Ah, Command and Conquer.  You’re no stranger to my computer, are you?  I’ve played games 2 and 3 of the Tiberian series and I played so many games of Red Alert 2 that I’m surprised my PC didn’t overdose on it.  So it’s pretty exciting to review the final installment of the so dubbed Kane saga, Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight.

Developer: EA Los Angeles
Publisher: Los Angeles
Genre: Real time strategy
Console(s): PC

The verdict: EA Los Angeles should be commended for taking risks and pushing the envelope in terms of the real time strategy genre, but the single player campaign barely stands up on its own.  The multiplayer is the game’s saving grace.

Command and Conquer is one of those franchises that you always seem to see in one form or another.  Whether it’s the Kane saga, Red Alert, or Generals, Command and Conquer has always been around.  Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight is reportedly the last of the C&C games to feature iconic character Kane.  While the single player features redone gameplay that takes a lot of admirable risks and tries new things, it’s simply an awkward and unsatisfying conclusion after four games (not including expansion packs).  Fortunately, the multiplayer is a lot more entertaining.

Tiberian finale

The single player story ultimately concludes the Kane saga, although longtime series fans may be disappointed at the weak, threadbare story.  Ten years after Kane’s Wrath, humanity is on the verge of extinction due to uncontrollable expansion of tiberium.  The Global Defensive Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod forge an unlikely alliance facilitated by Kane with the intention of stopping the spread of Tiberian, but this backires and causes the Fourth Tiberian War.  The story features the usual cheesy acting which remains as charming as ever, with particular nods going to Kane for some of hilarious on-screen antics.  Oddly enough, the story is much darker this time around, and trying to compliment the relatively darker story with goofy, ham-handed acting makes the game feel schizophrenic.

As for the story itself, you get to play as either the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) or the Brotherhood of Nod, although both stories follow a canon narrative.  The different missions are interwoven nicely and don’t leave any plot holes, but there’s almost nothing to surprise you or make you connect with the characters.  Missions themselves generally boil down to similar, repetitive objectives and the campaign is extremely short.  The Scrin from Tiberian Sun have now been reduced to a convenient deus ex machina that resolves the storyline awkwardly fast, and even though there’s closure it all feels like the writers rushed to tie up every loose end they could during development.

Tiberian Twilight has undergone a substantial gameplay redesign that may alienate hardcore fans of the series used to a more traditional RTS experience, but nonetheless makes for less tedious, more strategic, and more fast-paced fights.  Stationary bases and traditional resource gathering are nowhere to be found in Tiberian Twilight.  You now utilize giant crawler units that are mobile and can act as unit makers.  At the beginning of a game you can choose to make your crawlers offensive, defensive, or support based, and these three variations have respective strengths and weaknesses.  Unit creation is swift, and food caps are low, meaning the tedium of resource gathering and slow unit production are out the window.  Additionally, the low food cap means players cannot simply rely on mass-producing a particular unit.  We’ve been seeing these trends for a while now in the RTS genre, and while they may disappoint traditionalists, it’s gratifying to see developers defy standards and take steps to eliminate the duller elements of a genre.

Let’s take it online-oh wait, we already were

There’s a heavy focus on multiplayer in Tiberian Twilight which immediately becomes apparent when you discover that in order to play the game, you need to have a working Internet connection and be signed in through Electronic Arts Online – even if you want to play the single player campaign.  There’s been a lot of complaining about this policy, but let’s be fair: It’s very difficult to have no access whatsoever to the Internet today, and it’s easy to understand the need for copyright protection.  Even when I travel by train, the company recently installed surprisingly fast Wi-Fi.  Ironically, the single player is so unmemorable and stale that the multiplayer is likely where players will spend most of their time, so this policy gets a bit of a pass.

Multiplayer utilizes the same mobile bases, quick unit development, and low food caps to create a tactical strategy scenario based more around action than slowly watching the meter fill to indicate that another unit has been trained.  Players fight on teams of up to five and must capture control points scattered throughout the map; as you seize nodes, your points accumulate faster.  Naturally, whoever reaches the point limit first wins the game.  There’s a lot to appreciate with a setup like this, first and foremost that you’re never technically eliminated from the game.  Even if all of your units and crawlers are wiped out you simply pick another crawler after a short wait and rebuild your army.  Not only does this keep the action fast paced, but it also keeps the game fair; if your team loses a player, you won’t automatically be fighting an uphill battle due to a numerical disadvantage because they’ll respawn.

The system isn’t without its issues.  Emphasis on multiplayer is taken so far that the low food caps mean when you’re playing alone, armies and battles will be relatively small.  This gets particularly noticeable when you realize your army moves fairly slowly.  That’s not to say the experience and the fights can’t be pitched, but it does make a noticeable difference.  On the other hand, getting a bunch of players together for a team match can turn battlefields into immensely satisfying war zones.  Given the emphasis is on territory control, you’ll have to utilize different players’ strengths and weaknesses based on their crawler types and work well with your team so that you don’t systematically lose control of your nodes and watch your points slip away. 

Level up!

The new experience system Tiberian Twilight has is interesting and a great way to reward players, but it works against you as well.  You gain experience and level up as you play any gameplay mode in Tiberian Twilight not unlike the Modern Warfare games.  As you level up higher tier units are unlocked, meaning you have to work for a fair portion of the content.  On one hand it’s a great way to motivate people to keep playing and it constantly rewards the player, but it’s important to remember that in the Modern Warfare games, even newbies had relatively good gear.  In practice, newcomers who partake in multiplayer may be limited to early tier units while an opponent who has the best offensive units in the game utterly decimates your army.  Again, this generally forces players to rely on team-based multiplayer or to just level grind in single player.

As long as you have a decently powered PC, Tiberian Twilight runs and plays beautifully.  Despite the dark tone of the campaign, units and battlefields are bright and colorful.  Detail on the design of tanks and aerial units are intricate, and realistic lumbering movements of units like crawlers look believable.  Something about the projectile attacks seems particularly well done; the crystal clear noises and the animations look distinctive and impressive.  Whether masses of red energy bursts are hammering the armor of a much stronger tank or homing missiles barrage advancing reinforcements, it’s difficult not to admire your own handiwork as a leader.

Conclusion

Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight takes a lot of really admirable risks and steps outside the box; the only confusing part is why the developers chose the last game in the series as the debut for the redone gameplay mechanics and multiplayer.  The single player is a major letdown, especially for longtime fans of the series who were hoping for a more fitting finale for Kane.  Conversely, the multiplayer really is a lot of fun.  Tiberian Twilight looks great, plays fine, and despite the problems I mentioned the setting is ultimately successful and it means you can have a lot of fun with it.  Multiplayer alone manages to hold up Command and Conquer well enough, making it a reasonable fourth installment in the Tiberian series; just be warned that it’s very different.

Disclaimer: This Steam version of Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight was provided by Electronic Arts for review purposes.