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 examples of the RTS genre, inspired by Westwood Studios' earlier strategy game Dune II. It introduced features that became common in later games, such as using full-motion videos with 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 members of the studio 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. The magazine explained that the programmers were tired of working with sand and that the new game would have "new terrain and enemies." It also mentioned that the design team wanted to create a multiplayer version.

In 1995, Westwood released Command & Conquer worldwide. The game is set in the near future, when Earth becomes polluted by a strange substance called Tiberium. A global war begins 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 world where the Soviet Union fights the Allies. Red Alert was made as a prequel to the original game but later became a separate, more humorous series. The original game and its sequels are known as the "Tiberium" series, which keeps a serious and science fiction tone. The first game is sometimes called Tiberian Dawn.

After the original game, Westwood released Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun in 1999 and its expansion pack, Firestorm. In 2002, the company released Command & Conquer: Renegade, a first-person shooter game. Renegade was praised for its online features. In 2003, a spin-off game called 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 pack Yuri's Revenge, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 in 2008. This last game added a new faction called the Empire of the Rising Sun, which resembles Japan and uses futuristic robotic technology.

Most games in the series are made for personal computers running Microsoft Windows. Some games have also been released on video game consoles and Apple Macs. Other games have been made for platforms like iOS and the web. As of July 2010, the Command & Conquer series included eleven games and eight expansion packs. The first three games were released as freeware to help promote later games. A free-to-play game called Command & Conquer was being developed by Victory Games. It was expected to be the next game in the series and was planned for release in 2013. However, the game was canceled after a short testing phase, and Victory Games was shut down by EA. The Command & Conquer series has sold over 30 million games as of 2009.

Gameplay

The Command & Conquer games are real-time strategy games, except for Command & Conquer: Renegade, which is a first-person shooter. A common feature of the series is the separate storylines of different groups working toward a central story. These games also allow players to compete against each other through local networks or modems. All games in the series have supported online play and "skirmish" matches, where players battle computer-controlled enemies.

All Command & Conquer real-time strategy games, except Command & Conquer: Generals and its expansions, use a side menu for navigation and control, unlike many other games that place the control menu at the bottom of the screen.

In Command & Conquer, players typically build a base and gather resources to fund the creation of military units to attack opponents. Structures are built at a special location called a "construction yard," which is usually a large vehicle called an MCV (Mobile Construction Vehicle) that can deploy into a construction yard. Once a structure is built, players can place it near an existing building, where it quickly unfolds into a completed structure.

In most games, except Command & Conquer: Generals and its expansion, players earn money by using specialized "harvester" units to collect resources like Tiberium (in the Tiberian series) or gems and ore (in the Red Alert series) and bring them to a "refinery" to convert them into usable funds. Before Red Alert 2 and Command & Conquer 3, these resources needed to be stored in refineries or "storage silo" structures if there was an excess. In Generals and Zero Hour, players collect money either by gathering supplies and converting them into money at "supply centers" or by having specialized units, buildings, or tech buildings generate money at set times.

All factions in the series have similar structures and units, but they are designed to fit each faction’s theme and have slightly different abilities. Units are divided into infantry, vehicles, and aircraft, with further subdivisions (in the Red Alert series, naval units are also available). Units are more effective against certain opponents based on the "rock-paper-scissors" principle, where each unit has strengths and weaknesses against others.

Most structures in the series act as steps in a "tech tree," unlocking new units, structures, and abilities as players build them. If required structures are destroyed or not powered properly by "power plant" buildings, access to advanced units or abilities may be blocked.

Every Command & Conquer game has allowed players to compete against each other. Each game box included two CD copies, enabling multiplayer play with a single purchase. Westwood Studios promoted this with the slogan, "A second copy, so you and your friend can destroy each other." This made Command & Conquer the first real-time strategy game to support competitive online play, a key factor in its popularity. Up to Red Alert 2, all games 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, though 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 multiplayer games over the Internet. Renegade also supported GameSpy. Later games developed by EA continued to use GameSpy but stopped supporting Westwood Online, switching to EA’s own servers. GameSpy’s servers shut down 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. It takes place between 2017 and 2020, as stated in the Command & Conquer: Renegade manual. This game helped define and popularize the real-time strategy genre, where players manage resources and build bases in real time. It introduced two opposing groups: the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod. Critics praised the game, with one reviewer calling it "one of the finest, most brilliantly-designed computer games I have ever seen." It earned a high score of 94% on Metacritic, while its expansion pack, Covert Operations, received a 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 world politics, Tiberian Sun uses a science fiction setting with a dangerous substance called Tiberium threatening Earth’s ecosystems. Westwood Studios, the game’s developer, was bought by Electronic Arts in 1998, but EA did not help create the game. Tiberian Sun uses more science fiction technology and a new game engine that makes the environment look more like 3D. Its full-motion videos (FMVs) use traditional movie-style shots with actors, unlike the original game’s first-person perspective.

