Command & Conquer (C&C) is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game series first created and developed by Westwood Studios. It is now owned by Electronic Arts. The first game in the series was among the earliest in the RTS genre and was inspired by Westwood Studios' earlier strategy game, Dune II. It introduced features that became common in later games, such as using full-motion video clips with a group of actors to tell the story, rather than using computer-generated images. Westwood Studios was bought by Electronic Arts in 1998 and shut down in 2003. Some of the studio's employees and projects were moved to EA Los Angeles, which continued making games in the Command & Conquer series.
History
After Westwood Studios created the highly praised game Dune II, Computer Gaming World reported in 1993 that the company would not use the Dune license for its next strategy game. The magazine explained that the programmers were tired of working with sand and that the new game would have "new terrain and enemies" and include "a multi-player version."
In 1995, Westwood released Command & Conquer worldwide. The game is set in a near-future world where Earth becomes polluted by a mysterious substance called Tiberium. A global war breaks out between the UN-formed Global Defense Initiative, which tries to control Tiberium, and the Brotherhood of Nod, a group led by Kane, who wants to use Tiberium for power. The game was very successful and was followed by Command & Conquer: Red Alert in 1996. This game takes place in an alternate universe where the Soviet Union fights the Allies. Red Alert was developed as a prequel but later became a separate series with a lighter, more humorous tone. The original Command & Conquer and its sequels are known as the "Tiberium" series and keep their science fiction and serious style. The first game is sometimes called Tiberian Dawn.
After the original game, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun and its expansion pack Firestorm were released in 1999. In 2002, Westwood launched Command & Conquer: Renegade, a first-person shooter game praised for its online features. In 2003, Command & Conquer: Generals was released. This game is set in a realistic near-future and includes the United States, China, and the Global Liberation Army. It was followed by an expansion pack called Zero Hour. In 2007, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars was released, along with its expansion pack Kane's Wrath. In 2010, Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight was released as the final game in the Tiberium series. It received mixed reviews because it changed traditional gameplay and story elements. The Red Alert series continued with Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 in 2000, its expansion Yuri's Revenge, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 in 2008. This last game added a new faction, the Empire of the Rising Sun, which resembles Japan with futuristic robotic technology.
Most Command & Conquer games are made for personal computers running Microsoft Windows. Some games have been released on video game consoles and Apple Macs. Other versions have been created for platforms like iOS and web-based systems. As of July 2010, the Command & Conquer series included eleven games and eight expansion packs. The first three games were released as free downloads to promote later games. A free-to-play version of Command & Conquer was being developed by Victory Games and was expected to release in 2013. However, the game was canceled after a short testing phase, and Victory Games was shut down by EA. By 2009, over 30 million Command & Conquer games had been sold worldwide.
Gameplay
The Command & Conquer games are real-time strategy games, except for the first-person shooter Command & Conquer: Renegade. A common feature in the series is that different groups have their own stories that connect to a main story. Games in the series also allow players to compete against each other through local networks or modems. All games in the series include online play and "skirmish" matches, where players can fight against computer-controlled enemies.
Most Command & Conquer real-time strategy games, except Command & Conquer: Generals and its expansions, use a "side bar" for navigation and control, unlike many other games that place the control bar at the bottom of the screen.
In Command & Conquer games, players usually build a base and collect resources to fund the creation of units to attack the opponent's base. All structures for the chosen faction are built at a "construction yard," which starts as a large vehicle called an MCV or Mobile Construction Vehicle. Once a construction yard finishes building a structure, the player can place it near an existing building, and the structure will quickly unfold.
In most Command & Conquer games, except Command & Conquer: Generals and its expansion Zero Hour, resources are gathered by special "harvester" units that bring raw materials (like Tiberium in the Tiberian series or ore and gems in the Red Alert series) to a "refinery" to convert them into usable money. Before Red Alert 2 and Command & Conquer 3, these materials needed storage in refineries or "storage silo" structures. In Generals and Zero Hour, money is collected either by gathering supplies and converting them into money at "supply centers" or by producing it directly through certain units, buildings, or tech buildings at set times.
