughout the franchise's long history.

  Mobile home

  By far the biggest change comes in the game's use of the Mobile Construction Vehicle (the starting point and centrepiece of your base in previous games) and Tiberian resources. The thing is, they don't actually exist anymore! In Tiberian Twilight the MCV is replaced by a Crawler, which can move about the map, unfold and deploy units until you reach a set maximum limit. The units themselves are free, so trawling for resources doesn't even feature this time around. Once you've reached your quota of units, you simply move the Crawler to the next front line and start churning out vehicles again. The only thing it costs you is time, and not even much of that.

  It's a breakaway from the norms of Real-Time Strategy but it drives you to play more and cool units like the giant Nod gunship are nice rewards.

  This means that casualties don't matter quite so much, if your numbers are depleting you can just crank out more and it's not long before your army is up to full strength again. This means that there's always a temptation to just keep sending units out against enemies that they can do some damage to but ultimately can't beat in one go. If you keep sending out wave after wave, you'll eventually come out on top but it hardly encourages players to come up with an intelligent, tactical game plan.

  With units more or less infinitely available, what matters instead is your choice of specialisation at any given time. Both the GDI and Nod sides have three different types of Crawler, each of which provides a different military line-up; offence, defence and support. Unlike C&C 3 Kane's Wrath, there's absolutely no overlap in the different types of units in each, so there are essentially six different armies here. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses and you'll have to adapt to your situation.

  There's an abundance of different units as you'd expect but not all of them are immediately available, you have to unlock them with experience points. It's a slight breakaway from the norms of real time strategy games but it's something that drives you to play more and cool units like the giant Nod gunship are nice rewards.

  Revelations aplenty

  Of course the one constant no C&C fan could do without is Kane himself and the usual cutscene lead storyline. This time it's a much darker storyline and while it may not be a literary masterpiece it does contain revelations about the Nod/GDI conflict that will make you see things differently.

  Group all this with a solid multiplayer experience and the ability to seamlessly add a friend to your battles and this is another strong addition to the Command & Conquer world. The changes will at first feel unfamiliar to long C&C veterans but they ultimately provide a fresh take on the RTS genre that's worth getting your hands on.

  GAME's Verdict

  

  • A brand new experience in the series
  • Relentless action.
  • A darker story.

  

  • No economic aspect.
  • Units feel disposable.
  • Changes may be too big for traditionalists.

  Review by: Tom 'Crawler' Pakinkis
  Version Tested: PC
  Review Published: 30.03.10

  Published: 30/03/2010

• Command & Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight Review

  Divide and Conquer?

  One of oldest, most beloved names in strategy gaming returns - and it's completely different. Command & Conquer has, for 15 years, been a game of base-building, resource gathering and huge sci-fi armies facing off.

  With this so-called final chapter in the ongoing storyline, it's become a game about near-instantly deploying small squads from a single, moveable building. No base, no power stations, no Tiberium crystals to harvest. It's a bold reinvention, only truly recognisable as C&C because it's called C&C.

  This has understandably troubled many of the series' long-term fans, but C&C4 must be applauded for trying something so bold and new. The series has been guilty of repeating itself over the years, after all. The aim here is to make a game of instant action -n explosive sci-fi world where you're engaged in intense combat from the get go, rather than spending ages muddling out what you need to build and when. It's a smaller, simpler game, but it's also a much more accessible one.
  

  Free-for-all

  This is especially true in multiplayer. Unless you've spent years playing real-time strategy games online regularly, stepping into a match against perfect strangers tends to be an incredibly daunting, often punishing business. If the other guy knows all the hotkeys, all the best build orders and the map layout inside out, you don't have a chance.

  In C&C4, every player is equal - the challenge is working out what units the other team is fielding, and then ordering in reinforcements that counter them. If he's got planes, build anti-plane units pronto. If he's got anti-plane units, take them out with ground assault units. Building happens very quickly, and requires no money or resources - the only limitation is a cap on your army size.

