The C&C 4 Review/Rant 0

by Adam Blue • Editorial, Reviews

As some of you may know from reading this blog, I am a huge Command & Conquer fan. Some of you may also be familiar with how pissed I got when things started slowly going south. EA purchased Westwood, rushing the release of Tiberian Sun and released C&C 3 which almost completely disregarded Tiberian Sun (although, the expansion made for the purpose of pleasing fans tried its best to piece everything together…but the damage was done). With C&C3, most of us knew it was done. One of the developers of Tiberian Sun who left with other Westwood vets to start Petroglyph, spoke out on what they planned to do with the C&C franchise. This world was awesome.

We had the mysterious Kane, tiberium crystals that started mysteriously appearing around the world, and the Tacitus artifact found in a crashed alien ship, along with the emerging of Cabal. All of these neat plot points started opening up, with fans eager to hear how it continues. It even goes deeper with Tiberium veins, blue crystals, mutants, visceroids, etc. Depth very much comparable to Bungie’s Halo universe. But all of these details were left out of C&C3. Why? My only guess is the people working on C&C at EA decided they wanted things done their way. I was able to stomach it though. The game was fun, but not exactly the evolution we were hoping for from Tiberian Sun. Again, we just accepted it. It was almost as bad as an Alien and Predator fan witnessing the Alien vs. Predator movie. It changed everything.

So now we get C&C 4: Tiberian Twilight. My thinking is that after the retribution of Kane’s Wrath, we’ll get a part of what Westwood intended to bestow upon the fans. We wanted to learn more about the Scrin, the tiberium, Cabal…all those above plot points. But unfortunately, none of that is found here. For one, the polish and production found in previous games is certainly very low-budget here. It was going down-hill anyway, but now it has come to a cliff. I hate to talk bad about the dev team on this, but everything looks bad. Even the FMV was full of stupid filler crap. I’m fine with using unknown actors, and the acting was fine for this medium, but there was no substance. No resolution. Nothing to tie previous plot points together. I didn’t care anymore.

As for music, a huge staple of the earlier releases, it’s also slightly disappointing. TD and TS set the mood. The music, written by Frank Klepacki, was amazing and would be something you could listen to outside of gaming. There is actually a cool score written for the game, but it would have been better off as cues within the gameplay. We’re missing the rocking music, the atmospheric doom sound – anything resembling the Tiberium Universe.

It seems though I was playing the game for the story and not the gameplay. Part of that is true. C&C3 was already a let down, but I was eager to follow the story and see Joe Kucan again as Kane. How was the gameplay? This time around it is not a base-builder, but an RTS similar to Dawn of War II…but not. I don’t know. EA said they were experimenting with different ways to play an RTS, and while it is different, it’s not necessarily what should be packaged. I mean, it works as a game, but it’s pointless. I guess it’s fun to try out, but ultimately has no real strategic point like DoW or Company of Heroes. And I really don’t know how to explain it. It has no point.

You have a mobile base called a Crawler which you build units from. You then build the right mix of units to take out the enemy. If they have air, get anti-air. Rock, Paper, Scissors. There are some points around the map you can grab colored tiberium crystals to help you out. But it just doesn’t seem to mean anything to me. I like the addition of tons of units to choose from which are unlocked by leveling up. Also from leveling up, you gain abilities and buffs to be used on units. That whole element is great for an RTS. But the actual gameplay is, again, pointless.

This is a sad time. The Tiberium universe was a fantastic and exciting storyline with much potential, but to the dismay of fans, we are left with nothing. It has been taken away. It’s like watching Alien vs. Predator, Quantum of Solace, or Blade: Trinity. It takes away what makes it great, and leaves us behind. But why has it been taken away form us? Originally, Westwood was purchased by EA because of the cash potential. Once secured, Tiberian Sun was rushed out to meet the demands of upper management/stock holders/whathaveyou, to secure maximum profit. But when C&C3 came around, it really looked like they tried. Like they had freedom. But who made these decisions that changed the Tiberium Universe? Did ex-Westwood employees leave on bad terms making the team at EA feel they need to do their own thing? The lore was right there, yet not even used.

R.I.P.

Submit to N4G:
  • N4G

Related Posts via Categories