Word About Biehn

Tiberian Sun (TS) is the latest chapter in the Command and Conquer computer game series produced by Westwood Studios. TS combines strategy and shoot-em-up into a war game on a 3-D battlefield. There are two opposing sides: The Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod (NOD). Both GDI and NOD struggle for control of the earth in the near future, utilizing unique war machines and soldiers to defeat the enemy. Both armies fund their causes by processing a mysterious mineral known as Tiberium, which has infested most of the planet. A player can play as either GDI (the good guys) or NOD (the bad guys), and the objective is simply to defeat the other army in every mission of the game. To accomplish this, the player must efficiently and effectively utilize everything under his control and intelligently build and deploy his forces on the battlefield.

There are three difficulty levels--easy, normal, and hard--and in each higher level, the computer becomes more cunning and less merciful to the player's forces. I played on easy and didn't enjoy the game as much as I had hoped. The problem with that difficulty level is that the computer barely does anything to your forces; it doesn't replace damaged structures or make heavy counterattacks against you. I would have enjoyed the game much more thoroughly if I had played at the normal or hard levels. However, I chose the most elementary approach, so I could quickly get to those cut scenes for my mother. Perhaps in the future, I'll try the game again on a more challenging level.

To make some of the missions easier for players to accomplish, TS has optional missions to complete. If a player is victorious in those, the main mission will become much simpler, and his or her forces will have a much easier time overrunning the enemy garrisons.

The graphics of Tiberian Sun are exceptional, but not perfect. They are very, very detailed, but not as realistic as I'd anticipated they would be. The sound quality is good. You can hear clearly and a player is able to distinguish the sounds of different war devices. Some of the sounds in the game include gunfire, explosions, laser blasts, footsteps of walkers, and factory noises. The music is OK but eventually gets boring and repetitive.

Tiberian Sun's cut scenes smooth the storyline and help the player enjoy the game. But, the cut scenes do have plot holes in them if you don't play as GDI and Nod jointly.

Overall, I enjoyed Tiberian Sun because I'm interested in war strategy. This is the best strategy game I've seen, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed previous games in the Command and Conquer series or who just likes strategy game play in general.

Given the role they play and their understandably fragmented nature, Tiberian Sun's cut scenes do their job pretty well. In the GDI approach (I haven't seen the NOD side), sets and locations are limited. There is only one outdoor scene; the rest are interior shots, darkly lit, and occurring primarily on the command ship, the Kodiak. Writing is only average, but the acting is generally satisfactory. With the limited time available to them, the actors do communicate the personalities of their characters quite well.

As Jeff's game review explains, Tiberian Sun is about the confrontation between GDI and NOD. Triggering the adventure is the discovery that Kane, NOD's villainous leader, has somehow survived the conflict of a previous game in the Command and Conquer series. He is resuming his quest for world domination, and in answer to the threat he poses, General Solomon (James Earl Jones) calls upon Commander Michael McNeil (Michael) to lead GDI's forces into the fray. The plotline then progresses from battle to battle, with McNeil receiving the general's orders and in turn directing GDI's field forces to carry them out. Along the way, he personally interacts with both friends and foes.

As McNeil, Michael is determined and dedicated, and properly angered at Kane's evil intent. With minimum opportunity to explore his character, he still shows there is more to McNeil than a competent military leader. When Kane taunts him about the painful death of his (McNeil's) brother, the quick flashes of anguish and hate on Michael's face make evident how deeply the commander is affected by that news. Over all, in these perfunctory scenes, Michael is able to make McNeil come across as a strong leader, one his men (and those who play the game) would trust and willingly follow.