Command & Conquer: Renegade

aka: C&C: Renegade, Command & Conquer: Commando
Moby ID: 5881
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Description official descriptions

The First Tiberium War between the GDI and the sinister Brotherhood of Nod is nearing its end. In an attempt to revert the scales of war to their favor, the brotherhood kidnaps top three Tiberium research specialists. The GDI commando Captain Nick "Havoc" Parker is sent on a mission to rescue the scientists. As he battles the forces of the Brotherhood on the way to his objective, the Captain discovers the abductors' true intention, and realizes that the outcome of the entire war depends on the success of his mission.

Command & Conquer: Renegade is a first-person 3D shooter set in the Command & Conquer universe. Game progression is mission-driven; most missions have primary, secondary, and tertiary objectives. A few drivable vehicles are available. Though the gameplay does not deviate from traditional FPS formula, scripted events and some of the mission objectives share common themes and features with the real-time strategy games of the series. The multiplayer emulates RTS gameplay to a larger extent, putting players in control of either GDI or the Brotherhood forces, and requiring them to harvest tiberium in order to upgrade the armies.

Spellings

  • 命令与征服:变节者 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

375 People (348 developers, 27 thanks) · View all

C&C Renegade is based upon the original C&C created by
Executive Producers (Management)
Sr. Producer (Management)
Associate Producers (Management)
Technical Directors (Programming)
Lead Programmers
Programmers
Westwood Online (Programming)
Install Programming
Additional Programming
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 75% (based on 44 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 65 ratings with 5 reviews)

"Havoc to the rescue !"-"Yeah, but the ladies first!"

The Good
The main character is awesome.

The engine cut scenes are simply brilliant and add to the fun of the game.

The gameplay features a good variety of missions and settings.

The vehicles are a nice bonus.

The whole ambiance is pretty faithful to C&C.

The Bad
The graphics are a bit dated.

The enemies are repetitive.

The Bottom Line
"Not another FPS, please !" Yes, but this one comes with a very cool main character, named "Havoc", and You can blow up the Fist of NOD from the inside :D

The best thing first: the game has the most entertaining cut scenes I have ever seen in any game.

Havoc is such a cliche that the ironic approach Westwood took simply hits the nail on the head. Perfect.

The gameplay isn't worse than Unreal2 or any other "simple" shooter, and while it can become repetitive, the whole "Commando"-style presentation with primary objective/secondary objective is refreshing. Add to that the vehicles You can use, and You got a pretty good FPS, not quite the quality of No One Lives Forever, but better than some newer games like Unreal 2.

The graphics are a bit outdated, but the look of the C&C universe is well captured, and the new ideas and implementations of the well known items like Tiberium freighters, mutants, buggies, copters and tanks is well done. For the current budget price, You can't go wrong.

Windows · by Emmanuel Henne (23) · 2003

It's awesome, dude, awesome!

The Good
You're playing GDI, you're playing a commando, you're playing that little top-down units from the original "Command & Conquer", and that's the only unit you control in this game, and nope, this is not "Sole Survivor 2". Nick Parker, code name Nicky... ahem, I mean, Havoc, undisciplined, fast on the trigger, and barely doing anything left-handed. This time, the exact time of 1995 during the first Tiberium conflict, you'll be shown the war you've already passed, only from another perspective... from a commando's eyes. You can easy shift between first-person and third-person perspective, and in both of them, navigation and controls are extremely well done, and easy to master in no time. Now, since that is original war, you'll encounter many enemy and allied units in game, from the Nod minnigunner infantry and rocket soldiers, to GDI grenadiers, minnigunners and civilians. The ranking is making some extra abilities, so Nod and GDI officers can call for backup and reinforcements, which is why you should set your prior targets on officers, and than on grunts. Also, the game goes way into touch of "Tiberian Sun", so there will be experimentations with Tiberium, and even couple of different types of mutants and enhanced Nod soldiers resistant to Tiberium. Also, units such as Hum-vees, Nod light tanks, GDI Mammoth tanks, Nod buggies, Flame tanks and others will be present in the game, but that's not all. You will as well be qualified to control them (though in third-person perspective only), and although this may reseble to "Grand Theft Auto", it is nothing like it, hehe. This game is made so there is no corner for resting, and war is omnipresent all the time, so you see flying orcas help you with some Nod turrets, Nod Apache helicopters shooting atcha, A-10 planes bombing enemy installations, or GDI gunboat firing missiles incorrectly so most of them comes in your direction. GDI support won't be heavy, but you can always expect bunch of Nod troopers behind every corner, constant incoming reinforcements, landing from the transport helicopter, exiting APC, or incoming paratroopers. All the houses also have affect on the game (for example Hand of Nod is helping with enemy infantry reinforcements, or helipads will increase Apaches activity in the area, or power plants giving enough energy for Nod obelisk tower, etc.), and this time you can check them all inside out. Or you can destroy them with Mammoth tank, or Ion Cannon pretty quickly. Hand weapons arsenal is more than enough, from the ground basic silence pistol and machine gun, to spray gun, flamethrower, hand ion cannon, lightning gun, C4 explosive charges and more. The game uses cinematics that look pretty much as ingame, and are done with the same engine, but just the look at some character talking and moving lips won't be able to stop you laughing, hihi, dunno if they did that on purpose, but I like it, hehe, breakes the seriousness of the game from time to time. Also, there are some funny dialogues throughout the game (for example, Syndey demostrates you how your health bar works by shooting you to which you angrily say "Was that really necesary?"), you get the feeling as if they inserted part of their "Malcolm's Revenge" humor in it. The detail level is simply fascinating, and every level is entirely different, using different textures and places, beaches, ships, town, ski cottages, bridges, frozen rivers, dam, and using pretty nice rain, snow and volcanic ashes effects. The game follows the story of the original "C&C" almost entirely, with a little knocking on the "Tiberian Sun" surface. Basically, what you used to see in the masterfully done FMV of "C&C", you will now experience from first-person and see those 3D objects as well as interact with all of 'em. Music is also great, and it approximates the one in original "C&C", and some songs are identical, only reconstructed a bit, to couple of "Command & Conquer" and "Tiberian Sun" songs, and they're even called the same (which you can check on the game soundtrack). It works fast and fine on my ol' ASUS RIVA TNT with some drivers that are even now two years old, but the thing is, if they made it work great with such an old card, this opens range to users with not so upgraded computers, and believe me, this one is a must of all musts.

