Command & Conquer 4 Announced (For Reals)

Posted by Jeff (3082 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

OK, after all the shenanigans yesterday, I was thinking we'd have to wait until Friday for an official confirmation. But Command & Conquer 4 is real, it's been officially announced, and it's coming to the PC in 2010.

The release claims that the game will retain the "core compulsions" that people have come to love about the series while adding plenty of new features, including class-based gameplay, objective-based multiplayer modes, persistent player progression that weaves its way through all of the game's modes, and an "all-in-one mobile base." That objective-based multiplayer is a five-on-five mode that focuses on cooperation and teamwork.

There's also a bit on the game's story. From El Press Releaso Grande:

The story of Command & Conquer 4 takes place after the events of the critically acclaimed Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars™. The year is 2062 and humanity is at the brink of extinction. With only six years left until the mysterious crystalline structure Tiberium renders the earth entirely uninhabitable, the two opposing factions – Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod – inevitably find themselves in desperation for the same cause: to stop Tiberium from extinguishing mankind. The unthinkable becomes reality and Nod’s enigmatic leader Kane takes off for GDI headquarters. What is Kane planning in the heart of his enemies’ base? Command & Conquer 4 draws the epic conclusion to the beloved Tiberium universe, where fans will learn the fate of Earth, Nod, Tiberium, GDI and most importantly, Kane’s motivations behind his decade-long plan.

So this is supposed to wrap up the existing story line, which is interesting because I've never really felt like there was some kind of huge, overarching story to these games. Really, the only truly memorable character that's made it through multiple games is Joe Kucan's Kane. They talk about revealing Kane's motivations, but this also makes it sound like GDI and Nod will, at some point, find themselves working together. Perhaps they'll be fending off attacks from the Scrin while finding a way to either get rid of all the Tiberium or get the hell off of Earth? Perhaps Kane wants death for all and the remaining Nod forces will be forced to turn on him to save their own skin?

Staff

#1 Posted by Jeff (3082 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

OK, after all the shenanigans yesterday, I was thinking we'd have to wait until Friday for an official confirmation. But Command & Conquer 4 is real, it's been officially announced, and it's coming to the PC in 2010.

The release claims that the game will retain the "core compulsions" that people have come to love about the series while adding plenty of new features, including class-based gameplay, objective-based multiplayer modes, persistent player progression that weaves its way through all of the game's modes, and an "all-in-one mobile base." That objective-based multiplayer is a five-on-five mode that focuses on cooperation and teamwork.

There's also a bit on the game's story. From El Press Releaso Grande:

The story of Command & Conquer 4 takes place after the events of the critically acclaimed Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars™. The year is 2062 and humanity is at the brink of extinction. With only six years left until the mysterious crystalline structure Tiberium renders the earth entirely uninhabitable, the two opposing factions – Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod – inevitably find themselves in desperation for the same cause: to stop Tiberium from extinguishing mankind. The unthinkable becomes reality and Nod’s enigmatic leader Kane takes off for GDI headquarters. What is Kane planning in the heart of his enemies’ base? Command & Conquer 4 draws the epic conclusion to the beloved Tiberium universe, where fans will learn the fate of Earth, Nod, Tiberium, GDI and most importantly, Kane’s motivations behind his decade-long plan.

So this is supposed to wrap up the existing story line, which is interesting because I've never really felt like there was some kind of huge, overarching story to these games. Really, the only truly memorable character that's made it through multiple games is Joe Kucan's Kane. They talk about revealing Kane's motivations, but this also makes it sound like GDI and Nod will, at some point, find themselves working together. Perhaps they'll be fending off attacks from the Scrin while finding a way to either get rid of all the Tiberium or get the hell off of Earth? Perhaps Kane wants death for all and the remaining Nod forces will be forced to turn on him to save their own skin?

Staff

#2 Posted by Jeffsekai (6948 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Awesome! love CnC 3 cant wait for this

#3 Posted by PeasForFees (2407 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Ha

#4 Posted by Metal_Mills (2805 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Yay! :)

MechWarrior 5 and C&C4 announced with Monkey Island just released. Wow, best month in gaming for a good while.

#5 Posted by atejas (3057 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Like I said in the other thread, at least they're promising to retire the series with this.

#6 Posted by JeffGoldblum (3596 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Loved the different Kanes. I cant say Im excited for this game though.

#7 Posted by tekmojo (2294 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

lol at the kane spoof

#8 Posted by Gav47 (1542 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Giantbomb articles are funny

#9 Edited by stinky (1531 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

what no mention of Michael Ironside reprising his role?

PS

WHERE IS CAIN?

#10 Posted by Sparky_Buzzsaw (4922 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

I'm excited about this, but I'd also like to see the team behind C&C develop new IP's in the genre. Command and Conquer 3 felt a little too much like Generals for my tastes.

Moderator

#11 Posted by phlegms (1607 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

I was hoping this franchise would be let die before it got too stale...

#12 Posted by ch13696 (4582 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Finally, I beat C&C 3 over and over again. I'm ready for a new Command & Conquer.

#13 Posted by ZeroCast (1869 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Just bring us Generals 2 already.

#14 Posted by Deusoma (2854 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

I passed on the last one, but this one sounds weird and different, so maybe. I liked the nod to Gerstmanngate there.

#15 Posted by Media_Master (3283 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

wrapping it all up

#16 Posted by babblinmule (1261 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Screw Jebus, the true messiah will soon return!

