Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is finally out on PC and Xbox 360 later this month and it’s really the first time the undisputed king of the Real Time Strategy genre has made the move over to home console.
The question on everyone’s lips at EA’s LA Studio is this - will this polished console version encourage a whole new generation of non-PC gamers to start playing more strategy games?
SPOnG caught up with Raj Joshi, Producer of
Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars earlier this week in London to quiz him about this and more.
If you are a strategy gamer, then you are already slobbering with anticipation to play this game. But if you haven’t previously been a fan of the genre, or of the
C&Cseries in particular, then SPOnG still urges you to read on. As this is one strategy game that might well just help you to change your mind. Not to mention your lazy, set-in-your-ways gaming habits.
Read on for the full details on the latest iteration in the series
SPOnG: hi Raj, before we get stuck into talking some more about the 360 version of
Command and Conquer 3, can you give us a potted history of the storyline behind the games?
Raj Joshi: Sure,
Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars has a pretty long legacy. The
Command and Conquer universe has been around now for over a decade and the main idea is that there are two main factions on earth: GDI, the Global Defence Initiative; and NOD, which is a religious fanatic organisation. Both of them are competing against each other – in similar ways to things that are going on currently in the real world.
SPOnG: In what way?
Raj Joshi: In the sense that, well, GDI is similar to the UN – as far as it sees itself as a peace-keeping force. Then there’s another sector of religious fanatics that have their own vision of the way that the world should be run. But the thing that differs [from reality] is that you have this Tiberium, which is the main element in the game – a highly radioactive, very dangerous, self-replicating element.
Tiberium can also be harnessed for power and for weaponry. So, both GDI and NOD are fighting to harvest this. But also, what we do in
Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is that we introduce a
third faction – the aliens. This helps to abridge the storyline and helps to explain how Tiberium came to the planet and also introduces a new and very, very interesting new faction.
So, basically GDI and NOD are competing for control of the planet, while Tiberium itself is actually self-replicating and taking over the planet as well. So, there’re four key players:GDI, NOD, the aliens, and the Tiberium itself is a force to be reckoned with.
SPOnG: So NOD are no longer the ‘generic bad boys’?
Raj Joshi: Mmmm, well they are kinda bad boys, but they are very focused, very driven, and they have a very specific idea of the way the world should be. They see the aliens as visitors, and GDI sees them as invaders. NOD embraces Tiberium, embraces anything that’s going to happen that is in line with a larger vision of how the world should work according to their own god; or the vision of the world that their own god wants to create.