The Bad
I was thinking raging a bit about the game's shortness, but I guess all great games are somewhat short. And to think Westwood was developing this game for so long, and I finished it so soon... sigh, it's not healthy thinking much about it, hehe. This game has so many varieties and goodies, that the fact they made so many differences in it, and were so faithful to level of details is really rising this game up. They didn't just make this game on some already existing engine and try to take a fame from their renowned RTS, no, they needed two years just to create the engine for this game from scratch, and what once was an idea for 3rd-person shooter, they extended onto 1st-person shooter, and left both modes (something like in "Jedi Knight"). But just as I got this longly anticipated game from "C&C" series, they're already announcing new game in the universe called "Command & Conquer: Generals". If they continue with this pace, "C&C" universe may soon enough surpass the quantity of "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" series.

The Bottom Line
It's a flawless perfection you shouldn't miss. I really don't think I should comment much on this topic. There can only be two people who may consider trying this game out, fans of "C&C" series, and fans of FPS genre. Actually, there's also a third type of people, like me, who loves both "C&C" universe and FPS genre. So if you like "C&C" RTS, but not because it's C&C but only because it's good, then this may not be a good decision to try, but if you've wondered how Hand of Nod or Construction Yard look from the inside, and how does it feel to try drivin' some of the units, this may be a step you should make.

Okay, so let's try to summarize...

  • Story: could compete with renowned "Half-Life" plot, only this is more war-oriented, than using too much of interiors.
  • Sound: voice-acting are great, as well as dialogues, and music is in a style of the original C&C and TS.
  • Graphic: huh, I don't think comment is needed on this one. It supports down from 640x480 in 16bit color mode and low level of details up to 1600x1200 in 32bit color mode and high level od fetails (which of course, would drag its arse on my computer). Textures, units, maps, places, general level design is really top notch. Now, I can't say much about the multiplayer, because I'm not fan of multiplayer in general, no matter how good it is, but this one is probably so good that noone who tries it will ever complain. Look, it's a small box, you can miss it, but don't. Just because Westwood rleased this game in less than noticeable gamebox shouldn't distract you from noticing perfection. Diamonds are usually small, are they not? ;)
  • Windows · by MAT (240759) · 2012

    A novel campaign set in the C&C universe is fine and dandy, but the real attraction here is the stunning multiplayer.

    The Good

    • Art design is appealing and true to the RTS games
    • There's plenty of novelty to be had seeing the C&C universe in first person
    • Good graphics for the time
    • FANTASTIC multiplayer
    • Lengthy campaign
    • Good sound effects


    The Bad

    • Single player campaign can get dull at times
    • Pathetic artificial intelligence
    • No Single player Nod campaign
    • Have to use GameSpy arcade to find servers
    • Mediocre story



    The Bottom Line
    I love Command & Conquer. They are fast paced and a ton of fun to play, they may not be the deepest strategy games on the planet, but they're still fun as hell; especially the bloody awesome Red Alert 2. C&C Renegade takes a different approach though, instead of being tasked as a commander, you are tasked as being a commando; a fan favourite character from the first game. You also aren't playing a strategy game, but rather a first person shooter.

