Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

About

In Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, players choose between the Global Defense Initiative, the Brotherhood of Nod, or the alien Scrin in a fight for control over Tiberium, a dangerous and valuable resource. The third installment in the popular real-time strategy series features a single-player campaign with live-action cutscenes, as well as online multiplayer. The game is known for its fast-paced action and strategic gameplay, as well as its iconic factions and units.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars screenshot

89%

Audience ScoreBased on 3,708 reviews

story181 positive mentions

stability18 negative mentions

Engaging story with great actor performances and enjoyable cutscenes.
Fast-paced gameplay with a variety of units and strategies to explore.
The game has aged well, with decent graphics and a strong modding community.

Recent patches have made the campaign significantly harder, even on easy difficulty, leading to frustration.
The AI often feels unbalanced, with the enemy receiving infinite resources and overwhelming unit production.
Multiplayer support is effectively non-existent due to server shutdowns, requiring third-party solutions to play online.

story
597 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
66%
4%
The story of "Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars" is generally praised for its engaging narrative and well-acted cutscenes, featuring a mix of live-action and CGI that adds a unique charm. Set two decades after "Tiberian Sun," it explores the conflict between GDI and the Brotherhood of Nod, with the introduction of the alien Scrin faction adding depth to the plot. However, many players express frustration with the campaign's difficulty spikes and imbalanced missions, particularly after recent patches aimed at multiplayer balance, which have made some missions feel unfair and tedious.
- “A gripping story about the charismatic cult leader Kane from three different perspectives, which always brings up new aspects.”
- “The campaign has a ton of mission variety and objectives, full of characters that are well acted and do grow on you by the end of the game.”
- “The story culminates into one arc with Kane's goal of ascension, GDI's goal of stopping Tiberium, and the new faction, the Scrin, taking Tiberium from Earth.”
- “The story is unimaginative and the main plot twist (alien invasion) comes way too late to have a meaningful impact.”
- “The balance of the campaign missions is completely out of whack; some missions are hilariously easy while others are frustratingly difficult due to balance changes.”
- “The latest multiplayer balance patch made certain sections of the campaign nearly impossible, leading to a frustrating experience.”
gameplay
266 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
50%
3%
The gameplay of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is characterized by its fast-paced, engaging mechanics that are easy to learn but challenging to master, making it accessible for newcomers while still appealing to veterans. Players appreciate the variety in missions and objectives, though some criticize the balance issues and reliance on outdated mechanics. Overall, the game successfully blends nostalgia with modern elements, offering a solid and enjoyable real-time strategy experience.
- “The gameplay itself is very easy to grasp, but difficult to master.”
- “Each mission feels impactful, and the variety in objectives keeps gameplay fresh and exciting.”
- “The gameplay mechanics are a perfect blend of strategy and action, allowing for a deeply strategic approach while maintaining a fast-paced and engaging experience.”
- “I beat the campaigns before, but now maybe half of the missions require cheese and/or gaming the mechanics to stand a chance because of the constant, severe resource constraints, and it makes stuff like full AI vision and heavy income advantage stand out and start being an annoyance.”
- “The gameplay is too frantic for me, requiring you to micromanage units in rapid actions to overcome the constant attacks on multiple sides.”
- “The gameplay has been ruined and there is no base building involved; it's just building units and the person with the highest amount of units wins.”
graphics
262 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
47%
7%
The graphics of the game, despite its 2007 release, have aged remarkably well, often surprising players with their quality and detail. Many reviews highlight the impressive visual effects, including the use of live-action cutscenes, which enhance the overall experience. While some users note that certain graphical elements feel outdated or primitive, the consensus is that the visuals still hold up against modern titles, making it a visually appealing choice for both nostalgic players and newcomers alike.
- “Even though this game is from 2007, the graphics hold up surprisingly well.”
- “The graphics are surprisingly impressive for a game of its age, and the cutscenes featuring live-action actors add a unique flair that enhances the overall experience.”
- “The graphics hold up extremely well in the current age; it actually puts a few modern titles to shame in its versatility.”
- “The graphics are very primitive; not sure why it's so bad.”
- “If you're looking for decent graphics or active multiplayer, forget it; nobody plays online anymore and the graphics are terrible.”
- “The graphics look horrible.”
music
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
51%
