Metachronos overall score = 9.1 / 10
Real-Time Strategy, Release Date = March 2007
Positive
# Exciting campaign features a ton of quality full-motion video
# Fast-paced gameplay is fun and exhilarating
# Scrin race is a fantastic, balanced addition to the C&C universe
# BattleCast turns the thrilling multiplayer into a spectator sport
Negative
# Game is picky with structure placement
# Bad unit voice-overs
If you're a fan of the Command & Conquer series, three small words are bound to get you excited: Kane is back. Indeed, so are a good number of beloved series hallmarks, like a huge amount of full-motion video and intense strategic combat. But Tiberium Wars is a lot more than just lip service to franchise enthusiasts, and you don't need the rose-hued glasses of nostalgia to appreciate its polish and intensity. It's simply a superb game that's fun and exciting to play both online and off.
No matter which of the two main campaigns you start off with, you're rewarded with a whole lot of live-action video in between missions, featuring familiar actors getting hammy in near-future command centers. There's never been anything subtle about C&C's full-motion video, and, true to form, the campaigns are loaded with wonderfully overblown sequences filled with intrigue and suspense. Yes, Joe Kucan has returned as Nod figurehead Kane, and he's as irresistibly creepy as ever. He and other familiar actors serve up a heap of extravagant solemnity against a backdrop of flashing lights and important-looking video screens.
Bad unit voice-overs are a common annoyance in strategy games, but they're all done well in Tiberium Wars. Again, EA pinpointed just the right amount of extravagance to lavish on the sound design, from mission voice-overs to the eclectic soundtrack, which is alternately tinged with orchestral fanfare and heavy metal grinding. While many of the sound effects are what you would expect from standard artillery and tanks, others, particularly those of the Scrin units, are ominous and appropriately alien.
Regardless of your history with Kane and his cohorts, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is one of the finest real-time strategy games in years. It's also a triumphant return to form for the series, because it's more than just a graphical update--it's an exciting, well-tuned experience with enough that's old and enough that's new to thrill old-timers and newcomers alike. Suffice it to say, you should play this game, and expect to be playing it for a long time to come.