Command and Conquer is in a strange limbo right now. Earlier this year, the entire RTS series was repackaged for a new release on Steam. Very recently, the forgotten MMO-inflected spinoff Tiberium Alliances also appeared on Valve’s store. But with Westwood gone and EA’s intentions unclear, it’s not certain where the future of C&C lies. And so, we look to the past. Total Annihilation, Age of Empires, and Homeworld are renowned as classics of the genre. Today, we have Company of Heroes, Total War, and Stormgate. But the greatest RTS games of all time are still the first Command and Conquer, also known as Tiberian Dawn, and its pseudo sequel Red Alert. Relaunched as the superlative Command and Conquer Remastered Collection, you can now get them both for just $3.
The best thing about Command and Conquer is its simplicity – or rather, its clarity. Taken at face value, it’s a mechanically straightforward RTS game where all you do is highlight your troops and tell them where to attack. But in the single-player campaign, especially if you choose the Nod faction, management, persistence, and shrewd strategy are vital to success. Artillery can easily destroy buildings, but is quickly overrun by infantry. Smaller vehicles like jeeps make quick work of soldiers, but they’re obliterated swiftly by heavy armor. If you want to use air attacks, there are SAM sites in your way. If you go in by foot, the iconic and terrifying Obelisks and Tesla Coils will become your worst nightmares.
And then there’s just the sheer style of it all. Frank Klepacki’s soundtracks are still some of the greatest in the entire strategy game genre, and the playful mix of real-world politics (the events of Tiberian Dawn are inspired heavily by the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s) and outright fantasy (Red Alert’s time machines) gives Command and Conquer an aesthetic all of its own, not to mention the excellently camp live-action cutscenes – Joe Kucan gives one of the all-time videogame performances as Nod archvillain Kane.
Command and Conquer Remastered Collection combines Tiberian Dawn, Red Alert, all their expansions, and hours of behind-the-scenes footage into the complete C&C package. The graphics are completely overhauled (though you can still play with the legacy visuals) and there’s a new version of the soundtrack as well as the legendary map editor, skirmish, and multiplayer modes.
In summary, this is the best RTS bundle you can get today, and now it’s less than the price of a sandwich. The Command and Conquer Remastered Collection is available for the historical low of $2.99 / £2.69. In the name of Kane, you should get it right now, right here. You should also get the latest on the reappearance of Tiberium Alliances on Steam.
Otherwise, you might want to try some of the best grand strategy games, or maybe the best 4X games on PC.
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