C&C junkies looking for more should go online, where they can battle up to three other people. Quick Match tosses them into a simple one-on-one affair, but the five offered modes present even more opportunities for destruction. Versus lets four players (in teams or against the artificial intelligence) enter a battle royal where the winner takes all. Siege mixes things up by dropping an impassable energy wall onto the battlefield. Gamers watch a timer count down, and once it hits zero, the wall disappears, allowing them to cross and hit the enemy base (first team to destroy the other base wins). Capture and Hold challenges teams to capture and hold control points to earn more points than the other team. Capture the Flag works as it should, with teams attempting to snag the other's flag and return it to their base. Finally, King of the Hill tasks gamers with holding a specific point on the map, the goal to hold it longer than the opposition.
Two communication modes complement the online play, Live Whispering and Xbox Live Vision. In the former, gamers speak to everyone or their teammate, while the Live Vision camera splashes their mug in the lobby and/or the battlefield. Both work well, until people start making weird noises and/or pulling down their pants. Then it gets nasty.
Visually, the game resembles its PC counterpart, able to display sprawling cities, mountains and well over a hundred units that include ground troops, turrets and air/ground based vehicles. Up close, C&C 3 looks unremarkable, as the units lack the detail found in other Xbox 360 games, but the game shines when the camera zooms out, offering players a grandiose display of lasers, explosions and other slick effects, displayed at 720p, 1080i or 1080p.
Despite the intense multitasking, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is an excellent RTS that Xbox 360 owners need to play. The single and multiplayer components will offer gamers weeks of play, and the high production values set the standard for live action video. Buy it immediately.
Final Score: 9 (out of 10)
Related Links
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Game Guide
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