Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (PC)

The game is fun however regardless of the fact that it might seem not much has changed and it's all been done before. It's a game that looks nice as well. All the expected graphical bells and whistles are there with a good use of lighting, particle effects and the whole kit and caboodle. The unit models and the buildings are done really well, there's a lovely sense of detail to everything and the Commando for instance looks pretty cool.

Whilst the maps are typical of the C&C series there's also a lot of detail gone into the various ruined buildings that dot the landscape, you can see the change when you take one over and little banners/flags fold out of the windows as your units sit inside and take pot-shots at the opposing enemy forces.

The maps are big enough and there should have been a few more 2v1 maps so you can buddy-up against a superior AI with a friend and play co-op style I'm impressed enough with the variety of stuff in those maps and some of the tactical buildings you can take advantage of, such as the EMP building that allows an EMP strike whilst you're in control of it.

The game's AI is fairly standard, it's pretty dumb at the lower levels, notch it up slightly and suddenly you're battling against an extremely superior see-all opponent and a dangerous adversary that can give you a run for your money even if you have some friends along for the ride. It doesn't push the AI boundaries as much as it should, not when compared to other games.

The animations are likewise, satisfying and there's a lot of detail gone into making them move well, look effective in combat and react to enemy attacks. It's got a physics system and gripping music as well as good sound, again though there's nothing that really wows you here, not after seeing the job that Relic did with their Dawn of War series.

The voice acting ranges from cheesy to superb, with a few often OTT performances by Billy Dee (I never really did like him that much though). The grating tones of Michael Ironside balance all of that out, you can see he's having fun. Along side this you've the usual unit voice work and it's all good quality.

There are the occasional bugs that creep into the unit path-finding and responsiveness to orders. It's nothing that's a massive show-stopper…unlike the bug that's been prevalent in the engine since I can remember - why they haven't fixed the fact that in order to host a LAN MP game you have to disable your primary internet connection on the host machine is beyond me, but that seriously knocks my score for the game right down since that's a show-stopper unless you know what to do.

Its madness, dare I say it without being kicked down a well by an angry Spartan King? We're in 2007 and several games later, BFME, BFME II and now C&C 3 all suffer from it!
It's about time that EA fixed it and I know they'll read this review, so to the EA rep, please get them to do something about the LAN glitch - it's beyond a joke now.

All in all though C&C 3 is a good game, it's not amongst the shining stars of the RTS genre since it's all been done before. It does what it does competently enough and presents a fun/engaging story with some classic MP battles both against and cooperatively with a friend.

You can't afford to miss this one if you're a C&C fan.