Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (PC, 1999)
Graphics-7 Sound-7 Control-7.5 Challenge-7 Story-5
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7.5 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Somewhat improved pathfinding (with some exceptions such as a when a unit gets stuck running in place just from a piece of wall or when the firing path of a unit is blocked while on high ground shooting downwards (into the ground!, also see the bugs below))
Improved mission briefings
Improved interface (rally points (ctrl+alt+lmb while building is selected, can’t be completely removed unfortunately – just changed), can now target or select air units, unit production queue (up to five; no building queue though), more hotkeys, better box selection, faster cycling through unit/building icons in the sidebar, waypoints, separate volume controls for voices and sfx, somewhat more efficient save system)
More mission variety and complexity
Get to fight in more interesting areas at times (near larger cities, crash sites, etc.)
Improved CGI cutscenes (though there’s still the disconnect between what happens in the post-mission cutscenes and what the player actually did in-game, the failed mission cutscene also shows the Mammoth Mk. II before you can build it in the campaign)
Sometimes better strategic options during the mission select (choosing one area over another can change the following mission a bit)
Enemy AI is somewhat improved (picks the correct units to fire at given their units’ strengths)
New types of resources
Two factions which are pretty different from one another (though not as drastically as in for example Starcraft)
Many different units (most of them useful)
Interesting mechanics and units (subterranean flamer tanks, hover tanks, units now gain levels based on what they’ve killed, automatic gates, EMP cannons, vehicle hijackers, stealth, medics, chemical missiles, infiltration, take over enemy buildings)
Sell buildings and units (vehicles on the service depot)
Speed up construction by building more of each production building
Decent voice acting (units in-game; the cutscene acting is mostly bland)
Good variation for its time (rescue missions, timed hold outs, base capture, no-base missions, infiltrations, destroy x unit/building etc. - most of them have scripted events)
Difficulty and speed options
Choose where to set up your headquarters at the start of most base-based missions
Resource spawn points (resources replenish over time)
Destructible scenery (new here are crumbling cliff sides opening up shortcuts, and breakable ice)
Critters (tiberian fiends, visceroids)
Transport usage is smoother
Buildings can be placed a bit further apart (like in RA)
More complex terrain (more detailed height differences, can be reshaped by some attacks, longer bridges, tunnels)
Basic lighting effects
Supports higher resolutions than available in the options (up to 1280x1024, edit the .ini file)
Satisfying sfx overall (some re-used sounds from RA)
Most units can move while firing (allowing 'dancing' which rewards micro management during combat)
Maps are often designed to allow alternate ways of dealing with the enemy
Killing civilians or wasting your troops does matter if playing as GDI (affects score, which can affect resources on the next mission)
Good length (18+ missions per side)
Mission tree (choose your own path through the game between missions – usually set up so that playing an alternate mission helps you in some way in the next one)
Some hidden items (money, stealth power up, healing, etc.)
Power command (turn off or on activity on individual buildings to temporarily save power)
New neutral faction (Mutants – they’re like Fremen in Dune 2)
Expansion pack music is available in the standard campaign after installation
Allies can send harvesters to each other's refineries in MP?
+/-
Takes place in a more futuristic setting (2030)
Some buildings have small upgrades that you build and place manually on them (seems a bit redundant)
Grenadiers have been replaced with the less efficient disk throwers (the disks can bounce away in some situations meaning you’ll have to tend to them more, they also seem to all blow up easier when in a group)
Engineers now take over buildings in perfect condition again (can also be used to repair bridges)
Height differences in the terrain have more significance?
