Command & Conquer

Command & Conquer is a video game in the strategy genre developed by Westwood Studios, Inc. and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment (Europe) Ltd. originally released in 1995. It is currently playable on DOS.

Organized ChaosRecommending Command and Conquer is a bit like recommending that you go see the latest big movie at the cinema. C&C has been out for a couple of weeks and has already reached number 2 on the unofficial list of the top 100 games on the Internet. Very few games have that initial appeal, but also very few games stay in or near the top 10 for very long. Whether C&C; will have staying power is debatable, but its initial impact is quite explosive. C&C; was given a lot of hype, and its release date was delayed several times, but in my opinion the wait has been worth it.

If you've played Dune II you'll be very familiar with the control system used in C&C; Although to some C&C; might be Dune III, it's quite a bit more than that. For one thing, it is set in the future and not in the world of Dune. For another, the protagonists this time are the Global Defense Initiative (the good guys) and the Brotherhood of NOD (the bad guys). These two forces compete for control of the world and the priceless tiberium (which for Dune II fans equals spice).

Each side has an arsenal of weapons at its disposal, most of which are only available as you progress through the scenarios. This means you can't play with the advanced stuff too early, and you have new units to learn the pros and cons of as the game unfolds. For each side, winning overall means winning about 15 scenarios, but the scenarios you get vary somewhat depending on how well you do in each mission, and the difficulty of the mission may depend on the success of a previous mission.

However, if you choose network play you can have all buildable weapons, right down to satellite beams (GDI) and nuclear weapons (NOD). This makes network play, with up to 4 players, a pretty awesome experience, and probably the most fun part of C&C;, if you have the hardware available. While C&C; is still a challenging and enjoyable game in the missions, the immense satisfaction of hearing the guy sitting across the street squealing as you destroy his construction center is unsurpassed. And since C&C; comes on 2 CDs, you can play a 2-player game on 2 PCs with a single purchase of the game - way to go Westwood!

The manual is as complete as you could wish for. It looks quite a bit like the Dune II manual, but I suppose it is. Brilliant and well presented, as is the game as a whole. The introductory sequence raises the expectations of the game: short movie clips from different cable TV channels put you in the mood of the world in which the game takes place. The value of television as a propaganda medium for both sides is clear from the beginning of the game, with the NOD bent on turning world and UN opinion against GDI.

GlitzC&C; is very professionally crafted. Between each mission there is a superbly rendered cut sequence, with digitized actors and computer graphics the likes of which I have not seen before in a game of this class. Simply stunning. Even the setup sequence is wonderful. That said, one of C&C's weaknesses is that, after those mesmerizing sequences, the game only uses the 320x200 VGA standard, and not SVGA. Having seen the Warcraft 2 alpha demo, the graphics in C&C; look very rough, but once you get used to it you start to appreciate the finer touches of the animations.

It's clear that the animations have been very well thought out, and with a lot of humor. Inactive infantry do push-ups and move around. Tanks have turrets that spin smoothly as they move and fire. Grenadiers lob grenades that blast their hapless victims into the air in a bloody mess. Rockets shoot from launchers and bazookas. Flamethrowers set enemy infantry ablaze. The NOD's obelisk of light blasts all who approach. Most impressive of all, however, is that the NOD nuclear missile will destroy or disable many buildings and vaporize almost all infantry on the same screen as the point of impact.

The sound effects are as good as you could wish for. In addition to all the battle sounds, there is a set of unconventional 'techno' style background music, which cycles through a dozen tracks as you play. The in-game controls allow you to program the tracks, so if you like track 10 (I think it's the one that reminds me of Terminator music), you can cycle through that track without stopping.

GameplayThe forces at your disposal vary depending on the weather and the nature of the mission. Sometimes you have a base to work with to build new units, sometimes you have fixed units, sometimes you have reinforcements, and on the occasional mission you have a base to work with to build new units, sometimes you have fixed units, sometimes you have reinforcements, and on the odd mission you have a base to work with to build new units.

Command & Conquer is available at a reduced price on the following websites and is no longer abandonware.