All factions in the series have similar structures and units, but they are designed to match each faction's theme and have slightly different abilities. Units are divided into infantry, vehicles, and aircraft, with some subdivisions (such as naval units in the Red Alert series). Units are often stronger against certain opponents, following a system similar to the rock-paper-scissors principle.
Most structures in the series act as steps in a technology tree, unlocking new units, buildings, or abilities as players build them. If required structures are destroyed or not powered properly by "power plant" structures, advanced units or abilities may become unavailable.
Every Command & Conquer game allows multiplayer play. Each game box included two CDs, enabling two players to compete with one purchase. Westwood Studios promoted this with the slogan, "A second copy, so you and your friend can destroy each other." This feature helped Command & Conquer become the first real-time strategy game with competitive online play and was a major factor in its success. Games up to Red Alert 2 included two CDs for multiplayer, but later games did not.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 was the first real-time strategy game to allow cooperative online play for its campaigns, unlike earlier games that only supported single-player stories. However, this feature required connecting through EA's servers and did not support local network play.
Westwood Studios used its own system, Westwood Online, to enable online multiplayer. Renegade also supported GameSpy. Later games under EA used GameSpy and stopped supporting Westwood Online, switching to EA's servers. The GameSpy servers closed in 2013, but some games can still be played through Gameranger.
Games
Command & Conquer, released on September 26, 1995, is the first game in the series. According to the Command & Conquer: Renegade manual, the game takes place between 2017 and 2020. It is considered the game that first defined and popularized the real-time strategy genre. The game introduced two opposing groups: the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod. Critics praised the game highly. GameSpot reviewer Chris Hudak said, "Command & Conquer is one of the finest and most well-designed computer games I have ever seen." The game received an average score of 94% from Metacritic. Its expansion pack, Covert Operations, received a score of 72% after its release in 1996.
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun was released on August 27, 1999, and takes place in the year 2030. Unlike the original game, which focused on world politics, Tiberian Sun shifted to a science fiction setting. This game takes place during an apocalyptic event called Tiberium, which begins to take over Earth's ecosystems. In 1998, Westwood Studios, the developers of Tiberian Sun, was acquired by Electronic Arts. However, EA did not directly help create the game. Compared to its predecessor, Tiberian Sun uses more science fiction technology and a new game engine that creates the illusion of a 3D environment.
The full-motion video scenes in Tiberian Sun are different from those in the original Command & Conquer and Red Alert games. While those games used a first-person perspective for their cutscenes, Tiberian Sun used traditional cinematic shots. These scenes featured actors like James Earl Jones and Michael Biehn.
Command & Conquer: Renegade was released on February 26, 2002. It takes place near the end of the events in the original Command & Conquer and was the last game made by Westwood Studios before the company closed in 2003. Unlike other games in the series, Renegade is a first-person shooter. It received average reviews, with a score of 75% from GameRankings and Metacritic. However, it was praised for its online features. GameSpy gave Renegade its 2002 "Wish it had been better" award. The review said that while the single-player mode was not strong, the multiplayer mode was innovative and fun. Online play encouraged teamwork and coordinated attacks, which was uncommon in other first-person shooters at the time.
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars was released on March 29, 2007. It returned to the real-time strategy style of the original Command & Conquer series. As a direct sequel to Tiberian Sun, Tiberium Wars is set in 2047 and introduces a third faction, the Scrin. The game received an average score of 85% from GameRankings and Metacritic. PC Gamer U.S. gave it an "Editor's Choice" rating of 90%, calling it "one of the greatest RTS franchises of all time returning to glory." PC Gamer UK gave it a more reserved rating of 82%, calling it "a welcome, but limited, return."
