PC Gameworld - pc games, game demos, downloads, movies, patches, reviews, cheats and news.

Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars
Home : Games : Reviews : PC / Windows : Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars

The grand return of the franchise that started it all.

My first thought when playing Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars was: Now this is more like it.

The original Command & Conquer (1995) helped establish the real-time strategy genre, yet its own sequels never quite recaptured its magic. Sure, they brought new innovations and better graphics, but something was missing. The Red Alert games were sort of sequels, but not quite. (There was no Tiberium!) Command & Conquer 2: Tiberian Sun (1999) was the only other game set in the Tiberium universe, and while it was decent, it never quite matched the appeal of the original.

Gotta love those lasers!

C&C3 does. It's like a beautiful blend of the original C&C and Red Alert 2. C&C skillfully established the setting and atmosphere, and they're back in full force here: the ideological conflict between the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the fanatical Brotherhood of Nod; full-motion video clips that make the player a part of the action; and Tiberium itself, a material that is both the world's greatest power source and its greatest threat. Red Alert 2, while not part of this storyline, set a high point for both interface usability and providing units that were distinctive, clever, and just plain fun to play with. And that's what we get here: troops that can jet, glide, or teleport across the map; fanatical suicide bombers; sneaky stealth units (a specialty of Nod); walkers that cannibalize other friendly units; and, thanks to a new third faction in the war, bugs bugs bugs (thankfully not of the game-crashing kind)!

Scrin spacecraft can be devastating.

This game is not a mere re-hash of older works, of course. In addition to lots of new units (and the third faction, discussed in more detail below), C&C3 re-imagines a few old favorites. For example, the APC's functionality is enhanced by enabling units inside to fire out of the vehicle. Vehicle construction buildings can heal nearby vehicles (eliminating the need for a repair depot). The Mammoth tank can crush smaller vehicles under its treads! This is all delicious, delicious gravy.

12 3 Next >>