'COMMAND & amp; CONQUER 3: TIBERIUM WARS'

'COMMAND & amp; CONQUER 3: TIBERIUM WARS'
(EA Games) forPC and Xbox 360
Genre: Strategy; Rating: T
Grade: A
My first foray into real-time strategy games came at my college newspaper when I watched a photographer shirk his duties so that he could direct tanks and aircraft in battle and have other machines collect bizarre green crystals.
The game was the original "Command & amp; Conquer," and while I haven't seen that photographer in about a decade, I don't doubt that today he's giddy and hunkered down in a dark room loading up "Tiberium Wars."
It's always a challenge getting gamers with no previous real-time-strategy experience interested in this genre, but if any franchise can do it, it would be "C & amp;C." The third edition features the most fluid and dynamic game play yet, and it easily outshines most of the competition. The Nod and the GDI factions are back to do battle, and with this new edition comes a new alien race, the Scrin, which injects new life into the franchise and makes the decision of who to play as even more difficult.
"C & amp;C3" balances the offline and online gaming quite well. Previous games emphasized one over the other; now, you can get a full experience no matter which way you play. Either way, the essential aspect is speed -- speed in building production facilities, speed in creating war machines, speed in wiping out your enemy. Haste does not make waste; haste makes victory.
Perhaps the finest new feature is the BattleCast, which allows you to watch or play online in real time and have viewers do in-game commentary. The game has made wonderful improvements visually -- the frame rate never drops, even when tons of missiles and lasers are annihilating the battlefield. There are also some great cut scenes that set up each of the game's levels and keep the hammed-up story moving along.
'MEET THE ROBINSONS'
(Disney) for Xbox 360, Wii, PC, PlayStation 2, GameCube, PSP, DS
Genre: Action; Rating: E
Grade: C+
"Meet the Robinsons" isn't the most stupendous movie-to-game port ever created, but you've got to give Disney credit for at least making a game as entertaining -- if not more so -- than the movie it is based upon.
The game follows the basic plot elements from the film. You play as Wilbur, a teen who has created lots of cool gadgets (disassembler ray, charge glove, havoc glove) that will become familiar once you start using them. As you make your way backward and forward in time, you solve puzzles, do platform genre maneuvers and generally save the day.
Disney certainly put more effort into this game than it did with some other recent releases ("Spectrobes," anyone?). The game's graphics are pretty weak, but at least there is a bevy of mini-games in addition to the main story. "Meet the Robinsons" is clearly aiming to entice younger gamers who have not experienced more full-bodied games.
'CUSTOM ROBO ARENA'
(Nintendo) forDS
Genre: Fighting; Rating: E
Grade: D
The customizable mech shoot-'em-up might work well on consoles with rich, detailed graphics and massive explosions. But in "Custom Robo Arena," everything is small and never seems to deliver a satisfying outcome.
The main thrust of the game is that your robo is customizable, so the options and ability to experiment are endless. With this comes a tad bit of frustration, because more often than not you will find yourself unable to mix the parts well -- you're always left feeling one or two pieces short. The battles aren't terribly competitive, and you rarely feel satisfied with the result.
The arenas are stale and the weapon effects unspectacular nearly across the board. Unless you have a deep love for tiny mech fighting on the DS screen, you may want to rent this one or avoid it altogether.
--Chris Campbell, Scripps Howard