Command & Conquer: Renegade, released on February 26, 2002, takes place near the end of the original game’s events. 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, where players control a character directly. It received average reviews, with a score of 75% on Metacritic. Critics praised its online features, noting that multiplayer mode encouraged teamwork, even though the single-player story was not well received.

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, released on March 29, 2007, returned to the real-time strategy style of earlier games. It is a direct sequel to Tiberian Sun and takes place in 2047. A new group, the Scrin, is introduced. The game received a score of 85% on Metacritic, with some publications giving it high praise, such as PC Gamer U.S., which called it "one of the greatest RTS franchises of all time."

After Tiberium Wars, an expansion pack called Kane’s Wrath was released on March 24, 2008. It focuses only on the Brotherhood of Nod in its story mode but includes other factions for other game modes. Set in 2052, it received mostly positive reviews with a score of 77%.

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, released on March 16, 2010, changed gameplay by removing resource gathering and base building, which were in earlier games. It also does not include the Scrin faction. Set in 2062, the game shows Tiberium evolving and spreading across Earth.

Renegade X is a free, fan-made remake of Command & Conquer: Renegade. With approval from Electronic Arts, it entered open beta on February 26, 2014. It includes a short story mode called Black Dawn.

In 2018, Electronic Arts announced a remastered version of Command & Conquer, including expansions and Red Alert, through Petroglyph Games. Released in 2020, the collection received a score of 82/100 on Metacritic. EA also released the game’s source code to allow players to create improved versions.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert, released on November 22, 1996, is set in an alternate 1950s and serves as a prequel to the series. It features two factions, the Allies and the Soviets, similar to Cold War groups. The game received high scores, over 90% on average, but its two expansion packs, Counterstrike and The Aftermath, scored lower. A PlayStation version, Red Alert: Retaliation, combined both expansions with new content. Before becoming free in 2008, the game sold over three million copies.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, released on October 23, 2000, includes a Soviet invasion of North America with tanks, airships, and giant squid. It does not directly connect to the Tiberium series, though some creators suggest it takes place in a parallel universe. It received a score of 86% from critics.

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

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, released on October 28, 2008, continued the story of Red Alert 2 and added more humorous elements. It introduced the Empire of the Rising Sun, an anime-style version of Japan. The game’s designers 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
• 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 Command & Conquer series was created by Frank Klepacki, a former sound director at Westwood Studios, for the early games. After Westwood Studios closed in 2003, other composers took over music duties. Klepacki returned in 2008 to help create the soundtrack for Red Alert 3.

Critics have praised the music, with earlier games receiving more acclaim. The original score for Command & Conquer: Red Alert, composed by Klepacki, was named the best video game soundtrack of 1996 by PC Gamer and Gameslice magazines. One of Klepacki’s most famous songs is "Hell March," the theme for Red Alert. This track uses fast electric guitar sounds, marching footsteps, and synthesizers with a powerful chant. Originally planned as the theme for the Brotherhood of Nod faction in an expansion to the 1995 Command & Conquer game, "Hell March" became a key part of the Red Alert series instead. A second version of the song was made specifically for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.

— Frank Klepacki, Senior Composer

Reception

The Command & Conquer series has sold more than 30 million games as of 2009. In 1997, Screen Digest said it was "probably the world's biggest PC CD-ROM entertainment franchise to date." 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 review sites. As shown in the table below, the highest-rated game is Command & Conquer, with a score of 94% from Metacritic. The highest average score across both sites is for Command & Conquer: Red Alert, with an average of 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 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 character Kane, the villain in the series, for 15 years.