  Additionally, you won't ever find yourself knocked out the game by a terrifyingly superior opponent, as your mobile HQ (an enormous tank or jet known as a Crawler) will respawn if it's destroyed. The net result is that you'll definitely achieve something in an online match, no matter how inexperienced you may be.

  Well, to a point. C&C4 undermines itself with a persistent ranking system, which affects what units you have access to it. As you kill units, you level up, which in turn grants you new soldiers, tanks, planes and support powers. If you're just starting out, you'll only have three or four toys to play with, and you won't be able to deploy the game's biggest and best units until you've poured dozens of hours into it. It's a bit of a cheap trick to keep people playing, and it can be a real grind to reach the good stuff.
  

  Hairless history

  Fortunately, experience points are earned in any mode you play - multiplayer, skirmish and as many playthroughs of the singleplayer campaign as you like. This means you can play on your own and unlock new units on your own terms, rather than have to head online even if it's not your thing. There's certainly an excitement to slowly opening up the several dozen-strong tech tree, even if it does take too long.

  A second disappointment is the storyline, which promised to resolve the ongoing saga of bald-headed baddie Kane but instead focuses on forgettable new characters and leaves the shiny-bonced supervillain's origin and destiny hanging. He's a lot more nuanced this time around, though, replacing his traditional pantomime villain shtick with depth and sadness. Even if it's not an entirely satisfying way to go out, it's certainly a noble one.

  Which applies to the game as a whole, really - it might not be the finale that C&C deserved, but it's an ambitious, interesting and different strategy game.

  

  Tiberifun
  + Super-fast and super-accessible.
  + C&C's main man gets flesh out at last.
  + Takes the series to new places..

  Tedium
  - That unlock business can get pretty frustrating.
  - The singleplayer missions are short and samey.
  - Doesn't feel at all like traditional C&C.

• Visceral handed the reigns to Command & Conquer

  Visceral handed the reigns to Command & Conquer

  If you like commanding and conquering, chances are you're wondering what's happened to EA's landmark RTS series, Command & Conquer. Following the release of the most recent PC game, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Twilight, it's all gone a bit quiet.

  Well now things are starting to get noisy again, as EA's announced that its handed the series over to Visceral Games to work their magic on. Why should you get excited? Visceral Games made Dante?s Inferno and Dead Space - that's why.

  You shouldn't necessarily be expecting another strategy game, either. According to Visceral's general manager Nick Earl, the developer's take on the project is "pretty far out". That's all the news we have at the moment, annoyingly, but we can't wait to hear more.

  There's no hint of a release date yet, of course, but don't be too upset: Visceral is currently putting the finishing touches to its latest game, Dead Space 2, which lands on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on 28th January 2011. The new game in the survival horror sci-fi series looks amazing, and we?re already booking the release week off to play it.

• Command & Conquer needs you!

  Command & Conquer needs you!

  Fancy turning game designer, even in an unofficial capacity? Boy, are you going to like this one, then. EA wants to hear any ideas you might have regarding the future of its brilliant RTS series, Command & Conquer.

  According to Eurogamer, the publisher just set up a ommunity Developer Areaon the game official site, and it encouraging fans of the franchise to send in their suggestions for what to include in any future games.

  "The most discussed and loved ideas will be passed on to the developer team, so be sure to bring your idea onto our community table. Maybe it will be your idea, which changes everything!" reads a post from a community manager. Sounds like the team taking this stuff pretty seriously!

  Luckily, we already know that EA is hard at work on a new Command & Conquer game, over at its Victory Games studio. We have no idea what the team cooking up, but the last game in the series, Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, brought the current plotline to a blistering conclusion when it rocked up on PCs last March.

  While we wait for the new C&C, of course, it worth remembering that Blizzard has recently released StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty for the PC and Mac. It the daddy of all RTS games in our opinion, and if you haven got it, youe missing out!

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