#17 Posted by Alwaysrun (66 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

The series has been an epic let down for at least a decade. Not since firestorm has the series garnered any appeal and subsequent releases have only suceeded in climbing a mountain of cheeze to obtain the mantle of king fromage. I for one am excited the series will finially end with this forth installment and hope it's release will coinside with Starcraft 2 so the series can have a quick painful death and stop occupying valuable shelf space at my local game shop.

#18 Posted by Reverseface (1221 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

FOR REALS PENATENIONARY STEEELS

#19 Posted by lacke (346 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

As I Red Alert fan I rank

RA > C&C
RA2 > C&C2
C&C3 > RA3

I really liked C&C3, I thought that game played really well but I didn't like the direction they went with RA3. They just made it silly, without being funny. Which is why I'm looking forward to the C&C series instead of RA now. Damn.. they'll probably butcher RA even more with the inevitable RA4.

#20 Posted by NoXious (1329 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

@lacke:

Red Alert always was weird though - never funny in my mind.

I agree though, C&C is a much better franchise :)

#21 Posted by Jimbo (8892 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Haven't really enjoyed any of them since Tiberian Sun tbh.

They badly need to go back to basics.

#22 Posted by giyanks22 (2682 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Cool....hopefully it'll be better than C&C RA 3

#23 Posted by H1VOLTAGE (51 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

I'll buy it if there is a hidden fire ant level...

#24 Posted by Contra (246 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Sigh.

I may not get it....

#25 Posted by H1VOLTAGE (51 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

On a side note, the two coolest kain's in video games for me are #1 Kain from Legacy of Kain, and #2 Final Fantasy 2's Kain the dragoon. how about you all?

#26 Posted by Begemot (108 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

I would really be interested in the story that Westwoods mind created.

EA already fucked up their chance with the generic "aliens attack earth" shit.

#27 Posted by raidingkvatch (1129 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Kane lives in Death!

#28 Posted by JJOR64 (18126 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Maybe I will finally try C&C 3 now. :-P

#29 Posted by dagas (2606 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

all-in-one mobile base? So guess even less focus on base building...that's the part I like. Also sounds like some hero unit or something like WC3 you have to lvl up which I don't like at all.

I'l probably play it at some point just for the story, but doesn't seem like I'll be playing much more than that.

#30 Posted by Sharpshooter (845 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

C&C3 ended on a nice cliffhanger for me. I cant wait for this final chapter in the story.

#31 Posted by MrKlorox (11082 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Any news on whether Kasavin is leading the project?

#32 Posted by CleverLoginName (678 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

If Red Alert has proven anything, it's that time travel solves everything.

#33 Posted by Zohar (100 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

@Begemot:

That's basically the story that westwood wrote. They alluded to the Scrin (unnamed at the time) many times. EA took what they had and expanded upon it.

CnC3 was a big let down for me. They really raped the canon in that game. It was a huge step backwards. The factions didn't feel right at all. It was like it all progressed backwards. Mechs, Energy beam shooting giant walking tanks, and all that jazz from GDI from Tib Sun, and in CnC3 they are back to using...tracked tanks and the like? The atmosphere sucked, too. TibSun felt like a futuristic, techno/industrial post-apocalyptic tale of war in a world that is being torn apart by the spread of tiberium and tiberium based lifeforms, ion storms, meteor showers, and mutation. CnC 3 had almost none of that. They got the basic idea across that, yes, the world is in a bad state, but it felt really NOTHING like the atmosphere you'd remember from Tibsun and Firestorm.

The soundtrack SUCKED MAJOR BALLS and any CnC fan would know the soundtracks of those games are very important. They realized this and made the ST for RA3 really incredible.

Nod soldiers got turned into dudes with hoodies until you unlocked higher tier stuff. The whole deal with infantry coming in squads was annoying, and they missed the mark a lot when it came to the progression of technology the factions would have seemed to have taken since TibSun and Firestorm. They also almost entirely got rid of the mutants and changed Tiberium itself into some lame crystalyne structure instead of plant-life. It also took about 8 patches to get that game to a state of relative balance....long after it was dead.

It was a huge stumbling block for them and I think they learned a lot about the CnC fanbase and how important canon is to them.

And thank god they did because Red Alert 3 was an amazing game that did that side of the franchise a lot of justice. It was also a pretty well balanced game and had a kick-ass soundtrack.

With the lessons they learned from CnC3, their success in RA3, and their experience now making games a lot more balanced, I'm looking forward to this game quite a bit.

#34 Posted by atejas (3057 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

@Zohar: I honestly think RA3's soundtrack REALLY fails to match up to Klepacki's older stuff.
Well, except for the Soviet March.
Plus, they've been taking the campiness a bit too far ever since Yuri's Revenge, if you ask me.

#35 Posted by Agent47CSim2 (1083 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Is it coming out on 360?

#36 Posted by Begemot (108 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

@Zohar:

To be honest, that's fair enough. I do remember the little alien ships in previous C&C games, but you just described it perfectly. The game just didn't feel right. It was a step back -- and the aliens/Scrin looked so generic. Every building had the same spike[s] sticking out. Units were dull. It just wasn't presented well.

#37 Posted by Bouke (1396 posts) - 3 years, 10 months ago

Huh? Why not Generals 2? C&C4 seems a bit to soon after C&C3...

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight is the disappointing conclusion of the 15-year Tiberium Saga with player progression, co-op play and live-action cinematics.

Comment and Save