Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars - A Review

"The future lies with the brotherhood," says Kane, the enigmatic and self-styled Messiah of Nod.

"Arise my children, for our time has now come".

He couldn't have said it better. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is THE game of this season. The funny thing about Kane is that no matter how many times you kill him (he apparently was killed in the last two games), he keeps coming back with badder machines from the NOD drawing board and more diabolical schemes to take over the world. This time, Kane gets lucky and fires a nuke which destroys the GDI's planetary-orbital control station, the Philadelphia. In the ensuing chaos, NOD forces attempt their third bid at world domination.

So yes, NOD has nukes and Tiberium-based weapons. GDI has the Ion Cannon and more high-tech gadgetry. Familiar weapons like the EMP are also available.

There is also a third faction known as the alien race Scrin, which arrived on planet Earth - apparently attracted to the large swathes of Tiberium that infected most of the world in 2050 - to make the bloody world war between NOD and GDI become a fatal three-war fight for supremacy.

Boasting of exotic and insectoid-like units, the Scrin reminds me of the Protoss in Starcraft. Think that these unearthly-like creatures can be squashed by volleys of homing missiles and a couple of well-placed cluster bombs? Think again! The Scrin possesses the Rift Generator - a powerful superweapon that creates rifts which suck up anything unfortunate to be caught up in its vortex.

Boasting an interface that fans of the Command & Conquer series should familiarise with in no time, this game packs enough punch and kick-ass like the new units in the game.

The graphics are enhanced and projectiles and explosions now look more realistic. Structures crumble and bellow with smoke when you fire rockets into them. Tiberium glows with a green haze above them. And with enhanced 3-D modelling, the terrain is no longer a backdrop of 2-D ridges and lowlands.

I grabbed a couple of screenshots while playing the game. Here they are:

This beautiful welcome page greeted me when I first embarked on my third foray into the Command & Conquer series

In one of the missions, I find my base attacked by wave after wave of NOD infantry consisting of Militant Squads, Missile Squads, elite Blackhands and Fanatics

......But my base defences consisting of Watch Towers and Guardian Cannons quickly turned their foolish assault into a rout

Explosions in C&C3 are now more spectacular. Here, the row of parked NOD vehicles gets reduced to smithereens

The NOD commander now will have his hands full toying with the familiar NOD structures such as the fearsome Obelisk (bottem), Command Post, Secret Shrine, among others

My assortment of APCs, Predator Tanks, and Mammoth Tanks lay waste to the NOD Secret Shrine and Hand of NOD

Phantom of the Opera - A Review

If you haven't watched Phantom of the Opera @ Esplanade yet, my advice is this: buy a medium-priced ticket (around $100-150) and watch it before the season ends! Unfortunately, the student-priced tickets were sold out since January. Luckily, we bought ours last November!

Reminiscent of the 2005 movie, this show is much better as the cast has a better vocal quality - you can practically feel the goosebumps when Christine Daae and the Phantom sing. The synchronising of the different singers, when they blend into each others' scenes seamlessly, when they sing together, is almost perfect, taking into account the large number of singers in certain scenes.

I guess you need a really tight and cohesive cast who know each others' roles and notes inside out, helmed by a conductor who faces the challenge of not making the musical sound too rigid and repetitive.

Considering that the musical is played almost every night (and twice on weekends), I was quite impressed to find that the cast was able to pull it off as if this is the final performance of the last run of the musical.

The acting is also less dramatic and more personal. In this version, the Phantom demonstrates more aptitude in his acting and allows the audience to feel his anger and pain. From my seat, I couldn't really see Christine's and Raoul's facial emotions to comment on them though.

But what made this play even more spectacular was the logistics behind it all: the props, clothing, special effects, and every little stage detail that mesmerised the audience and contributed to the ambience and experience. Scenes progressed into other scenes without any hiccups. The cast themselves had to change into new attires within seconds. The stage itself was utilised in every strategic way possible to channel the attention of the audience. A lot of work and effort was certainly put into this musical.

Not to say the least, it was a really memorable experience watching this musical and I must say it was worth every penny.

That's Lun Kai, Joe, Jeslin, and me in the photos

Ubin Cycling Trip

It has been more than a week since the exams ended.

So having blown quite a sum eating well, partying at weekly Mambo Night, buying a couple of birthday gifts here and there, and generally chilling out, Shawn hit upon the idea of the first inaugural 'SMU Chill Club' outing to Ubin. So off we went there last week where we engaged in some photography and rough-terrain cycling, ending off with cheap but good chilli crabs for dinner.

Timothy, Lincoln, Shawn, and myself fooling around

The remains of an Ubin jetty, a past forgone

At the beach with the evening sun, a smothering hue in the cobalt sky

Changi Village jetty in the backdrop on the way to Ubin

These abandoned quarry sites now boast a scenic picture of serenity. The waters look deceptively calm since the quarry pools are usually very deep.