Shortly after Tiberium Wars was released, the expansion pack Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath was announced. Released on March 24, 2008, Kane's Wrath focuses only on the Brotherhood of Nod in its campaign mode. However, players can use the original factions and six new sub-factions in the strategic and skirmish modes. The game takes place in 2052. It received mostly positive reviews and an average score of 77%.
Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight was released on March 16, 2010. It changed the gameplay style by removing resource gathering and base building, which were features in previous games. It also removed the Scrin faction. The game is a direct sequel to Kane's Wrath, though it does not follow its storyline directly. It is set in 2062, a time when Tiberium has evolved to a new stage and is spreading rapidly across Earth, making it nearly uninhabitable.
Renegade X is a free, fan-made remake of Command & Conquer: Renegade. The developers received permission from EA to release the game, and it became available in an open beta version on February 26, 2014. Renegade X includes a short single-player campaign called Black Dawn.
The Command & Conquer Remastered Collection was announced by EA in November 2018. It includes remastered versions of Command & Conquer, its expansions, and Red Alert, developed by Petroglyph Games. The collection was released on June 5, 2020. It received a score of 82/100 on Metacritic, with 48 positive reviews, 10 mixed reviews, and no negative reviews. This indicates a "generally favorable" reception. EA also released the source code for the remastered versions of the base game and Red Alert, allowing players to create improved modifications for the games.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert was released on November 22, 1996. It is set in an alternate 1950s and was originally made to be the prequel to Command & Conquer, establishing Red Alert as the beginning of the Tiberium series. Louis Castle, one of the creators, said connecting Red Alert with the Tiberium series
Chronology
1995: Command & Conquer
1996: Command & Conquer: The Covert Operations
1996: Command & Conquer: Red Alert
1997: Command & Conquer: Red Alert – Counterstrike
1997: Command & Conquer: Red Alert – The Aftermath
1998: Command & Conquer: Red Alert – Retaliation
1997: Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor
1999: Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
2000: Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun – Firestorm
2000: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
2001: Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge
2002: Command & Conquer: Renegade
2003: Command & Conquer: Generals
2003: Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour
2007: Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
2008: Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
2008: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
2009: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Uprising
2010: Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight
2012: Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances
2018: Command & Conquer: Rivals
2020: Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
Music
The music for the series was created by Frank Klepacki, who was the sound director and composer for Westwood Studios before it closed in 2003. Other composers took over after the studio closed. Klepacki returned in 2008 to help make the soundtrack for Red Alert 3.
Critics have praised the music, with earlier games receiving more positive reviews.
The original music for Command & Conquer: Red Alert was composed by Klepacki. It was named the best video game soundtrack of 1996 by PC Gamer and Gameslice magazines. One of Klepacki’s most famous songs from the series is "Hell March," the theme for Red Alert. This song uses fast and exciting electric guitar sounds, the noise of marching footsteps, and synthesizers to create a dramatic chant. The track was first planned as the theme for the Brotherhood of Nod faction in the Covert Operations expansion of the original 1995 Command & Conquer game. However, it became a key part of the Red Alert series instead. A second version of "Hell March" was made specifically for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.
— Frank Klepacki, Senior Composer
Reception
The Command & Conquer series has sold more than 30 million copies by 2009. In 1997, Screen Digest described it as "one of the largest PC CD-ROM entertainment franchises at that time." By 1999, the series had sold over 10 million copies.
Games in the series usually received high scores on review websites like GameRankings and Metacritic, which collect ratings from many sources. As shown in the table below, the highest-rated game is Command & Conquer, with a 94% score from Metacritic. The game with the highest average score across both sites is Command & Conquer: Red Alert, which earned just over 90%. Overall, Command & Conquer games have averaged about 80% when including expansion packs and about 84% when not including them.
Because of its long history, the series received six world records from Guinness World Records in the 2008 Gamer's Edition. These include "Biggest Selling RTS Series," "Most Number of Platforms for an RTS," and "Longest Running Actor in Video Game Role" for Joe Kucan, who played the role of Kane, the villain, for 15 years.