Tiberian Sun” has a long and storied history. It holds a special place in my heart to this day, as it was not only the first “Command & Conquer” game I ever played, but also one of the first real-time strategy games I had ever experienced. It may have even been the first, although my memory is not quite good enough to recall if it was that or “Age of Empires” or “Dark Reign”. Some of my earliest and best gaming memories are of me and my best mate playing “Tiberian Sun” together on a rickety old CRT monitor. Another guy I played with would watch our videos – you know who you are! It’s a true classic and remains a fan favorite.
While its predecessor laid the groundwork for what “Command & Conquer” would become, “Tiberian Sun” built upon all of its elements and in itself became just as influential on the series’ future. And of course, we all know what happened to series creator Westwood Studios, so it’s always nice to go back and play a game that was made in their prime.
As the 20th anniversary of its release approached in 2019, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to revisit it and decide if it’s still worth playing in 2019. Despite not having played it in at least five years, I found that I was really excited to pick it up again. My memories of it were so fond, but I’ll be the first to admit that the rose-tinted glasses would definitely come off as soon as I decided to make this video.
However, after all these years, I found myself approaching it with a bit of cautious optimism. I wondered if it would be nearly as fulfilling now as it was when I played it as a kid. But my fears subsided as soon as I hit that menu screen – there’s just something about it that transports you back to 2001 and makes me feel like a kid again.
For some context, “Tiberian Sun’s” narrative is set in a near-future sci-fi setting and focuses on the second war between the Global Defense Initiative (GDI), who are essentially the global earth government, and the Brotherhood of Nod, who are a militaristic religious movement led by a charismatic leader named Kane. The game’s story modes provide a surprising amount of backstory and history to the world, with one mode for each faction. I began with the GDI.
State of the campaign you’re immediately greeted to the series staple full motion video cutscenes. I was really young when I first saw these, and I didn’t fully grasp the deliberately cheesy tone they were going for, but boy did they pull off the B-grade action movie style well. Whether or not it was fully intentional, I can’t say for sure, but everything from the CGI to the actors were “grow only crappers,” including James Earl Jones, the voice of infamous sci-fi villain Darth Vader. Okay, well, they definitely must have known what they were doing to get him on board.
In truth, I was really surprised about how long the cutscenes actually go for. Some of them felt like they were nearing the ten-minute mark, and they give really great context to the missions, and they’ll be sorely missed otherwise. There’s an undeniable charm associated with these cutscenes and the story in general, and it persists throughout the whole game, with an intriguing narrative that’s helped by its acting and storytelling delivery.
Gameplay
Don’t worry, we’ll cover this more later, but right now it’s time for the gameplay. Now, for any of you out there who haven’t played the older CNC games previously, it might be difficult to get used to the “games that left mouse button does all” system, but once you know that, most things should come naturally to anyone who’s played an RTS before. There’s only one resource to gather: Tiberium, which your harvesters will gather automatically as long as it’s available. So you can focus on what’s important: building a base and going on the offensive.
Established in the original Command & Conquer, Tiberian Sun sees the return of the sidebar, which allows you to manage the creation of all buildings and units for your faction, and it will expand as you build more advanced structures. It’s a tidy and straightforward way to conglomerate everything in one place, but I do have a couple of complaints with this system. Firstly, it doesn’t allow any descriptions of the units and buildings you’re creating, so you kind of just have to guess what each thing does.
The GDI barracks make sense on their own, but the GDI tech center can be confusing for newcomers. Once you’ve expanded your base and bought numerous options, you’ll want to construct and fill your armies. However, having only two factions can be limiting, although they both feel like clashing opposites rather than variations on shared core.
Tiberian Sun moved the series into a more sci-fi setting, featuring a vast array of futuristic weapons and equipment such as flame tanks, cyborg infantry, and laser turrets. Both sides also have some unique and powerful units, like the non-cyborg commando or the GDI Mammoth Mark II walker.