Most units have very specific uses to the point where it becomes a bit absurd (rockets do almost no damage to infantry for example)
Some vague elements during campaign (the neutral buildings/units in one of the earlier GDI missions, the other Mammoth Tank in the ‘Destroy the Mammoth Prototype’ NOD mission)
Infantry have a tendency to start crawling when fired upon (double click usually gets them up; gets frustrating in no-base missions where every unit counts)
Building production is dependent on headquarters
Sometimes an objective is only mentioned in the text briefing (not in the previous cutscene – can be reviewed during the mission though)
Mini-map resolution is at a better distance but now it can’t be zoomed in
Infantry is more resilient to tiberium than before
Some units have extremely limited sight (Orcas)
Orcas were nerfed (slower reloading, weaker attack, still moves around a lot in-between shots) and flame tanks are only great vs. infantry now, the enemy AI doesn’t constantly rebuild like in the first game (on Normal)
The actors don’t directly address the player in the cutscenes (ends up making the story feel a bit detached from what you’re doing though the earlier style was kind of awkward and cheesy as well)
Silos as well as some units drop some tiberium when destroyed
Carryall and Sonic Tank from Dune 2 are reused
More cheesy cutscenes (live actors against CGI backgrounds, full of clichés)
Air units can't be used to explore while in the air (won't remove FoW; can still be used to explore by landing and taking off near the fog repeatedly)
Hunter seeker drones - auto-targets random building (no defense against it, original idea before release (parasitic scout + bomb) seemed more interesting)
Ion storms (lightning strikes, no air travel?)
Harvesters now avoid/run from danger (sadly they run from single infantry units and tend to move around them when you want to run over units)
SAM sites no longer go underground when not attacking meaning they are less resilient than in C&C (however they also react faster to enemies)
Anti-air units will keep chasing air units that move away from them until told to stop
Concrete walls are rather weak
Explored territory stays fully visible (unlike in Warcraft or Starcraft)
No units can attack air to air
Harvester is now selected when box selecting multiple units if it's inside the selection box (can be annoying)
Can’t rotate the view (see SimCity 2000; does have the plus side of letting players hide stuff behind buildings or terrain)
Regenerating harvesters (only up to 50% health though)
Harvesters are more efficient and resources les scarce than in C&C (means you can win by larger numbers and brute force in some missions but it takes more time)
Experienced units don’t carry over to other missions (while it would require some rebalancing it would’ve been cool to try and make a small force survive the campaign - see Cannon Fodder)
The wolverine and titan are basically sprite swaps of the jeep and medium tank from the previous games
Tech buildings are still in effect after being sold
Can't manually change the target of a SAM site (makes engineer strikes easier)?
Can’t run over bikes from the side here?
-
Still lacking some commands (attack area (Alt Gr- or Alt+Ctrl-clicking an area sort of works but the units have weird attack priorities, clicking in the FoW just makes them move normally) and patrol (there is one but it involves the cumbersome waypoint system which can’t be used to create a continuous route – the units will patrol the set path once and then stop) moves, building and unit production hotkeys)
Some interface annoyances (can’t quickly view the briefing text during mission select on the map screen, no key for exiting the pause menu, can’t review mission messages/videos at will, cumbersome waypoint system (need to place icons separately and then make units ‘enter’ the cycle, limited uses, should’ve worked like in Starcraft; however it is useful for marking important cloaked buildings), save game deletion in a separate sub menu)
Uneven volume levels (cutscenes are too low)
Sometimes distracting backgrounds (units stand out less partly because of the saturation)
Less memorable soundtrack overall
Some trial & error (missile launcher locations in the final GDI mission (if you don’t stop the launch before time runs out the mission is a failure and you need to find three of them; destroying one resets the timer though), GDI 14 – apparently you can’t let the mutants die (why they aren’t transported out after doing their job isn’t explained) and the mission is to destroy the entire NOD base (not just the production facility), blue tiberium is explosive?, some new units are healed by tiberium, surprise attacks (GDI 5 – defend alien craft mission where the enemy attacks from below ground at one point (same thing happens in the radar sensor mission), tiberium fiends are extremely dangerous, unit attack range oddities (certain angles give better range for infantry), later in-doors missions, surprise reinforcements)
No subtitles during cutscenes
Random (?) difficulty in GDI 15 – sometimes you get run over by a large force fairly quickly
Still poor reaction range on units
Uses for new units are (still) often explained only in the manual
The special infantry units don’t have the personality of Tanya or the original commando (the rail gun is obviously borrowed from Quake)
Storyline disappointments (lacks exposition for the first few missions, focuses more on escapist sci-fi and is less humourous than the prequels, mostly lacking in moral nuances)
Units still sometimes move closer than they need to when attacking (need to take it very slow sometimes when attacking base defenses)
Some tedious bits (searching for that last unit or building on a large map when you’ve clearly won the battle already, the tiberium veins (orange creep) take quite a while to disappear after killing its spawn point, can’t immediately press escape to replay (or reload a save) after failing a mission, can’t skip in-game cutscenes, can’t speed up the score countdown after missions or skirmishes)
Tiberian fiends (critters) don’t attack the enemy in SP
The Stratos rescue mission could’ve been better (hijacked vehicles could be mistaken for NOD troops, watch tower lights could trigger the enemy instead of just certain explosions doing so (actually the first one does but not the ones in the base?)
