As you can see, I pretty much abhor Generals. Everything about it makes me clench my fist and grind my teeth. I hated the way it looked too – it took away the nice sprite based graphics the series used, and replaced them with some half-assed 3D visuals that had no detailing what-so-ever. I was pretty certain that Tiberium Wars would look equally puke-inducing, plus a few special effects. Was I right? Nope, I was so wrong, and I’ve never been this happy about being wrong before!


Tiberium Wars is the sweetest looking RTS thing out there. It’s so good that if you’ve ever got an eye sore, watch/play the game for a while and your eyes will be as good as new! The detail on each and every unit is simply marvelous, thanks to some really well made textures and awesome unit/structure design. That’s not all, the environment is so well crafted that even the most war torn landscape seems scenic as hell. I guess the game owes it to the great lighting effects of its engine, which has been used brilliantly to convey the mood of each of the different campaigns impeccably. All of this can’t just be credited to the tools the guys at EA had of course, it’s more about the amount of time and energy they’ve put into it. They’ve added really subtle touches to enhance the feel of the campaigns; for instance, as you battle your way deeper into the Tiberium scarred lands of the Red Zones in the GDI campaign, the landscape turns grimmer and darker with each passing mission, which works really well in giving you a good feel for the sinister forces you’re up against. When coupled with the extremely well enacted Full Motion Video (FMV) briefings/debriefings, the visual wonders of this game make for a very immersive, believable experience.


Yep, that’s right, FMV sequences are back and this time, they’re bigger than ever. Real-life actors briefing you between missions couldn’t get any better than this – EA’s hired some extremely talented actors such as Joseph D. Kucan, who’s played Kane all through the series, Michael Ironside (Top Gun, Starship Troopers, etc.) who plays the GDI Lieutenant General, Billy Dee Williams (From the Star Wars series and Batman) who plays the GDI director’s role, and finally Josh Holloway (Lost) who plays the role of a Nod intelligence officer who briefs you throughout the Nod missions. With talent like that to back your game up, you couldn’t go wrong. Well most of the time, that is; some of the FMV sequences get a little hammy at times and seem a tad overacted. But it’s all good at the end of the day, since these FMVs keep you entertained and do their job of briefing you, pretty well.