Retrospective: Command & Conquer - The Tiberian Saga

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Eurogamer have posted a well written and fairly detailed article that takes a retrospective look back at the Tiberian Saga, which as we all know by now, will come to an end with Command & Conquer 4 next year. Its all covered from 1995's Command & Conquer, 1999's Tiberian Sun and of course 2007's Tiberium Wars. Here's a sample.

 

"I remember the day I picked up the newspaper after the War on Terror got underway, and saw the Global Defence Initiative labelled in the news," says Louis Castle, co-founder of Westwood Studios, the developer that created Command & Conquer. He laughs, leaning back on his chair in the EA LA meeting room where a handful of series vets have converged to look back over the landmark RTS series. "That was in 2003. So, it only took the real world eight years to get there."

 

As for Castle's team, they'd founded their own GDI back in 1995, but, despite the rousing name and the militaristic fetishes of the series - the colourful explosions, heroic tank rushes, and glinting piles of heavy armour - the story at the heart of Command & Conquer has always been uniquely ambiguous, rejecting easier answers about right and wrong, and using its opposing factions - the GDI and the Brotherhood of Nod - to explore conflicting perspectives on a single issue.

 

In the words of the current 'lore master' and campaign and story lead, Sam Bass: "It's about philosophical differences acted out through military action." So, with the Tiberian story arc coming to an end in the upcoming fourth instalment, previewed on Eurogamer tomorrow, it's time to take a trip back through the world of C&C: time for a refresher course on the story itself, and time to steal a quick glance at the ways the game has shaped RTS development in general.

Check out the rest of the Retrospective: Command & Conquer - The Tiberian Saga article right here.