The cutscene where he’s escorted out of the map is bugged so it looks like some of the units just disappear without entering the transport)
Auto-hold on production if you’re low on money while something is building and start building something else (only happens once but it can be annoying having to manually continue production)
Minor tooltip delay when checking prices on buildings and units
Walls are still slow to build (one tile at a time – should function more like in Age of Empires so the player can multitask) except for the laser fences (NOD only)
Some animation glitches (fixed in a fan patch)
Some units have a semi-cartoony look to them in-game and the art direction is a bit generic overall (worse harvesters, new mammoth looks like a smaller version of the AT-AT from star wars, worse idle infantry and infantry death animations)
Some slowdown when having tons of units on screen
Sometimes idiotic AI (your own units don’t react to artillery fire (even in guard mode), rarely focuses fire, fairly easy to lure its units to where you want them, easy to use a decoy on it to draw attention from Engineer-carrying APCs or Commandos, sometimes doesn't use available troops in base when attacked, won’t advance past stealth tank ‘walls’?)
Can't move the view to a certain spot via the mini-map without deselecting one's currently selected units (unless you manage to click on a friendly unit/building)
Orcas (and other units?) forget their target's position if the target is fast moving and far away (need to repeat the attack order while they’re closing in)
Worse explosions (they look more sterile and usually lack weight)
Some annoying sfx (NOD bike attack), "Silos needed" (there could’ve been a meter in the sidebar instead) and "cloaked unit detected" (too frequent)
Can’t manually control when to burrow subterranean units
Some poorly balanced units (Hijacker too expensive, NOD’s APC is better, Harpies not very effective for their cost, in MP: GDI has a harder time getting hunter seekers and ion cannon (compared to missiles) while NOD has a hard time getting the Cyborg Commando, Orca Bombers)
The in-game cutscene is slow to trigger at the end of the "villainess in distress" mission
Notes:
Version 2.03
- Possible to restrict or unlock units/buildings via the .ini file
Bugs:
- In Rescue Stratos mission: Can’t make units move past a certain distance without waypoints some ways into the mission, tiberium fiends don’t attack, need to destroy even the walls (laser fences) to win
- Vega’s Dams Station mission: Rocket soldiers try to destroy a bridge without it taking damage while a GDI air transport unit tries to land on your own troops until you reach a certain point of said bridge (then it lands on the bridge but deploys nothing)
- Vega’s Dams 2: Orcas also won’t attack certain targets (won’t respond to the attack command) unless you move up next to them
- NOD artillery doesn’t have inaccurate shots until playing the expansion
- Upgrading a GDI power plant also repairs it for free
- Armor upgrade crate decreases Strength instead of increasing it
- When playing as GDI build a firestorm generator and place a section of firestorm wall anywhere away from your base; NOD will never attack your base with missiles as long as this section remains. There is no need to activate the firestorm, just having a section laid out is all it takes.
- Air unit scouting: If you set a rally point from your helipad into shroud and then build an air unit, the unit will fly right off of the pad to the spot specified, regardless of shroud. It's a glitch used to scout opponent's bases.
- Sometimes when you build more than 1 jump-jet infantry, one or more of them don’t come out of the barracks (triggered by rally points?)
- If the Mammoth Mk2 is leaving the service depot with an attack command (for example if it’s being put on there by a carryall), it instantly explodes.
- Carryall problems: Can be prevented from landing by placing other air units under it; Sometimes when you have 2 carryalls that land side by side, they do not unload, they just land with the unit below them. Same thing can happen on service depots.
- EMP glitch: If you unpower your EMP, it gets killed and you build a new one, the new one is instantly ready for use again.