8%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its fitting atmosphere and memorable tracks, while others lament the absence of iconic composer Frank Klepacki, noting that the soundtrack lacks the catchiness of previous titles in the series. Despite these criticisms, many players find the music adequate and enjoyable, contributing positively to the overall experience, though it may not stand out as much as in earlier installments. Overall, while the soundtrack is not universally acclaimed, it still manages to enhance the game's post-apocalyptic setting.
- “The soundtrack is, as always, a banger and the units' voice lines are just as insane or even better than they were before.”
- “The sound design deserves special mention, as the iconic music and unit acknowledgments create a nostalgic atmosphere for longtime fans and enhance the overall enjoyment of the game.”
- “While it is unfortunate that Frank Klepacki did not return to grant C&C3 a score similar to the stupendous soundtracks of Red Alert 2 and prior, Steve Jablonsky and Trevor Morris lived up to his quality - if not necessarily style - and brought quality music to the title.”
- “Music could be better though, it's easy to forget this game has music.”
- “A downside from previous titles is that the music is a tad bland so if you're a fan you might miss that.”
- “The only major sin is the lack of Frank Klepacki - this is the first C&C game where I did not even notice any of the music.”
atmosphere
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
25%
13%
The atmosphere in the game is widely praised for its immersive and detailed environments, effectively capturing tension and suspense, particularly in the context of its grim, tiberium-ravaged world. While many players appreciate the sound design and music that enhance the overall experience, some feel that the atmosphere has diminished compared to its predecessor, Tiberian Sun, with criticisms aimed at the visuals appearing drab in comparison. Overall, the game successfully creates a captivating atmosphere that keeps players engaged, despite some mixed opinions on its execution relative to earlier titles.
- “C&C3 is absolutely oozing with atmosphere, tension, and suspense while playing almost identically to the previous six entries.”
- “However, with TW's particularly grim setting and atmosphere, I do still find the music to be particularly well-suited for it, with many tracks perfectly capturing the eerie and otherworldly feeling of this Tiberium-ravaged world.”
- “The sound design deserves special mention, as the iconic music and unit acknowledgments create a nostalgic atmosphere for longtime fans and enhance the overall enjoyment of the game.”
- “The atmosphere of this game is a big step back from Tiberian Sun, and everything just looks super drab by comparison.”
- “The atmosphere is lacking in comparison to its predecessor, Tiberian Sun; the Tiberium wastelands sorely lack the same sort of apocalyptic feel that was present in TibSun.”
- “Far from the atmosphere of Tiberian Sun.”
stability
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
5%
82%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many users reporting significant bugs, particularly related to AI pathing and online multiplayer functionality, which often leads to game freezes. While some players have noted that the game runs smoothly on older hardware and offers a polished experience overall, issues with online connectivity and compatibility with Windows 10 have been persistent pain points. Overall, while the game has potential, its stability is hampered by these technical problems, especially for those looking to play online.
- “Great game, still runs great on an older laptop.”
- “Plays smooth and bug free.”
- “Runs great on a 6-year-old laptop; cinematics still look surprisingly high-res. All the fun actors are doing a great job, the music is decent, the effects work is great, good modding potential, UI is clear, all signposting is done clearly, no clunkiness or rough edges. A polished, streamlined experience where there's a lot of detail, but all the units stand apart and you can tell what's going on while still having a bunch of effects on the screen at any given time.”
- “Buggy, no support from one of the most destructive companies to the gaming industry, shutting down servers without allowing fans to support multiplayer on their own.”
- “Specifically, I've had game freezes when trying to alt-tab a few times, and clicking the multiplayer online option automatically freezes the game and becomes impossible to close by traditional means.”
- “I bought this game to play with other friends online, but it freezes the game up every time.”
replayability
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
48%
14%
Overall, the game boasts high replayability, largely due to its extensive modding community and user-generated content, which significantly enhances the experience. While the single-player mode offers some variety through different factions and difficulty settings, opinions vary on its long-term replay value, with some players finding it limited compared to the dynamic potential of multiplayer and modded scenarios. The combination of creative mods, diverse gameplay options, and engaging skirmish modes contributes to a strong replayability factor, making it appealing for RTS enthusiasts.
- “Furthermore, the ability to mod the game offers endless replayability, with creative mods available to enhance or completely transform the experience.”
- “With a plethora of user-created content available, including new maps, factions, and campaigns, the game's replayability is virtually limitless.”
