C&C Tiberian Sun REVIEW

Command and Conquer Tiberian sun is a classic RTS from the 90s that captured the imagination of many, but does it still have what it takes in 2023?

Developer - Westwood Studios
Publisher - EA
Release date - 20/08/1999

[Bobslayer]

People are talking about RTS again. The world is healing.

Welcome back commander.

[Jasey]

I wish that they would do a full remaster of this game!

[hyperteleXii]

It only looks so zoomed out because of high resolution. Old computer monitors were much, much, smaller, creating a sense of claustrophobia as you listen to distant sounds and frantically pan the camera to see what's happening.

[fcukugimmeausername]

I love that this game is on Steam now.

[Asako_Gaming]

Easily the best game in the series for me. The story, art style and the units are all sensational.

[KapitanWasTaken]

Tiberian Sun was actually composed not only by Frank Klepacki but also by Jarrid Mendelson.

[serenity]

11:09 they have the technology and money, but sadly not the passion and sincerity like the game developers had back in the days

[commandershepard]

Westwood didn't create the genre, but they did create the gold standard. I yearn for a game that captures my imagination like this one did. Thanks for the memories

[Tocyisback]

I have so many memories attached to the whole C&C series but this overall is my all time fav

[HistoryTeacherSteve]

TS is my favorite C&C game! thanks for the memories. great campaign, mood, art direction, units, and music.

[petem]

Command and Conquer games are now on Steam, they're coming back for sure

[igorzherebiatev]

First time played in 2000, on my first pc. Still have it installed on my main pc, Still playing from time to time. Great game.

[PepRock]

On release the NOD artillery was so OP that you could plant 2 in your base and it would shred everything. It never missed. I had a friend that I could not beat until the first patch because of it. I had a 2 pronged attack with a Mammoth MKII as a diversion along with a bomber strike that still failed all because of the damned arty.

[Marinealver]

If EA did one thing right is that it allowed Tiberum Sun to become Openware, in other words it is Freeware in which EA has released the source code and has allowed the community to make mods of it.
My favorite is a Stand Alone mod of TibSun called Dawn of the Tiberum Age which puts Classic Red Alert Faction against the Classic C&C (Tiberium Dawn) factions in a 4-way war. Nothing like watching the mammoth tanks of Soviet and GDI duke it out or a Cat & Mouse fight between Allied and Nod.

[justinl]

Totem Arts, the creators of Renegade X, are working on an amazing project right now set in this era of the CnC universe.

[TheDemigans]

The game fails on the controls and some UI, but its where it succeeds that counts.

People always focus on the campy bits, but that misses the entire rest of the game. It set out to make a futuristic apocalyptic world where two groups fight one another at the expense of the rest of the world, and it does so everywhere.

If you wait too long the Tiberium will spread across the maps you play, giving you a sense of how dangerously it spreads if it isn’t actively checked. Mutant flora makes sections look far more alien (especially in Firestorm) and the mutant fauna is dangerous. Not to mention that a section of humans has become Tiberium infected and is suffering because of it, and often made pariahs who are either thrown aside or experimented upon.

In the meantime as you play you’ll find the remnants of civilization everywhere. Roads and bridges, often worn down and broken, lead to tiny places where people obviously try to live. Transformers, solar panels, greenhouses and subterranean housing show how they have to be self-sufficient in a desolate world.

Missions also incorporate the civilian populace and the world. Scientists looking into Tiberium are used as pawns in media campaigns, false flag operations done to sway the population, riot control, rebel factions etc all play a role.

Then there is unit design. This is actually where the dated graphics help, as high realistic graphics makes it harder to have suspension of disbelief and convey certain emotions or capabilities than lower realism, something all the live-action remakes of cartoons are experiencing (among other things). The units and buildings are mostly blocky, jagged and utilitarian, like the Titan, Wolverine, Tick Tank and mobile artillery. Combined with the dirty look of most buildings and units with nothing really looking like its fresh from the factory and it helps sell the apocalyptic scenery with futuristic elements.

And then comes the music. Often instilling a sense of loneliness and otherworldliness that fits the theme well.

This is what makes the game so good. Almost everything enhances each other. Unit design, world design, game design, music, missions it all enhances this pre-apocalyptic desolate but futuristic world.

If only they had had less things like visions and a more streamlined idea of what the Tacitus and the Nod-build Scrin ship were and how to implement it. As well as a bit more streamlined story to guide the player to the end. Oh and better UI and controls of course.

[WallNutBreaker]

Im happy to say the Founder's of the RTS Genre, Westwood... they were my introduction to the RTS Genre. 😊

[thetruth]

There's something in the air. People are talking about RTS games again. It's about time.

[drakko]

Ah my childhood is coming back again.

Just a small note: the GDI distruptor - that microwave tank, actually uses soundwave to shake things apart(per lore)

[MrPronGogh]

you made a good point about 2D graphic adging better than 3D. is not the same for every genre, FPS for example, but it is for RTS and RPG.