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Developer:
Westwood Studios
Publisher:
Westwood Studios
Target Release Date:
Summer 1999 |
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Our original Tiberian Sun preview was split into two parts. We've now
combined those two parts into a comprehensive 14 page preview of the game.
Click here to see the latest screenshots.
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by Amer Ajami
Creating a brand-new genre from the ground up is a notable feat in and of itself. Standardizing it for throngs of developers to follow is an even greater accomplishment only a handful of companies in this industry can claim. The list of developers who've done both is even smaller still. That's the precise posture, however, of Las Vegas-based Westwood Studios.
In 1992, the real-time strategy genre as we now know it was christened by Dune II: Building of a Dynasty, Westwood's adaptation of the movie based on the Frank Herbert Dune series of novels. Dune II introduced the basic building blocks that make up the genre today: resource management, unit cultivation, and multiple warring factions. This was presented via a simple yet robust interface that has become the calling card of countless real-time strategies currently on the market.
After three years of development, Tiberian Sun is nearly done. |
But as ground breaking as Dune II was in 1992, Westwood would outdo itself with the release of Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn some three years later and once again with the game's prequel, Red Alert, the following year.
However, it's been three long years since Red Alert hit the stands, and developers like Bungie and Cavedog have subsequently released titles that have successfully challenged C&C's aging real-time strategy model, proving that Westwood isn't the genre's only king of the hill.
Check out the Tiberian Sun movie. |
Although Westwood's hard-earned stake in the genre has been challenged, it is by no means lost. For just shy of three years, Westwood's been developing the third entry in the venerable Command & Conquer series, Tiberian Sun, a title Westwood hopes will vault the company back to the top of the genre. By offering new tactics, interactive environments, detailed units, an intuitive interface, addictive mechanics, and the age-old conflict that made the original a classic, Tiberian Sun could expand the boundaries of real-time strategy gaming beyond anything we've yet to experience.
Next: The saga continues
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