Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun is the second game in Westwood Studios' original Command and Conquer series of real-time strategy (RTS) games. Published by Electronic Arts, who became Westwood's publisher in 1998, Tiberian Sun was released on August 27, 1999, for Microsoft Windows. The events of Tiberian Sun take place in the year 2030, following the events which occurred immediately prior to and during the Second Tiberium War.

Development
The development of Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun started in 1996 after the release of Tiberian Dawn. For the direct sequel, Westwood developed a completely new graphics engine, extensively reworked the AI, used Full Motion Video cutscenes exclusively for in-game story elements, and implemented numerous other features. The Full Motion Video segments in Tiberian Sun drew the talents of actors such as James Earl Jones (General Solomon), Michael Biehn (Commander McNeil), and Joseph Kucan (Kane), as well as CGI-generated battle scenes.

It's notable that EA, as the new publisher, pushed for Tiberian Sun's release ahead of schedule. This meant that a number of gameplay and engine features didn't make it into the game, or were released with Tiberian Sun: Firestorm. At the time of the accelerated release in 1999, Tiberian Sun had been in development for 36 months.

Story
Tiberian Sun follows Michael McNeil (GDI) and Anton Slavik (Nod) as they command GDI and Brotherhood of Nod forces during the Second Tiberium War. Despite winning the First Tiberium War with the Ion Cannon strike on the Sarajevo Temple complex, GDI forces were unable to account for the body of Kane; a singular fact that the GDI High Council later saw as a costly oversight. This "disappearance" made Kane immortal in the eyes of some of the Brotherhood, which allowed Nod forces to continue operating even thirty years later. GDI, however, mitigated Nod's effectiveness by installing a puppet leader (Hassan) over the largest splinter faction of Nod. Slavik, who saw Hassan as a traitor to Kane, overthrew Hassan's leadership, while Kane simultaneously revealed himself to the Brotherhood. Immediately after, Kane initiated combat operations on a number of GDI positions and contacted General James Solomon, aboard the GDSS Philadelphia. These events marked the beginning of the Second Tiberium War.

GDI's Commander McNeil was initially deployed to stop a Nod task force attacking GDI's outpost in Phoenix, AZ. Although he succeeded in driving Nod from the region, GDI suffered heavy losses. From the Phoenix base, however, McNeil attempted to and did secure an alien warship Nod's General Vega crash landed, although he was unable to secure any significant hardware. He did, however, encounter a Forgotten mutant by the name of Umagon, who promised the support of her Forgotten comrades in return for GDI support in rescuing their leader, Tratos. Upon rescuing Tratos, Solomon sent McNeil to South America to assault General Vega's stronghold. McNeil successfully captured Vega's stronghold and attempted to interrogate Vega, however, Vega's drug-induced insanity and Kane launching a nuclear strike on the facility prevented McNeil from getting anything more than cryptic hints about the origin of the alien warship. The speculation about the alien ship was quickly put on hold, as Nod forces under the command of Anton Slavik attacked and captured GDI's fortress in Hammerfest, Norway. Commander McNeil led an amphibious assault group into the base, evicted the occupying Nod force, and retrieved the sonic crystals being held in the base from Slavik's forces. In the process, McNeil's brother, on station in Hammerfest, was killed by Nod forces. General Solomon, then contacted McNeil about Kane's new chemical missile facilities and Banshee fighter factories. For GDI to successfully conclude operations in Europe, both of these threats were to be dealt with. In the middle of these operations, the mutant Umagon was captured by Nod and taken to Kane's pyramid in Cairo to complete her Divination. Disobeying orders from General Solomon, McNeil left immediately. While en route to Egypt, McNeil's command ship was grounded by an ion storm; however, after holding off Nod forces, he continued uninterrupted. He discovered Nod was also attempting to set up ICBM launchers to target and destroy the Philadelphia. The events of the Second Tiberium War eventually culminated in McNeil defeating Kane (and Nod) at Nod's Cairo missile launch facility, narrowly averting a chemical missile launch and the destruction of the Philadelphia.

Anton Slavik, a Black Hand prelate and experienced commander, managed to escape a Nod holding facility under the command of the GDI's puppet leader Hassan. Linking up with Nod forces loyal to Kane, he successfully deposed Hassan as the de facto leader of the Brotherhood. Coincidentally, Kane also revealed himself to the Brotherhood at this time, which had the effect of uniting the fractured segments of the Brotherhood of Nod. With Nod reunited, Kane initiated several assaults on GDI bases around the globe. Kane, however, tasked Slavik with recovering the Tacitus, an alien database that was on board the ship Vega crashed. After retrieving the Tacitus, Nod forces captured the mutant Umagon and destroyed a number of GDI research facilities, as well as delaying the deployment of the Mammoth Mk. II by eradicating the initial prototype. However, after Kane's defeat at Cairo, he was forced to retreat with the other Nod leaders from GDI's view. With Kane, Cairo and Sarajevo, the Banshee factories, and much of their missile-based arsenal lost, Slavik had no choice but to go underground. Mere days afterward, Nod and GDI forces would, ironically be forced to team up in the Firestorm Crisis when CABAL went rogue.

Technology
After GDI's victory in the First Tiberium War, GDI military technology advanced unevenly across a number of areas. While Nod maintained the edge in Tiberium technology, GDI was, however, able to implement several key advances. Technological progress was made in the areas of
 * Sonic disruption and resonance applications
 * Military-grade walker technology (Wolverine, Titan, Mammoth Mk. II)
 * Military-grade hover technology (Hover MLRS)
 * Ion Cannon advancements
 * Projected defense shields (Firestorm barrier)
 * Railgun weaponry.

Nod, while in hiding, also made a number of advances in
 * Stealth technology in particular the Stealth Generator and Stealth Tank.
 * Mobile artillery.
 * Obelisk heavy laser platforms. (most notable of which in CABAL's Cybernetics Core defenses)
 * Subterranean technology
 * Strategic and chemical missile projection
 * Tiberium weaponry
 * Cyborgs/Tiberium-based Cybernetics.

Much of this technology was lost in the period between the Second Tiberium War and the Third Tiberium War, as CABAL took much of the cybernetics advancements with it, subterranean technology was abandoned, and Nod had to reacquire their stealth data and nuclear stockpiles from GDI outposts.

Endings
GDI Ending: McNeil rescues Umagon and impales Kane with a metal support beam, letting the world think once again that Kane is dead.

Nod Ending: Slavik's forces successfully position the three ICBMs to destroy GDSS Philadelphia. Subsequently, the World Altering Missile (WAM) is launched and turns Earth into one Red Zone, turning carbon-based life into Tiberium-based life. Curiously, as the missile was launched, Kane mysteriously dissolved into light.