EA surprised absolutely no one by announcing a sequel to a popular title. We’ll be waiting until sometime in 2010, but Command & Conquer 4 is coming! Only the PC version has been announced at this time.
EA is promising a multitide of innovations being added to the Command & Conquer gameplay, while at the same time managing some sort of balancing act that keeps fans happy. A new class-based focus and persistent player progression are offered as examples of these innovations. I’ve always been a sucker for anything persistent in games, so I’ll be keeping my eye on that in particular.
And yes, emphasis has been put on this being the final game in the Tiberium series (the main branch of the C&C games). The game will take place after the events in C&C3: Tiberium Wars. Humanity is on the brink of extinction. There’s only six years left until Tiberium, a mysterious crystalline structure, renders the earth completely uninhabitable. The Global Defense Initiative and Brotherhood of Nod are working together towards a common goal, but Kane is undoubtedly going to pull out some jerk move at some point. We’ll learn what on earth he’s been thinking for the past ten years, and also the fate of GDI, the rest of Nod, and Tiberium itself. Sources indicate it may be epic.
We’ll be getting those two campaigns, plus the expected assortment of multiplayer goodness. Among these is a new five-on-five objective-based mode, which we’re told will promote teamwork, co-operation, and deliver a social RTS experience never seen before. There’s no mention of the name of this new mode, so I’m going to refer to it as “Herding Cats Mode”. Ten people in an RTS game is just going to be delightfully chaotic.
Is it almost 2010 yet?
EA has set up a Twitter account so we can get updates straight from the development team, 140 characters at a time.
Brad Petch has been playing games longer than most gamers have been alive. This does not mean he's good at them, or has good taste in them. Online interactions are not rated.