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Welcome back, Commander

Everyone knows Command & Conquer - one of, if not the most successful strategy game series (if you count out Renegade ). Back then from Westwood, the latest iterations came from EA Games and are divided into two universes: the Red Alert universe, in which the Cold War became hot thanks to time travel and mind control, and the one in which GDI and Nod are fighting over the world. This is also the case in the third C&C-installment, called Tiberium Wars, which was released in 2007. Here's a little disclaimer: If you know the series, you can skip the next section, because I'll try to unravel the background story. Everyone else: Follow me into the unnecessarily detailed C&C-history!

A (less) brief story overview

GDI? Nod? WTF? If you're not familiar with the franchise, you'll be confused by all the abbreviations, so here's a brief explanation. In the Tiberium universe, the eponymous Tiberium, a green, crystalline and extremely toxic substance of extraterrestrial origin, was discovered on Earth. Within a few decades, the Tiberium covered the Earth, leaving behind contaminated areas of varying degrees. Red zones where life no longer exists, moderately contaminated yellow zones and rare, uncontaminated blue zones.

While the GDI (Global Defense Initiative), which grew out of NATO, is trying to protect the civilian population and prevent the spread of the crystal, it is being disrupted by the sectarian terrorist group known as the Brotherhood of Nod. Under their leader Kane, the Brotherhood is even trying to advance the spread of Tiberium and make it usable. Kane's role and his plans are just as opaque as the bald guy's head of hair. He often disappears, only to reappear some time later, usually with a new series spin-off.

This is also the case in Tiberium Wars. Because towards the end of the second Tiberium War, which we experience in Command & Conquer 2 – Tiberian Sun , Nod is actually considered defeated and Kane dead. So much for the introduction to the story of part three. Alas, Kane is still alive and has revitalized his followers after years of absence. For his new appearance, he uses rockets to blow the GDI space station Philadelphia out of space, marking the start of the 3rd Tiberium War.

We experience all of this in the campaign, which comprises several missions and can be played either on the side of the GDI, Nod or the alien race Scrin, which joins the game later. As is typical of the series, there are also numerous WTF moments, and a few of the bigger head-scratchers are resolved in the addon Kane's Wrath. The story is told in the familiar trashy and C&C-typical movie snippets with real actors, some more, some less well-known. In part three, Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian from Star Wars), Michael Ironside (Starship Troopers) and Josh Holloway (Lost), among others, do the honors. Kane actor Joseph D. Kucan, on the other hand, will only be familiar to C&C nerds.

Good ol‘ Strategy Gaming

Tiberium Wars comes from a time when strategy games were still quite straight-forward: Mine resources, build units, dismantle your opponent's base. You always start with your mobile construction vehicle, which is basically your base. Once deployed, you can put buildings and units into production. Of course, the whole thing also costs something, the only raw material is Tiberium, which you harvest from Tiberium fields using harvesters. There are two types of this raw material: Standard green Tiberium and the blue version, which earns twice as many credits as the standard version, but is also a rare guest on the maps. Another limitation is the power generated in power plants. If you have too little energy, buildings and defensive grids shut down.

Let's continue with the review. With enough credits and the appropriate buildings, you can get started with your military. A distinction can be made between three areas: Infantry, tanks and airplanes. These work according to the typical rock-paper-scissors concept, which works well for the most part. Apart from the cheap units, hardly any unit is really useless. Example: Rifle squads are wiped out pretty quickly by anti-infantry vehicles, but they can't do anything against a tank. This in turn is defenceless against air attacks, which for their part are vulnerable to missile troops, and these are subject to... that's right, the infantry squads.

The three factions also differ pleasantly from one another. While the GDI brings classic vehicles such as tanks and buggies into battle, Nod strikes from hiding with rocket motorcycles and stealth tanks. The Scrin, on the other hand, send all kinds of crawling creatures into battle, which can heal themselves in the vicinity of Tiberium. This leads to exciting dynamics in the battles, but of course does not reach the complexity of a Supreme Commanders or the tension of a Company of Heroes.

But it's not just units that can lead you to victory: In addition to research options such as weapon or armor upgrades, certain buildings also unlock special abilities that your units or you yourself can use. The best example: the super weapon. Each faction has a building that enables the use of a particularly devastating ability. The GDI uses the orbital ion cannon, Nod launches a nuclear bomb and the Scrin form a dimensional rift. It's pretty badass, but has to charge up for several minutes before it can be used. Other abilities include a cloaking field, which Nod can use to make his units invisible, as well as support troops and minefields.

Graphically, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars doesn't really stand out today. The game is based on the engine that was already used for the Schlacht-um-Mittelerde-games. Textures are blurry, units lack fine detail. Only the effects are able to disguise their age somewhat, and additions such as the shadows of the clouds moving across the battlefield bring some life to the rigid maps. However, I don't need to mention that better graphics don't necessarily mean better gameplay. If it would, you should take a look at the reviews of its successor, Tiberian Twilight .

What the ravages of time have not been able to crunch is the soundtrack. There will be a corresponding review, but if you like rocking post-apocalypse music, there's no reason not to give it a listen. For a strategy game, it's definitely a soundtrack that sets the mood.

To sum up, I really enjoyed playing Tiberium Wars back then, for hours and days, and was delighted when an addon was announced: Kane 's Wrath. I also wrote a review of this game, which completes the picture. But if you're only interested in the main game, I can tell you that it's also a lot of fun on its own, especially if you play the campaign, which doubles as a tutorial for the battles. However, the online multiplayer was shut down by EA years ago. So if you're hoping to compete online, you'll probably have to use the dedicated community sites. However, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is definitely worth a recommendation.