Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars

Also known as: C&C, Command and Conquer, Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars [UK]

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The pad's still a problem, but the acting's fun

Words: Michael Gapper, Xbox World 360 UK

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It works in the favor of the 360 controller that you usually need only control a small number of units at a time, but EA LA still hasn’t hit on a satisfactory alternative to mouse and keyboard control. On the PC, assembling a group and switching between them is as simple and dragging a box and hitting a hot key, but on the 360 it’s fiddly enough to be time consuming, and time consuming enough that it’s not workable in the midst of one of the game’s battles.

One mission sets you the task of defending a base by switching different defensive towers on and off while carefully guiding reinforcements in from afar and then attacking the three bases that are pushing soldiers and tanks your way. It’s one of the game’s tougher battles even on the PC, but with controls where it’s near-impossible to coordinate even two groups of units, let alone half a dozen or more, it’s a nightmare task that doesn’t appear to have been rebalanced for the 360 in the slightest.

Enjoy that futuristic fracas, did you? Well, prepare for things to get even more manic online. There’s the usual ranked and unranked Versus match business for up to four players, all with the added bonus of 360-exclusive Cam support; hook up your Live Cam and your opponent’s face sits in the corner of your screen, making pained faces. And they will be, as they tackle the monumental task of building units, switching between groups, managing their buildings, researching new tech, defending their base and launching a powerful attack with the counter-intuitive joypad controls.