- “Pros: this game has many different difficulty levels and AI tactical settings allowing for a great deal of replayability, there are two campaigns and a skirmish/simulated multiplayer mode in addition to actual multiplayer possibilities.”
- “A little more diversity on units and skills could improve this game, and give it a higher replayability in my opinion.”
- “I loved the Red Faction series, all except this one. It felt like more of a whoever has the most troops wins game; the strategy is always the same: collect Tiberium, make cheap all-around units, rinse and repeat. There's no point in saving up for powerful units because by the time you have a decent amount, you've been steamrolled by a bunch of low-mid tier units that seem to have more bang for their buck. Now, there were some good things in this game, like the campaign, but in my opinion, it doesn't have that much of a replayability factor.”
- “Replayability for singleplayer is not overwhelmingly high.”
optimization
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
30%
15%
Overall, the game's optimization is generally well-received, with many players noting smooth performance on modern systems, particularly at higher resolutions like 2K. While there are minor issues, such as a specific scene that can cause frame rate drops, the game runs effectively without significant performance problems on Windows 10. The graphics are praised as good, contributing to a positive gaming experience.
- “The graphics are very good, the game is very well optimized, and the difficulties feel fair most of the time (you can change them between missions in any case).”
- “There have been no performance issues running this game on Windows 10.”
- “One of the best C&C games in terms of unit power balance, optimization, storyline, and gameplay.”
- “The great live action cutscenes make a return but instead of the wonderful B-movie quality of previous installments, it is now little more than catwalk performances by semi-famous actors.”
- “Maps, graphics, and performance:”
humor
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of campy voice acting, intentionally bad performances, and amusing cutscenes that add a lighthearted touch to the otherwise serious gameplay. Players appreciate the balance of humor and atmosphere, with moments of hilarity arising from both the game's quirks and the absurdity of certain missions. Overall, the humor is seen as a charming aspect that enhances the experience, despite some cringe-worthy elements.
- “Still, a great game with good campaigns and good cutscenes, with Redmond Boyle being a hilariously bad acted character yet Kane is full of charisma and cunning.”
- “Tiberian Sun actually did a great job of mixing seriousness, humor, atmosphere, and eerie sci-fi into something so magnificent.”
- “Let's not also forget that you shouldn't save and load mid-mission; otherwise, the AI does this weird reset dance and immediately sends all its units at you, which, in one mission, led to this funny firing line situation because the main base was inaccessible by land, so a bunch of Nod knuckleheads crammed into one spot as they were regularly blown up by bombers.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
10%
80%
Reviews highlight that grinding in the game is often tedious and frustrating, with players facing overwhelming AI and requiring constant micromanagement to progress. While some find the challenge rewarding, many feel that the repetitive nature of missions detracts from strategic gameplay, reducing it to mindless grinding. The presence of mods offers some relief, but the core experience remains marred by pacing issues and a lack of tactical depth.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Oh by the way, both of which are flying units with an insane tedious range, delete 30 minutes of your progress on the grindy push against the mission.”
- “It takes away any sense of tactics or strategy and reduces the game to mindless grinding until you get lucky enough to break through.”
- “This also compounds problems with pacing; the AI is overwhelming in the first 10 minutes, but once you've stabilized, it never learns, never really adapts. It's just a matter of time until you win, and it can get quite tedious as a result.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a mix of nostalgia and frustration regarding the emotional aspect of the game. While long-time fans feel a heartwarming connection to the franchise, newcomers may struggle with the campaign's difficulty and technical issues, leading to a bittersweet experience. Overall, the emotional resonance is strong for veterans, but the challenges can overshadow enjoyment for casual players.
- “If you played C&C from the beginning of the series, you'll have a heartwarming, familiar feeling, as if you just met your old friend from school days.”
- “Again, I really wish I grew up with the Command and Conquer franchise, but I suppose it's heartwarming to see a newer generation appreciating these games.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
Reviews indicate a strong sentiment against monetization practices, with some labeling the game as a "shameless cash grab" due to microtransactions. However, there are also positive remarks highlighting a nostalgic experience free from excessive DLC and microtransactions, suggesting a preference for the game's original model.
- “The nostalgia feels, no origin, no 40GB patch, and it's not tainted with EA's microtransactions.”
- “Don't fall for this shameless cash grab.”
- “Microtransactions for a good cause.”
- “At least it was back then, no DLC, no microtransactions, and a well-made game.”