Week 3 - Game Review - C&C Tiberium Alliances

 Command and Conquer Tiberium Alliances (due to being a browser based game it is available on all platforms including Linux).



One of the interesting developments taking place in the gaming world of late is due to the upcoming release of the Windows 8 operating system. A few very prominent game development studios and publishers such as Valve have even gone so far as to say: "Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space."

Valve is an American video game development and digital distribution company which was ironically founded by two former Microsoft employees: Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. Due to both Valve's general disagreement with the direction and functionality of the Windows 8 operating system and Valve's commitment to the Linux platform Valve have decided to port their digital distribution platform (Steam) to Linux in particular the Ubuntu distribution. 

Valve is of an opinion (of which I am in agreeance with) that one of the primary hindrances to the further proliferation of the Linux operating system is due to absence of games. With Valve porting both Steam and it's in-house games over to Linux this could be the catalyst needed to improve the popularity and adoption of the Linux operating system.

I have "played around with" quite a few Linux distributions in the past but these days I predominantly use Ubuntu and it's derivatives (such as Mythbuntu for my HTPC). Although I do not boot into Ubuntu as often as I should I though I would do a game review of a game that is available on Linux and indeed all platforms as it is browser based Command and Conquer Tiberium Alliances.

Interactivity:

Tiberium Alliances is a blend of turn based and action point based territory acquisition through offensive and defensive tactics, research and resource management.

Genre:

Tiberium Alliances is formally categorized as a military science fiction massively multiplayer online real-time strategy video game however as resources are slowly gathered in 1 hour "ticks" and a player accumulates "command points" over time as well which are utilized for territorial acquisition the game may also be considered to have turn based and action point characteristics.

Concept:

This game is purely about territorial acquisition, ladder based competitive game play leading to eventual world domination. The theme is not defined as this game relies upon previous games in the franchise for this. The setting is in a future version of Earth were aliens have infested the planet with an extra-terrestrial substance known as Tiberium for transformation purposes.

Spatial Arena:

Tiberium Alliances takes place in a large world map with each player assigned a "territory" clearly indicated by a border. As the player progresses they may colonize more territory and form alliances in order to increase their territory.

Goal:

The goal of this game is to acquire resources and territory through offensive tactics against hostile computer controller and player controller bases with the eventual goal of world domination.

Challenge:

As this game takes place in a massively multilayer setting the player is under constant threat not only from computer controller enemies but that of other players as well. The game offers various avenues for advancement through the use of offensive, defensive, research and resource management and key location tactics. As the player only has so many command points at any given time a player must plan their attacks appropriate and be careful not to over commit. 

Narrative:

This game is almost entire absent of any form of narrative. There is no story, no reason why you are fighting the enemy, no history as to why this situation came about. As mentioned earlier this game relies heavily on the pr-existing universe setup by earlier games in the franchise along with it's competitive ladder based /ranked tactical game play to keep the player engaged. Simple browser based graphics and sound prove to be more than enough to achieve the effect.