Gaming Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

[James]

[font=arial]I'd bought this game for the PC a little while ago but I was a little frustrated - neither of my laptops can run the game with higher graphics settings (understandable I suppose). But as a result, the game slowed down far too much and was too frustrating for me.

So I took a chance and bought the Xbox 360 version. Reviews had been positive and the control scheme seemed pretty good by all accounts (I had also been able to comfortably play Red Alert on the PSX ages ago so I figured this wouldn't be any worse).

Turns out I'm extremely happy with the game. Not only is the Xbox 360 version gorgeous (running beautifully in 1020p on a large screen) but the controls are surprisingly good - certainly not a replacement for a mouse and keyboard, but a damn good substitute nonetheless. Some of the menu options that are built around the pad are truly clever.

I was always a big C&C fan (particularly Red Alert 2 and Generals, both of which I?ve played to death ? Warlock and I used to play co-op online pretty regularly).

I have to say, C&C 3 really manages to completely outshine Generals ? not only does it maintain the core ?feel? of C&C but it expands on the formula in several very interesting ways.

One of the more interesting aspects of this game is probably the introduction of a mysterious third faction ? the Scrin. As yet I haven?t seen them in campaign mode (I only bought the game a couple of days ago) but I have played with/against them in skirmish. On the whole I?m very impressed ? the Scrin are incredibly well-balanced and feature some truly amazing (and visually stunning) capabilities. The ability to pair-up certain units is particularly cool. And there are few things cooler than the blue-purple shimmering shields that appear over some Scrin units when you research that technology.

So far I?m finding the difficulty to be reasonable; the A.I. is definitely more sophisticated in C&C 3 when compared to even Generals. On skirmish mode you can basically set different types of A.I. (Rusher, Steamroller, Balanced, etc). I think my favourite is definitely ?Balanced?, because balanced opponents seem to be less predictable and they will use multiple tactics. I found the enemies in C&C 3 to be significantly more varied and clever than before, for sure.

Other than that the interface is great and the video clips, while generally pretty cheesy, are still good fun. The video production in C&C 3 is definitely improved over Generals, although it?s still got that very B-movie feel about it. One thing I do have to credit the developers with is including a real Australian character ? one that actually has a proper Australian accent like most of us down here! (In other words, not a Steve Irwin clone played by an American who can?t mimic our actual accent). So they got points there, lol.

Anyway I?m unfortunately still not on Xbox Live ? I am now having trouble finding a wireless adapter (apparently the previous model is being phased out for a new one that is ?more compatible? or something), so I can?t play it online yet. That?s the only big drawback at this stage.

Does anyone else have this game (for PC or Xbox 360) and what are your impressions?[/font]

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]I got the PC version a while ago, and I have to say like you James I'm pretty damn impressed with the end result, aside from the cheesy cut-scenes and the irritation of being unable to patch the game directly with the Update function [had to do it through FileFront].

I've just been introduced to the Scrin in the GDI campaign and am about half-way there I think in the Nod campaign. One little thing though that really bugs me at this point in the strength of the GDI Commando unit, which to me seems really underpowered as compared to other units. I don't know how many times I've expended the 2000 whatevers needed to get the unit, send him against some infantry and watch him die after a relatively short firefight. One particular mission requires you to use him to take down a particularly powerful unit and for the life of me I just can't to it. [/SIZE]