The game offers many tactical options, including stealth tanks, borrowing units, underground aircraft, vehicles that can transform between modes, and defensive structures like walls and cannons. However, Tiberian Sun doesn’t really have unit upgrades, and you can see this in the UI.
Overall, the game is engaging and satisfying, with plenty of options to choose from. Although the GDI tech center and limited factions can be confusing at first, you’ll get used to it as you play more.
Allow me to explain the basic unit veteran C system in Tiberian Sun, which has never been properly defined or described. Although some buildings can be upgraded with additional modules, the execution of the system is somewhat clunky, particularly in how it uses the side bar and displays upgrades similarly to regular structures. However, the combat in Tiberian Sun is solid overall, with the only major issue being the lack of feedback during battles – infantry do not react to being shot and vehicles simply explode without much fanfare.
Graphics are old but gold
This is a minor detail in the grand scheme of things, but it’s worth noting. While the graphics of Tiberian Sun are clearly outdated, particularly when compared to modern games, they were considered impressive for their time, with dynamic lighting, day/night cycles, and units that could transform between different states. Overall, while the game’s graphics may not hold up to modern standards, they still have enough charm and quality to be enjoyable for most players.
The designers did a good job of making the unit and building design diverse and visually interesting, despite being limited by the technology it was built upon. Each bone is distinct and easily recognizable, but some of the immature units are quite similar to one another. The more powerful units like the Judeo Titan Walker or nod Banshee aircraft are dissimilar and impressive. However, the units’ size differential is not significant enough, so a group of units can appear to be a blob of different colors and shapes. This is a technical limitation, but it can be frustrating.
Cutscenes
The Tiberian Sun audio package has an excellent soundtrack that fits perfectly with the game’s sci-fi themes. Nearly all the tracks are memorable and set the tone for the gameplay. Unlike the graphics, the soundtrack holds up incredibly well today and is possibly the best RTS soundtrack of all time.
The game’s full-motion video cutscenes are also noteworthy, as they are a hallmark of the Command & Conquer series. They are campy but entertaining and do an excellent job of presenting the campaign. The only complaint about the audio is that many of the units sound the same despite being completely different.
The story in “Tiberian Sun” and “Firestorm” expansion might just be the height of their execution. Usually, people come into production with a limited budget, and they stick to a small-scale narrative to have all of its limited elements of high quality instead of spreading them too thin. However, “Tiberian Sun” and “Firestorm” are the exact opposite. It’s a globe-spinning tale with a limited budget, and more elements are definitely not the best in their class. They offered the B-movie’s take, and they’re going for it really well. I think that it’s better because of it. It applies to both the base game and the “Firestorm” expansion. You can really feel that if the team put into all of its elements.
Take Kane, for example. You probably didn’t know that Joseph Kucan, the actor, worked as a whispered audio director. He began to experiment with video cutscenes in the original “Command & Conquer” and happened to fall into the role of Kane that he would continue with for over a decade until the current end of the series. Kane’s betrayal of Nod’s camp only adds a heck of a lot to the narrative, and it really does steal the show anytime he’s on screen.
The other performances range from good to great, with the standouts, in my opinion, coming from Nod’s frequently intelligent antagonist in the “Firestorm” expansion, Rogue AI Cabal. Cabal stands down in this charming dude who presents non-news until his untimely execution. That is, to put simply, for the game.
“C&C Tiberian Sun” is certainly old, but its overall presentation has stood the test of time. The graphics do hold it back somewhat, but the quality found in its cutscenes and especially its performances helped to make the game’s campaign thoroughly engaging and entertaining despite being released two decades ago. The presence of “Tiberian Sun” can still be felt to this very day, not only in the games that took lessons from its successes and failures, but also the fact that people still play the damn thing. It’s something about the “Command & Conquer” series that has kept nearly all of its entries relevant long after most of its contemporaries have turned to dust. Maybe it’s the quality, maybe it’s because of the amount of people who experienced one of its entries as their first RTS, maybe it’s a lot of things.