- GDI Final: Enemy attacks neutral buildings and keeps shooting the rubble after they’re destroyed; Two Orcas can end up on top of each other on one helipad
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7.5 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Somewhat improved pathfinding (with some exceptions such as a when a unit gets stuck running in place just from a piece of wall or when the firing path of a unit is blocked while on high ground shooting downwards (into the ground!, also see the bugs below))
Improved mission briefings
Improved interface (rally points (ctrl+alt+lmb while building is selected, can’t be completely removed unfortunately – just changed), can now target or select air units, unit production queue (up to five; no building queue though), more hotkeys, better box selection, faster cycling through unit/building icons in the sidebar, waypoints, separate volume controls for voices and sfx, somewhat more efficient save system)
More mission variety and complexity
Get to fight in more interesting areas at times (near larger cities, crash sites, etc.)
Improved CGI cutscenes (though there’s still the disconnect between what happens in the post-mission cutscenes and what the player actually did in-game, the failed mission cutscene also shows the Mammoth Mk. II before you can build it in the campaign)
Sometimes better strategic options during the mission select (choosing one area over another can change the following mission a bit)
Enemy AI is somewhat improved (picks the correct units to fire at given their units’ strengths)
New types of resources
Two factions which are pretty different from one another (though not as drastically as in for example Starcraft)
Many different units (most of them useful)
Interesting mechanics and units (subterranean flamer tanks, hover tanks, units now gain levels based on what they’ve killed, automatic gates, EMP cannons, vehicle hijackers, stealth, medics, chemical missiles, infiltration, take over enemy buildings)
Sell buildings and units (vehicles on the service depot)
Speed up construction by building more of each production building
Decent voice acting (units in-game; the cutscene acting is mostly bland)
Good variation for its time (rescue missions, timed hold outs, base capture, no-base missions, infiltrations, destroy x unit/building etc. - most of them have scripted events)
Difficulty and speed options
Choose where to set up your headquarters at the start of most base-based missions
Resource spawn points (resources replenish over time)
Destructible scenery (new here are crumbling cliff sides opening up shortcuts, and breakable ice)
Critters (tiberian fiends, visceroids)
Transport usage is smoother
Buildings can be placed a bit further apart (like in RA)
More complex terrain (more detailed height differences, can be reshaped by some attacks, longer bridges, tunnels)
Basic lighting effects
Supports higher resolutions than available in the options (up to 1280x1024, edit the .ini file)
Satisfying sfx overall (some re-used sounds from RA)
Most units can move while firing (allowing 'dancing' which rewards micro management during combat)
Maps are often designed to allow alternate ways of dealing with the enemy
Killing civilians or wasting your troops does matter if playing as GDI (affects score, which can affect resources on the next mission)
Good length (18+ missions per side)
Mission tree (choose your own path through the game between missions – usually set up so that playing an alternate mission helps you in some way in the next one)
Some hidden items (money, stealth power up, healing, etc.)
Power command (turn off or on activity on individual buildings to temporarily save power)
New neutral faction (Mutants – they’re like Fremen in Dune 2)
Expansion pack music is available in the standard campaign after installation
Allies can send harvesters to each other's refineries in MP?
+/-
Takes place in a more futuristic setting (2030)
Some buildings have small upgrades that you build and place manually on them (seems a bit redundant)
Grenadiers have been replaced with the less efficient disk throwers (the disks can bounce away in some situations meaning you’ll have to tend to them more, they also seem to all blow up easier when in a group)
Engineers now take over buildings in perfect condition again (can also be used to repair bridges)
Height differences in the terrain have more significance?
