I’m not sure why I got more hyped about Supreme Commander over C&C3 - it just kind of happened. So when I grabbed my copy of C&C3 I didn’t realise how much I missed being up-close-and-personal and those crazy FMV’s they have going as standard. Sure the acting’s loose and the women are looser, but it’s got a nostalgic bonus point thing going on. That being said, it’s still not quite up to getting near its predecessors. While the FMV’s might entertain me, I still want a decent game out of Tiberium Wars and have found that while some features grab me, others have let me slip through their grasp.

It’s 2047 and Tiberium – a self-replicating alien substance that has infected the Earth – is spreading like a radioactive ice age (although you can never have enough on your bloody map now can you!). As always you can play as either the GDI, a high-tech alliance of the worlds most advanced nations (the side that’s got some top totty) who are fighting to contain Tiberium, or the Brotherhood of NOD whose leader Kane has another vision for Earth. A war rages over Tiberium and the fate of the planet rests in your hopefully capable hands. {Matt: Ah, I’ll get my coat then).

As soon as you start you’ll notice that, barring the new looks and animations, the units and structures are pretty much the same with a few additions. Oh yeah, those few additions still don’t include sea units…odd huh? Whether this is a gameplay mechanic or a lack of innovation on EA’s part I shrug in general unknowingness. But hey look; the old Kane’s back and you get to watch Michael Ironside being all self-conscious in front of a camera. Brilliant…or….

Graphically for me the it’s all starting to look really nice, with lasers flying all over the place, big explosions, funky looking robots and whizzing aircraft getting me really engrossed. Unlike its rival Supreme Commander, C&C3 has opted for the more classic up-close-and-personal approach for its viewpoint. While this keeps you in the face of what’s going on and keeps you focused with any one task, it does also stop you surveying the battlefield well, but then although you could do this in Supreme Commander you may have felt a little detached from the battlefield. In essence this is going to be down to personal preference as to whether you get on with that style of play or not. I myself have found it to work if you get back into that way of thinking again. The radical difference in appearance between GDI and NOD’s cool too, with GDI opting for predominantly ballistic based weapons while NOD flings its lasers around like a spoilt child that’s just been bought some for Christmas and is trying to see how many eyes it can burn before being sent to bed early without any megalomaniacal dinner.

Deep breath…

If you’ve played the previous versions of Command & Conquer you’ll find it pretty easy to get straight back into Tiberium Wars. At the end of the day if you’re going to put C&C on the box you’ve got to please the already large fan base, so in that regard you wont be disappointed. At the same time, though, it doesn’t really bring anything new to the scene for us to play around with. What’s more, there are still a few of those niggles from the first lot present in this version. When clicking to a location or setting waypoints, your units seemingly demand to be exposed to radiation by traipsing through Tiberium no matter how hard you try to avoid it. In some respects this comes from having more than one unit in your group, with them all being so nice to each other and trying to get out the way. Other issues include no easy to access patrol keys, a fussy building constructor and planes that like to ‘hang’ if they’ve gone to a location but their target has already been destroyed. That said, the overall campaign mode is still very enjoyable.

EA have spent a lot of time looking at the multiplayer for this version with regards to online play. Leader-boards and clan support, and a new spin on strategy games with a broadcast option that lets players commentate on matches. Still, if you’re an offline player and want to delve into skirmishes the only really issue you’ll find is the whopping difference between an easy opponent and a medium opponent. While you can customise their behaviour, if you’d like them to just go all out on you then…well…good luck. In saying all that, both myself and Matt have had more good games than annoying ones, getting the balance right is the hard part and we couldn’t help but feel that the developers could’ve done more to accommodate this.

For me the single player experience has been the enjoyable part of C&C3 that’s worth the purchase alone. Oh, and keep an eye out for the Scrin, the Zerg wannabe alien race that you’ll encounter. Four bonus missions are unlocked once you complete GDI and NOD campaigns whereupon you can enjoy vast air superiority at the cost of lame ground units for a different stance on your already developed strategies.

We welcome back Command & Conquer with a cautious but relieved embrace at its latest addition to the series.