This game wastes no time in telling players that it is THE true sequel to the first Command & Conquer game, starting with an exposition on the state of the fictional C & C world that has been severely contaminated by Tiberium, the still-festering differences between the two main factions of the game and lots of screen-time for the most iconic antagonist/protagonist of the series, Kane (played by an eerily un-aging Joseph David Kucan).
Perhaps the developers may have gotten a wrong idea of what the series' strongest traits are, especially after the success of the first Red Alert. There are more A-class personalities in the cast this time around, such as Michael Biehn and James Earl Jones, among others; the game certainly makes sure the player notices this by having them hug much of the screen during FMV cutscenes. Their acting is somewhat decent, but otherwise quite forgettable (except for Joe Kucan's of course; dude still has so much bombastic cheese to ooze).
The user interface for Tiberian Sun remained very much the same from the first game, with some (expected) spruces to keep up with the times. There is a new feature to highlight the paths that units will take when sent on patrols and general move orders, but this only serves to give attention to the game's poor path-finding scripts (more on this later).
The game is still very much grounded in 2-D, but the developers have opted to include a half-dimension of sorts in the form of terrain height. A map may have a few levels of elevation, and these elevations play a role in tactical gameplay, e.g. units on higher ground tend to have slightly longer range, while units on lower ground appear to have a small range and accuracy penalty when engaging enemies on higher ground. Also, wheeled units which are going downhill appear to do so quicker than usual; conversely, going uphill is a pain for them.
(Bipedal units are however, largely unaffected by terrain, hence giving GDI Mechs a slight advantage for being all-terrain.)
Certain terrain, like simple dirt, can also be warped by heavy firepower, now - especially that wielded by Nod Artillery (more on this later). Heavily deformed terrain presents a challenge to wheeled vehicles, as well as generally increasing the time it takes for units to traverse such terrain. More importantly, deformed terrain stays that way and buildings cannot be built (or deployed) onto such terrain. Cruel players can utilize this feature to adopt a scorched earth policy to impede opponents in the short-term. However, this is a double-edged tactic, and one that can really aggravate multiplayer sessions, as will be explained later.
Map designs are mostly decent, with some more interesting than others; these ones have waterfalls, dams and unstable cliffs, among other terrain features and doodads, that can be interacted with (e.g. blown up), often resulting in new paths that an armed force can take towards the objective or simply new (& often strategic) ground for the player to take and hold. Missions involving these maps are often more exciting than the rest.
Speaking of missions, many of the missions in the single-player campaign have deviated from the usual search-&-destroy and escort missions from the first game. There are certainly more interesting missions now, with a few pleasant surprises such as cameos by famous units of the first game. Virtually all of them ends with a CG cutscene and a live-action one (which may or may not be worth the trouble).
The resource-collecting system remains more or less the same, with limits on the size of Tiberium fields now (previously, Tiberium can cover the whole map if left alone). The presence of the more volatile but more valuable Blue Tiberium has also increased strategic depth where expansions to a player's bases and armies are concerned. However, a new resource, which can only be used by Nod, can be quite a pain to handle; Weed, a mutant fungus-like organism, does not have the growth restrictions that Tiberium has (which is a huge oversight on the part of the developers), and it harms vehicles that tread on it the same way Tiberium does to infantry. Couple these with the fact that Weed fuels a weaker but substantially quicker-to-deploy Nod super-weapon, any wise player can see the imbalance and aggravation that this new resource causes. Fortunately, not all maps have Weed.
Perhaps an aspect of Tiberian Sun that is most different from that of its predecessor is the unit designs. Many units in this game are new to the C & C saga, ranging from giant combat-capable robot suits (mainly exclusive to the GDI) and Nod cyborgs to tanks that can morph into turrets. Many of the old ones have been removed, such as the iconic (& allegedly overpowered) Mammoth Tanks.
Unfortunately, Tiberian Sun still retained the setback that is imbalanced unit design anyway. Of course, units and structures that have been accused of being overpowered are gone. Yet, some of the new or revamped ones are apparently too powerful for their own good; the redesigned Nod Artillery is a notable example, being a unit that can deliver devastating firepower from afar, as well as being the only unit that can reliably deform terrain (leading to a whole lot of tactics and strategies that felt more like unfair exploits).
Certain units also have built-in combat behavior, which, while adding character to such units, do not really benefit them all the time. A case in point is the Orca Fighter's irritating habit of jinking after it fires a salvo, which often result in it moving out of range of its target, or worse, into the range of anti-aircraft defenses. Another example is the GDI Disc-Thrower, meant to be a replacement for the Grenadier of yore (that had often been decried as too powerful early game units). The explosives that they throw may miss their targets all too often, especially if uneven terrain is involved, leading to quite a lot of one-sided battles where the Disc-Thrower continues to hurl discs that harmlessly roll past enemies.
Some super-units are also rather underwhelming, namely the Mammoth Mk. II. After watching a (likely expensively made) CG cutscene that apparently showcased its supposedly awesome base-leveling firepower, the in-game unit is quite a disappointment and often a waste of credits.
As mentioned earlier, the units in this game have rather poor pathfinding scripts. Add to this the feature to warp certain terrains and new terrains that are dangerous to vehicles, the player will notice that units rarely, if not never, update their paths according to the terrain that they encounter. Even if they do, it is never for the better. For example, a player may have ordered a bunch of (obviously heavy) Titans to walk over a land bridge that is sandwiched between two bodies of water with thin ice cover. When they inevitably bump into each other, some of them thought it more expedient to walk over the thin ice instead.
Such mistakes in unit and unit AI designs do detract away from some genuinely good innovations by Westwood, such as an experience system for units that makes them more reliable in combat as they gain ranks. (This feature will eventually stay in later installments to the C & C IP, that much is certain of the proof that this system is well and good.)
Graphics, as said before, are still grounded in 2D, but with a more sophisticated isometric perspective. The models used for units, structures and terrain features in the game have quite a lot of details; the blinking lights on structures are especially a treat to look at. The quality of animations, however, is not uniform throughout; some units, like the Nod Tick Tank, has impressive animations, while some heavily-used units like the GDI Titan and Wolverine, are pretty much statue-like.
Sound-wise, the game does come across as a bit weak. Impacts of large-caliber shells have no more strength than (albeit really large) clumps of earth hitting the ground, machinegun fire is more worthy of peashooters and most embarrassingly meek of all is the Mammoth Mk. II's rather pathetic 8-bit noise of a rail-cannon. Still, the sound design in this game is still effective at making sure every sound effect is distinct from the others.
Multiplayer is more engaging and interesting than in the first game, largely due to players being able to warp certain terrain to their liking. Unfortunately, this tactic, often overused, results in matches grinding into frustrating attrition, especially when Nod players who judiciously use Artillery units in lieu of others are involved.
(This reviewer had faced opponents who use creeping barrages to heavily deform terrain leading towards their Artillery batteries, making land-based counter-attacks very difficult.)
Multiplayer also, as expected, suffer from the imbalance in units mentioned earlier. It is rare to find GDI players who do not resort to Titan rushes, as these appear to be the only units capable of weathering Nod Artillery barrages and once at an enemy base's doors, are rather difficult to defend against. On the other hand, it is difficult to see anyone utilizing units that are derided as next-to-useless, such as Orca Fighters.
To conclude this review, Tiberian Sun is not a disappointing game and is still plenty fun. However, its franchise label notwithstanding, it will have a tough time trying to stand out from among so many RTS games that had come before it.
(It is also worth noting that the recent re-release of the game for download-for-free was rather bug-ridden, with little post-release support. This review is based on the original launch version, back in 1999 to 2000.)