Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars [X360]

Real-time strategy games sell like hotcakes on the PC, so it's hardly surprising to see EA doing everything it can to make them fly on the 360 as well. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against them succeeding: without the flexible, fast mouse and keyboard interface of a computer, controlling an RTS tends to be an uphill struggle. That's the biggest challenge facing EA's Xbox 360 conversion of the likeable Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, released on PC in March, and it's one the game is almost -- but not quite -- up to meeting.

If you're not familiar with the C&C series, one of the most popular and longest-running RTS franchises on the PC, it's set in the near future, and sees Earth plagued by deposits of a mysterious (and deadly) mineral called tiberium. This future Earth is home to two warring factions, the NATO-like GDI, and Nod, a shadowy terrorist organization lead by a charismatic, baldy guy called Kane. Later in the campaign you'll encounter a third (also playable) side, the alien Scrin, who roll together every sci-fi alien cliche you've ever heard.

So to the big question: How do you play a real-time strategy game on a console? If you tried the 360 version of Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II, you'll have some idea, as C&C3's control system owes a lot to the lessons EA learned there. In short, one stick moves the pointer, the other moves the camera, and by playing an elaborate piano concerto with the face buttons, triggers, and bumpers, you command your units and manage your base.

You're probably thinking this is a sure-fire recipe for finger-knotting button combinations and frustrating, fiddly unit selections, and you're about half-right. It's not so much that the face buttons and triggers are mapped badly, because they're not; they do pretty well, all things considered. It comes down to the inescapable fact that you can't pick out individual units with a joystick with any degree of speed or accuracy -- and speed and accuracy is exactly what you need to play this type of RTS. Given the innate problems that C&C3 has to contend with, it does a remarkable job, but it's still hamstrung.

These issues aren't helped by the largely useless tutorial, which plods through the obvious at enormous length and omits any discussion of the advanced selection controls, an essential for efficient play. There's a considerable learning curve as you master the various combinations of buildings, troops, special powers, and tiny icons -- good luck playing it on a standard definition TV, too.