I am a big Command & Conquer fan, but even I had to look up what Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances was before writing this. Now, why would I feel the need to research this particular game today? The answer to that question is quite simple, actually.
EA, out of nowhere, just created a Steam page for that game (via PCGamesN), indicating a re-release is coming soon.
Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances is something of an unusual entry into the storied, and unfairly dormant, real-time strategy series. It was a browser-based, free-to-play MMO, back when browser-based games were a thing.
The game went online in May, 2012, well over a decade ago, but it’s certainly not a title that comes to mind when someone thinks Command & Conquer.
The Steam version will likewise be free-to-play, and will even include the game’s strategic layer (which C&C isn’t typically known for), but one that formed a core component of the original browser release. It is, however, going to be incredibly interesting to see how EA translates the social, invite-your-friends elements of the browser game into this desktop app.
Tiberium Alliances lets you take control of one of two factions, GDI or NOD. You get access to each of their various buildings, units and defenses, and you can research upgrades for each in the same way you would in the classic RTS games.
The meta/strategy layer involves territory grabs, alliance forging with friends and some very 2010’s browser game action, all of which will seemingly also return in the upcoming Steam release. Speaking of which, the Steam store page only has ‘coming soon’ as the expected release date, but considering how obscure Tiberium Alliances is, it could be the sort of thing that shadow-drops at The Game Awards or something.
While it may be a nice novelty to jump back into what is, quite frankly, a relic of a bygone age, what C&C fans really want are remasters of more classic games. It never made sense that the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection was all there was to it. For a moment there, it looked like EA was digging through its archives and willing to revive some of its older franchises, but nothing followed that release – unless you consider the re-packaging and re-release of Command & Conquer games on Steam earlier this year, which I do not.