Most units have very specific uses to the point where it becomes a bit absurd (rockets do almost no damage to infantry for example)
Some vague elements during campaign (the neutral buildings/units in one of the earlier GDI missions, the other Mammoth Tank in the ‘Destroy the Mammoth Prototype’ NOD mission)
Infantry have a tendency to start crawling when fired upon (double click usually gets them up; gets frustrating in no-base missions where every unit counts)
Building production is dependent on headquarters
Sometimes an objective is only mentioned in the text briefing (not in the previous cutscene – can be reviewed during the mission though)
Mini-map resolution is at a better distance but now it can’t be zoomed in
Infantry is more resilient to tiberium than before
Some units have extremely limited sight (Orcas)
Orcas were nerfed (slower reloading, weaker attack, still moves around a lot in-between shots) and flame tanks are only great vs. infantry now, the enemy AI doesn’t constantly rebuild like in the first game (on Normal)
The actors don’t directly address the player in the cutscenes (ends up making the story feel a bit detached from what you’re doing though the earlier style was kind of awkward and cheesy as well)
Silos as well as some units drop some tiberium when destroyed
Carryall and Sonic Tank from Dune 2 are reused
More cheesy cutscenes (live actors against CGI backgrounds, full of clichés)
Air units can't be used to explore while in the air (won't remove FoW; can still be used to explore by landing and taking off near the fog repeatedly)
Hunter seeker drones - auto-targets random building (no defense against it, original idea before release (parasitic scout + bomb) seemed more interesting)
Ion storms (lightning strikes, no air travel?)
Harvesters now avoid/run from danger (sadly they run from single infantry units and tend to move around them when you want to run over units)
SAM sites no longer go underground when not attacking meaning they are less resilient than in C&C (however they also react faster to enemies)
Anti-air units will keep chasing air units that move away from them until told to stop
Concrete walls are rather weak
Explored territory stays fully visible (unlike in Warcraft or Starcraft)
No units can attack air to air
Harvester is now selected when box selecting multiple units if it's inside the selection box (can be annoying)
Can’t rotate the view (see SimCity 2000; does have the plus side of letting players hide stuff behind buildings or terrain)
Regenerating harvesters (only up to 50% health though)
Harvesters are more efficient and resources les scarce than in C&C (means you can win by larger numbers and brute force in some missions but it takes more time)
Experienced units don’t carry over to other missions (while it would require some rebalancing it would’ve been cool to try and make a small force survive the campaign - see Cannon Fodder)
The wolverine and titan are basically sprite swaps of the jeep and medium tank from the previous games
Tech buildings are still in effect after being sold
Can't manually change the target of a SAM site (makes engineer strikes easier)?
Can’t run over bikes from the side here?
-
Still lacking some commands (attack area (Alt Gr- or Alt+Ctrl-clicking an area sort of works but the units have weird attack priorities, clicking in the FoW just makes them move normally) and patrol (there is one but it involves the cumbersome waypoint system which can’t be used to create a continuous route – the units will patrol the set path once and then stop) moves, building and unit production hotkeys)
Some interface annoyances (can’t quickly view the briefing text during mission select on the map screen, no key for exiting the pause menu, can’t review mission messages/videos at will, cumbersome waypoint system (need to place icons separately and then make units ‘enter’ the cycle, limited uses, should’ve worked like in Starcraft; however it is useful for marking important cloaked buildings), save game deletion in a separate sub menu)
Uneven volume levels (cutscenes are too low)
Sometimes distracting backgrounds (units stand out less partly because of the saturation)
Less memorable soundtrack overall
Some trial & error (missile launcher locations in the final GDI mission (if you don’t stop the launch before time runs out the mission is a failure and you need to find three of them; destroying one resets the timer though), GDI 14 – apparently you can’t let the mutants die (why they aren’t transported out after doing their job isn’t explained) and the mission is to destroy the entire NOD base (not just the production facility), blue tiberium is explosive?, some new units are healed by tiberium, surprise attacks (GDI 5 – defend alien craft mission where the enemy attacks from below ground at one point (same thing happens in the radar sensor mission), tiberium fiends are extremely dangerous, unit attack range oddities (certain angles give better range for infantry), later in-doors missions, surprise reinforcements)
No subtitles during cutscenes
Random (?) difficulty in GDI 15 – sometimes you get run over by a large force fairly quickly
Still poor reaction range on units
Uses for new units are (still) often explained only in the manual
The special infantry units don’t have the personality of Tanya or the original commando (the rail gun is obviously borrowed from Quake)
Storyline disappointments (lacks exposition for the first few missions, focuses more on escapist sci-fi and is less humourous than the prequels, mostly lacking in moral nuances)
Units still sometimes move closer than they need to when attacking (need to take it very slow sometimes when attacking base defenses)
Some tedious bits (searching for that last unit or building on a large map when you’ve clearly won the battle already, the tiberium veins (orange creep) take quite a while to disappear after killing its spawn point, can’t immediately press escape to replay (or reload a save) after failing a mission, can’t skip in-game cutscenes, can’t speed up the score countdown after missions or skirmishes)
Tiberian fiends (critters) don’t attack the enemy in SP
The Stratos rescue mission could’ve been better (hijacked vehicles could be mistaken for NOD troops, watch tower lights could trigger the enemy instead of just certain explosions doing so (actually the first one does but not the ones in the base?)
