Tiberium

Announced in late 2007 to much fanfare in the press, Tiberium was a tactical first-person shooter set eleven years after the events of C&C 3: the player took on the role of Ricardo Vega, a GDI Commander capable of directing his squads in the heat of battle. Despite striking art direction, EA cancelled the project on 30 September 2008, judging that the quality would not meet the expected standards.

Tiberium was to be a new FPS for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 set in the Command & Conquer universe. It was developed by EA Los Angeles between mid-2005 and 2008. It was cancelled on 31 September 2008. It was intended to be a blend of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, Battlefield and R6: Vegas, and was to use the “Unreal 3 Engine”.

The Tiberium development team were fans of action and science fiction games; they sought out new ideas for a game within EA and felt that the Tiberium series was rich and substantial enough for this purpose. They began their work by creating the Tiberium Bible, as they wanted to base their game on a fairly robust mythology. It’s not Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings, but they wanted to create a fairly consistent universe. They didn’t rewrite the foundations of the existing story, but they did enlist the help of scientists from MIT and Caltech to better understand Tiberium. Tiberium is clearly at the heart of their story: it is their One Ring, their Matrix.

During pre-production, the game’s team developed several game prototypes to strike the best possible balance between the action and tactical elements of the game. They focused in particular on two areas: the soundscape and the visual atmosphere. They developed a new audio system capable of adapting to every small action taking place on screen. They also devised an atmospheric system that lends the action even greater realism. The game was based on controlling key points on the maps: Tibérium fissures. As soon as you ‘capture’ one, a ‘Tiberium Spike’ is established and you can deploy additional units. The multiplayer mode incorporated the main gameplay elements from the single-player mode. It was very similar to Battlefield’s Conquest mode. You must control a certain number of key points on the map (Tiberium fissures). Once you control a certain number, a countdown begins for the enemy; if they do not recapture any points and allow the timer to reach zero, they lose.

• You command a RAID unit (Rapid Assault and Intercept Deployment)
• Equipment: jetpack, protective shield, and the GD10 weapon, which is actually four weapons in one (Mag Rail: assault rifle, Energy Cannon: Sniper rifle, Grenade Launcher: Grenade Launcher, and MLS: multi-missile launcher)
• Squads: Minigunners, Scorpion Rockets, Predators, Titans, etc.
• You can access Orca attacks, etc.
• You fight the Scrin, including new infantry units

The story takes place 11 years after the end of Tiberium Wars. You play as Ricardo Vega, a GDI Commander in charge of the world’s largest Tiberium field and refining facility, located near the last Alien Tower. This red zone corresponds to the former Mediterranean Sea.