Command & Conquer (C&C) is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game series first made by Westwood Studios and now owned by Electronic Arts. The first game in the series was among the earliest in the RTS genre, inspired by Westwood Studios' important strategy game Dune II. It introduced features used in later games, such as real-life videos with actors to tell the story, rather than computer-generated scenes. Westwood Studios was bought by Electronic Arts in 1998 and shut down in 2003. Some of the studio's workers joined 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. This was because the programmers wanted to avoid working with sand, which was a major part of the Dune setting. The magazine said the new game would have "new terrain and enemies" and that the design team was focused on creating a multiplayer version.

In 1995, Westwood released Command & Conquer worldwide. The story takes place in the near future when Earth becomes polluted by a mysterious substance called Tiberium. A global war begins between the United Nations’ Global Defense Initiative, which tries to control Tiberium, and the Brotherhood of Nod, a group led by a mysterious leader named Kane who wants to use Tiberium for power. The game was very successful and led to Command & Conquer: Red Alert in 1996. This game is set in an alternate universe where the Soviet Union fights against the Allies. Red Alert was developed as a prequel to the original game but later became its own series, which was more fun and humorous. The original game and its sequels remained part of the "Tiberium" series, keeping their science fiction and serious tone. The first game is sometimes called Tiberian Dawn.

After Command & Conquer, Westwood released Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun in 1999 and its expansion pack, Firestorm. In 2002, the company launched Command & Conquer: Renegade, a first-person shooter game that was 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 the traditional gameplay and story style. 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.

The Command & Conquer series is mainly made for computers running Microsoft Windows, though some games were also released on video game consoles and Apple Macs. Other versions were made for mobile devices like iOS and web-based platforms. By July 2010, the franchise had 11 games and 8 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 in 2013, but the project was canceled after a short testing phase. Victory Games was later closed by EA. As of 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 of the series is that different groups, or factions, have their own stories that connect to a central storyline. These games allow players to compete against each other through local area networks (LAN) or modem connections. Every game in the series also includes 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. This is different from many other games, where the control bar is located at the bottom of the screen.

In Command & Conquer, players usually build a base and collect resources to fund the creation of military units to attack and defeat the opponent's base. Structures for each faction are built at a special location called a "construction yard." These yards are often created by large vehicles known as MCVs, or Mobile Construction Vehicles. 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, players gather resources using special units called "harvesters." These units collect materials like Tiberium (from the Tiberian series) or ore and gems (from the Red Alert series) and bring them to a "refinery" to convert them into usable money called credits. Before Red Alert 2 and Command & Conquer 3, these materials needed to be stored in refineries or "storage silos" if there was an excess. In Generals and Zero Hour, money is collected either by gathering supplies and converting them at "supply centers" or by producing it directly through units, buildings, or tech buildings at set intervals.

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 grouped into infantry, vehicles, and aircraft, with further divisions (note: the Red Alert series also includes naval units). Units are often more effective against certain opponents, following a system similar to the rock-paper-scissors principle, where each unit has strengths and weaknesses.

Most structures in the series act as steps in a technology tree. As players build new structures, they unlock additional units, buildings, and special abilities. If key structures are destroyed or not properly powered by "power plant" buildings, advanced units and abilities may become unavailable.

Every Command & Conquer game included multiplayer options. Each game box included two CDs, allowing two players to compete with a single 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 to support competitive online play, which greatly contributed to its popularity. Games up to Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 included two CDs for multiplayer use, but later games did not.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 was the first real-time strategy game to allow players to complete campaigns together online. However, this feature only worked through EA's servers and not through LAN connections.

Westwood Studios used its own system, Westwood Online, to enable multiplayer games over the internet. Renegade also supported GameSpy. Later games developed by EA continued using GameSpy but stopped supporting Westwood Online in favor of EA's own servers. The GameSpy master 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 warring 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 best-designed computer games I have ever seen." It received an average score of 94% from Metacritic. The Covert Operations expansion pack, released in 1996, received a lower score of 72%.

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, released on August 27, 1999, is set in the year 2030. Unlike the original game, which focused on real-world politics, Tiberian Sun shifted to a science fiction setting. The game’s story takes place in a world where a substance called Tiberium is taking over Earth’s ecosystems. Westwood Studios, the developers of Tiberian Sun, was bought by Electronic Arts in 1998. However, EA did not help create the game. Compared to its predecessor, Tiberian Sun uses more science fiction technology and features a new game engine that creates a 3D-like environment with varied terrain.

