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PC Gamer (UK) Tiberian Sun Review

WOW! I just received the September Issue of PC GAMER UK (due out on Aug 2nd). It has a REVIEW (not a Preview!) of Tiberian Sun. That's right. Westwood have handed them the nearly complete game and PC Gamer have played it, completed it, and reviewed it! Here is all the related news:

Only 92%?

Well, they awarded the game "Game of the Month - September 1999", and generally the guy who reviewed it (Mark Donald) thought it was brilliant. A few flaws though, which I have kindly defended:

Too much like Red Alert (Which I think is a good thing)
Interface hasn't changed (So what? It was good)
Voxel graphics dont' look too good on units (But amazing on terrain)
Not revolutionary enough (Not too complicated)

But apart from that, there are so so so so many good points, which I go into more detail below:

FMV - "dramatic"

The FMV gives a lot to this game. Mark describes them as:

"Entertaining but, because they're done so well, they bring a dramatic flourish to the campaign."

And then there are scripted in-game scenes before missions, which show your troops in full-flight battling it out, to set the story, before you gain control. Or sometimes you'll see the enemy executing defensless civilians.
Anyway, all this action gets you into the mood to play the mission and adds very much to the excitement.

Units

Mark says:

"[You] will marvel at its sheer warmongering potential"
"The simplicity of the approach makes combat refreshingly direct after the mind-boggling complexities of Warzone 2100 and even Total Annihilation."

There are less than twenty, very unique, units for each side, rather than hundreds of similar ones. Apparently these are 'perfectly balanced'. Here is some more new information about the units, revealed in the review:

Repair Bot
Apparently, since Nod has no regard for human life (they will amusingly execute terrified civilians if left alone in a town), they don't have a medic, but instead, a unit-repairing vehicle. You can use waypoints to put it on patrol, repairing units as it goes.
Harpy
"This nippy assault craft is best used for bullying infantrymen and light vehicles"

"The unit balance has been tweaked to within an inch of its life". So that's what they've been doing all that time, as well as making cool missions.

Missions

Apparently, "every single mission throws up a new challenge like a nasty piece of fish." Each mission is extremely unique and there is always a lot of uncertaincy into what to do. You can't just churn out 100s of tanks and go off to destroy the enemy. There is a mission timer on some missions which really makes it tense. Gaining control of Tiberium fields, planning your attack, or defense, and building units (but of which type?), all has to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible. The review says, "WW have ensured that you're constantly on the edge of disaster, and so constantly excited."

Then there are unexpected events. Such as drop ships. Ion Storms. Devil's Tongue Flame Tanks popping up out of the ground. You get the point? You always have to keep your wits about you and think of new strategies.

Deformable Terrain

This can make a significant difference in some battles. For example, deformable ridges can be transformed into tank-friendly causeways, using a quick artillary 'attack'.

Graphics

The units sometimes look blocky, if not finely detailed, due to the use of voxels, and the animation isn't always perfect. "land vehicles never quite seem to be in touch with the ground". This shouldn't bother you though, due to the brilliance of the missions.
The review says that the voxels allow the action to flow extremely smoothly, even on a low spec machine, with a giant battle taking place. Sounds good! And explosions look great, as does the interactive terrain.

AI

Well, the AI is much improved over Red Alert's, and doesn't send infantry to be killed in the same place, one-after-the-other. It does nothing stupid, but isn't quite aggresive enough. So for skirmich, a good suggestion is to take on four enemies at once.

You can end up fighting some epic scraps: it's nothing short of thrilling to join a brave handful of defenders fighting off Zulu-like waves of fanatical attackers...". Wow!

Summary

Sorry about printing most of the review! But everyone had to know all that! And scans will be coming soon! Buy the mag for all the other new information in the review! Many, many, many thanks to PC Gamer (UK) for bringing me this review.
So, all in all, as you can see, a pretty damn brilliant review. And 8 player LAN, 4 player internet is supported. PCG's conclusion:

"Victory for Westwood in the RTS war. Get in with the winning side and play it now."

I will. When it's released. And I can't bloody wait. Can you?

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