The cutscene where he’s escorted out of the map is bugged so it looks like some of the units just disappear without entering the transport)
Auto-hold on production if you’re low on money while something is building and start building something else (only happens once but it can be annoying having to manually continue production)
Minor tooltip delay when checking prices on buildings and units
Walls are still slow to build (one tile at a time – should function more like in Age of Empires so the player can multitask) except for the laser fences (NOD only)
Some animation glitches (fixed in a fan patch)
Some units have a semi-cartoony look to them in-game and the art direction is a bit generic overall (worse harvesters, new mammoth looks like a smaller version of the AT-AT from star wars, worse idle infantry and infantry death animations)
Some slowdown when having tons of units on screen
Sometimes idiotic AI (your own units don’t react to artillery fire (even in guard mode), rarely focuses fire, fairly easy to lure its units to where you want them, easy to use a decoy on it to draw attention from Engineer-carrying APCs or Commandos, sometimes doesn't use available troops in base when attacked, won’t advance past stealth tank ‘walls’?)
Can't move the view to a certain spot via the mini-map without deselecting one's currently selected units (unless you manage to click on a friendly unit/building)
Orcas (and other units?) forget their target's position if the target is fast moving and far away (need to repeat the attack order while they’re closing in)
Worse explosions (they look more sterile and usually lack weight)
Some annoying sfx (NOD bike attack), "Silos needed" (there could’ve been a meter in the sidebar instead) and "cloaked unit detected" (too frequent)
Can’t manually control when to burrow subterranean units
Some poorly balanced units (Hijacker too expensive, NOD’s APC is better, Harpies not very effective for their cost, in MP: GDI has a harder time getting hunter seekers and ion cannon (compared to missiles) while NOD has a hard time getting the Cyborg Commando, Orca Bombers)
The in-game cutscene is slow to trigger at the end of the "villainess in distress" mission
Notes:
Version 2.03
- Possible to restrict or unlock units/buildings via the .ini file
Bugs:
- In Rescue Stratos mission: Can’t make units move past a certain distance without waypoints some ways into the mission, tiberium fiends don’t attack, need to destroy even the walls (laser fences) to win
- Vega’s Dams Station mission: Rocket soldiers try to destroy a bridge without it taking damage while a GDI air transport unit tries to land on your own troops until you reach a certain point of said bridge (then it lands on the bridge but deploys nothing)
- Vega’s Dams 2: Orcas also won’t attack certain targets (won’t respond to the attack command) unless you move up next to them
- NOD artillery doesn’t have inaccurate shots until playing the expansion
- Upgrading a GDI power plant also repairs it for free
- Armor upgrade crate decreases Strength instead of increasing it
- When playing as GDI build a firestorm generator and place a section of firestorm wall anywhere away from your base; NOD will never attack your base with missiles as long as this section remains. There is no need to activate the firestorm, just having a section laid out is all it takes.
- Air unit scouting: If you set a rally point from your helipad into shroud and then build an air unit, the unit will fly right off of the pad to the spot specified, regardless of shroud. It's a glitch used to scout opponent's bases.
- Sometimes when you build more than 1 jump-jet infantry, one or more of them don’t come out of the barracks (triggered by rally points?)
- If the Mammoth Mk2 is leaving the service depot with an attack command (for example if it’s being put on there by a carryall), it instantly explodes.
- Carryall problems: Can be prevented from landing by placing other air units under it; Sometimes when you have 2 carryalls that land side by side, they do not unload, they just land with the unit below them. Same thing can happen on service depots.
- EMP glitch: If you unpower your EMP, it gets killed and you build a new one, the new one is instantly ready for use again.
- GDI Final: Enemy attacks neutral buildings and keeps shooting the rubble after they’re destroyed; Two Orcas can end up on top of each other on one helipad