The full-motion videos in Tiberian Sun are filmed differently from earlier games. While Command & Conquer and Red Alert used first-person perspectives for cutscenes, Tiberian Sun used traditional movie-style shots. Actors like James Earl Jones and Michael Biehn appeared in these videos.

Command & Conquer: Renegade, released on February 26, 2002, takes place near the end of the events in Command & Conquer. It 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% on GameRankings and Metacritic. Critics praised its online features. GameSpy gave Renegade its 2002 "Wish it had been better" award, noting that its multiplayer mode was innovative and fun. Online play encouraged teamwork, which was uncommon in other first-person shooters at the time.

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, released on March 29, 2007, returned to the real-time strategy style of the series. It is a direct sequel to Tiberian Sun and is set in 2047. The game introduces a third faction, the Scrin. It 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 score of 82%, calling it "a welcome, but limited, return."

After Tiberium Wars was released, an expansion pack called 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 other game modes. It is set in 2052. The expansion received mostly positive reviews, with an average score of 77%.

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, released on March 16, 2010, changed gameplay by removing resource gathering and base building. It also removed the Scrin faction. It is a direct sequel to Kane's Wrath but does not follow its story directly. Set in 2062, the game shows Tiberium evolving into a more dangerous stage, threatening Earth’s habitability.

Renegade X is a free, fan-made remake of Command & Conquer: Renegade. Electronic Arts approved its release, and it entered open beta on February 26, 2014. The game includes a short single-player campaign called Black Dawn.

In November 2018, Electronic Arts announced a remastered version of Command & Conquer, including expansions and Red Alert, through Petroglyph Games. It was released on June 5, 2020. The Remastered Collection received a score of 82/100 on Metacritic, with mostly positive reviews. EA also released the source code for the remastered versions, allowing players to create improved mods.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert, released on November 22, 1996, is set in an alternate 1950s and was meant to be a prequel to the series. It introduced the Allies and Soviets as rival factions, similar to NATO and the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. The game received high praise, with an average score of over 90% from GameRankings and Metacritic. However, its two expansion packs, Red Alert: Counterstrike and Red Alert: The Aftermath, received lower scores of 63% and 70%, respectively. A PlayStation version, Red Alert: Retaliation, included content from both expansions and new cutscenes. Before being released as freeware in 2008, Red Alert sold over three million copies.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, released on October 23, 2000, featured a Soviet invasion of North America using tanks, airships, and psychic-controlled giant squid. Unlike the first Red Alert, it did not reference the Tiberium series. However, creators later suggested it takes place in a parallel universe linked to time travel in the Tiberium series. It received a score of 86% from GameRankings.

An expansion pack, Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge, was released on October 10, 2001. It follows a former Soviet leader named Yuri, who uses psychic technology to try to conquer the world. The expansion received mostly positive reviews, with an average score of 85% from GameRankings.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, released on October 28, 2008, continued the story of Red Alert 2. It introduced more humorous units and a new faction, the Empire of the Rising Sun, inspired by Japan’s history. The game’s creators aimed to make each faction unique and fun to play.

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

Music

The music for the series was created by Frank Klepacki, a former sound director and composer from Westwood Studios, for the early games. After Westwood Studios closed in 2003, other composers took over the music for the series. Klepacki returned in 2008 to help create 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 the Red Alert theme, called "Hell March." This song uses fast electric guitar sounds, the noise of marching footsteps, and synthesizers to create a powerful and dramatic effect. Originally planned as the theme for the Brotherhood of Nod faction in an expansion to the 1995 Command & Conquer game, the track 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 been very successful in selling games. As of 2009, over 30 million Command & Conquer games had been sold. In 1997, Screen Digest said it was "probably the world's biggest PC CD-ROM entertainment franchise to date." By 1999, it had sold more than 10 million copies.

Games in the series have received high scores on review websites like GameRankings and Metacritic, which collect ratings from many review sites. According to the table below, the highest-rated game is Command & Conquer, with a score of 94% from Metacritic. The highest-rated game when averaging scores from both sites is Command & Conquer: Red Alert, with an average of just over 90%. As a series, Command & Conquer games have averaged about 80% when including expansion packs and about 84% when not including them.

The long history of the Command & Conquer series led to Guinness World Records awarding it six world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records 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 villainous mastermind of the series, for 15 years.