Fleshing out Command & Conquer 3’s story

In the latest interview which Mike Verdu has granted the press (in this case, Game Daily), he talks about the live-action cast that is assembled to flesh out the backstory to Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. It should be interesting to see how this sort of treatment holds up in the face of CGI and gameplay, as that has always been the challenge of pairing live-action cutscenes to the game.

Mike promises a fully-developed storyline with characters that grow as the game progresses. He notes that “The game is a satisfying military science fiction spectacle with a future world war as the backdrop for its story, but the story itself has layers and tackles some big themes.” Quite intriguing, considering that the live-action treatment in the first C&C (Or in Red Alert, for that matter, which was very much tongue-in-cheek. I miss the Kari “Tanya”…), while it did serve to advance the story, did not really go into this deep narrative business.

For example: the ever familiar Lando Billy Dee Williams plays a politician with deep character flaws. Flaws which grind him down as the war grinds on. The ever alluring Tricia Helfer (what, you guys don’t watch Galactica?), on the other hand, plays a “conflicted” Nod officer, and if she can hold up to Kane (Joe Kucan), then it’s a job well done in this veteran’s book. Mike says that all six principal characters will experience growth, perspective, understanding, and all the stuff that deep narratives are made of.

We’d just like to ask, though: What’s Michael Ironside’s role in all this? Super-secret special agent? Lemme guess: he gets to bring over a special pair of NVG goggles to the role. Wikipedia does say that he’s playing the role of a GDI general (well, that rules “commando” out. At least it didn’t say “GDI Navy,” or we’d think he’d be bringing a special submarine along…).

I miss the Kari “Tanya.”

In the latest interview which Mike Verdu has granted the press (in this case, Game Daily), he talks about the live-action cast that is assembled to flesh out the backstory to Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. It should be interesting to see how this sort of treatment holds up in the face of CGI and gameplay, as that has always been the challenge of pairing live-action cutscenes to the game.

Mike promises a fully-developed storyline with characters that grow as the game progresses. He notes that “The game is a satisfying military science fiction spectacle with a future world war as the backdrop for its story, but the story itself has layers and tackles some big themes.” Quite intriguing, considering that the live-action treatment in the first C&C (Or in Red Alert, for that matter, which was very much tongue-in-cheek. I miss the Kari “Tanya”…), while it did serve to advance the story, did not really go into this deep narrative business.

For example: the ever familiar Lando Billy Dee Williams plays a politician with deep character flaws. Flaws which grind him down as the war grinds on. The ever alluring Tricia Helfer (what, you guys don’t watch Galactica?), on the other hand, plays a “conflicted” Nod officer, and if she can hold up to Kane (Joe Kucan), then it’s a job well done in this veteran’s book. Mike says that all six principal characters will experience growth, perspective, understanding, and all the stuff that deep narratives are made of.

We’d just like to ask, though: What’s Michael Ironside’s role in all this? Super-secret special agent? Lemme guess: he gets to bring over a special pair of NVG goggles to the role. Wikipedia does say that he’s playing the role of a GDI general (well, that rules “commando” out. At least it didn’t say “GDI Navy,” or we’d think he’d be bringing a special submarine along…).

I miss the Kari “Tanya.”