It’s highly likely that the secret to the longevity of gaming lies in a combination of multiple reasons, like the elusive “secret sauce.” It’s impossible to replicate this formula, as it can only come about by being in the right place at the right time. What’s more impressive is the consistency of the remaining player base over a decade of game releases, with the exception of the Tiberium Twilight movie that ruined the legacy.
There are a couple of ways in which the legacy of this game lives on. Firstly, there’s a community-made online client that allows people to play multiplayer with just a few clicks. Secondly, there are some truly excellent mods available. As for the multiplayer, EA made both Tiberian Sun and its expansion freeware, so anyone can download the game and the community client for free. It’s really awesome that it’s so easy, and you may just need a few quick tweaks to run it on Windows 10.
Overall, it’s fairly simple when the client takes care of nearly all of the heavy lifting. If it works with the Origin version, you get both the game and the online client for just a few cents on it.org. I’ll put the link in the description for you all. I recommend you go check it out. Like a lot of classic titles, the mod scene for Tiberian Sun is alive and well. While it doesn’t have the most populated list of community-made content, the ones that are there are of high quality and, in some cases, have been in development for a long time. One prominent example is Twisted Insurrection, a completely standalone mod that revamps the entire game with a new campaign, new units, a new faction, and a ton more. Every element of Tiberian Sun has been updated, changed, or improved upon. The fact that it’s completely standalone and free to download makes it super easy to give it a go. It even includes built-in fixes for running it on Windows 10 and all the technical issues you may run into. It’s definitely a passion project, and the effort that the team put in really shows. There are, of course, other mods available too, so check out the game’s Mod DB page and see if anything catches your eye.
Conclussion
Tiberian Sun is a classic game that was released 20 years ago in 1999. While it may not be for everyone nowadays, in my opinion, it still holds up very well. When asking if you should play this game today, it’s important to specify who you’re asking. This game is not for the average gamer who plays Fortnite on their Xbox or only owns one copy of Skyrim. It’s for those who are already into the genre and enjoy playing old RTS games. Despite any flaws, it’s my job to say if it has held up and if there’s a better option available today.
For example, I wouldn’t recommend the average gamer to play Stronghold, an old title with bad graphics. However, I would recommend it to those who are looking for a great artist or castle builder. This is something I wouldn’t recommend to someone with technical issues or bad design. It’s important to note that many issues can be overlooked due to nostalgia.
Tiberian Sun is definitely a game worth enjoying even in 2019. There’s really nothing quite like it. The corny and charming FMV cutscenes keep the campaign wildly entertaining, and the exciting gameplay is quite unlike most modern RTS games. Playing it is just so simple – there are no ages too advanced or prerequisite research to do to get your favorite units. You just have to use the game’s one resource and get down to business.
Despite how simplistic it may seem on the surface, there’s enough diversity in the structures, units, and tactics that it manages to stay interesting. There’s not just the campaign, but also its skirmish modes, whether you’re playing against the AI or another person. The fact that it’s free to download or cheap to buy on Origin, as well as being relatively easy to keep working on on PC, means the barrier for entry is really low. Plus, you can play online matches with other like-minded people with surprising ease or just mod the game for a completely different experience.
There are more than a few ways to lose some hours here. This isn’t even mentioning the nostalgia a lot of you reading probably have, which will undoubtedly elevate your enjoyment even more. I had a blast playing and enjoying Tiberian Sun again. While it’s a tad depressing to be reminded of the demise of Westwood and to think what a hypothetical third game in the Tiberium series would have been like had they been given the chance to develop it and not be a Los Angeles, it’s nice to be able to enjoy a game made when the studio was at its best. It’s a great way to remember the good old days where the biggest problem wasn’t work or taxes, but just trying to find a spot for your CRT monitor so you could preach peace through power in the name of Kane.
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