    You play as Havoc, a GDI commando who unravels a Nod scheme to create an army of Tiberium mutants, as well as the standard Nod scheme of trying to use Tiberium as a weapon. The plot isn't especially interesting, and is bogged down by a cast of uninteresting and forced characters that the game expects us to know simply by showing us their model and a text scrawl in the installation screen. Havoc isn't a particularly interesting character, he pretty much is just a generic C&C Commando even if he talks more.

    There is plenty of novelty to be had in both the single player component and the multiplayer component. Entering the Tiberium universe; circa the events of the first game, so its not quite as dark or dreary as Tiberian Sun; is a very cool thing and it is handled well. You'll storm Nod bases, drive both Nod and GDI vehicles, and use weaponry such as the GDI Ion Cannon. It certainly is a treat to enter a Hand of Nod and see Nod soldiers training and seeing the inner workings of a base.

    The campaign is fun, but it isn't without some flaws. Firstly, some maps are gigantic. This isn't a problem for some shooters, but Renegade simply doesn't know how to pace a huge map. There's one map maybe 3 or 4 levels in that is enormous, and en route to a Nod base you have to shut down you'll travel about 30 minutes in a vehicle and 45 minutes on foot before you'll find another enemy to shoot. This makes some maps confusing, dull, and frustrating. To add to these frustrations, bases can sometimes be confusing as well with winding corridors and inconsistent floor plans and key card events.

    The AI is also pathetic. At least the zombies in Doom would actually walk and try to avoid your bullets. The soldiers here, once they catch sight of you, just stand there shooting at you while you tear them apart. The only way to get a challenge from the basic soldiers is to crank up the difficulty. To be fair, more advanced characters and vehicles pose a greater threat but regardless, the AI is just bad.

    I also would've liked to see two campaigns, both to even out the pacing and to stay truer to the traditional C&C style. Playing as a Nod soldier would've been cool, but we don't get that treat save for in multiplayer but that's still not quite the same thing as having a story driven Nod campaign to play.

    The multiplayer is the star here though. I am not joking when I say its easily one of the best and most overlooked multiplayer components in a first person shooter. It plays exactly like a regular C&C game, there's a NOD base and a GDI base, Tiberium is being harvested, and they must build an army and destroy the other base. But, naturally, you are playing as a soldier on the frontline. You can buy weapons, vehicles, and special characters using Tiberium credits; but remember, your team shares the income. In fact, your team is very important. There's still some strategic depth here, to win you must be able to coordinate attacks and move in squads. Both bases have defenses that must be taken down, though several maps do provide secondary passages to the enemy base if you are sneaky enough to find them.

    There are plenty of maps to play on and playing with 32 or even 64 players is a joy, and the units you can control are all quite fun and unique and the action is always pulse pounding but it never sacrifices the squad based elements.

    The only real flaw I find in multiplayer is the server interface. Before they were forced to close their doors by EA, Westwood Online was the primary method of finding servers and the easiest. WOL is gone now, and even then it was buggy. To be able to play Renegade online now, you must use GameSpy arcade which is a bit of a nuisance with its ads, lag, and poor Windows 7/Vista support. But even then, it is still worth playing simply for the multiplayer. There are servers up and there is a wealth of maps to play, and there is a mod called Renegade X being made on the Unreal 3 engine which is going to replicate the multiplayer experience of Renegade for free and with modern graphics. Very cool, but if you haven't checked this game out, its fairly cheap now and I highly recommend it to C&C fans. It has a decent campaign, but the multiplayer is the real meat and potatoes of this particular package.

    Windows · by Kaddy B. (777) · 2010

    [ View all 5 player reviews ]

    Discussion

    Subject By Date
    Trivia source, pls? Plok (204429) Mar 5, 2017

    Trivia

    Development

    The game was originally called Command & Conquer: Commando and had already been in early stages of development by July 1997. In 2014, a tech demo from that time leaked, which shows that the game was originally intended to be released on the Sony PlayStation (as at least one of the platforms) and was build upon the Sports Car GT engine, with a model viewer, a player test, a terrain test, and a playable "Jogging Around Atlanta" test level.

    The game's release was delayed multiple times, to which Westwood Studios themselves joked in a sketch where a man dressed up as Havoc breaks into the studio, terrorizes the developers, takes a photo with Joseph Kucan and threatens to be back should the game be delayed again.

    Protagonist

    Early concept art and the first official trailer show that the protagonist was originally to be Logan Sheppard, son of general Mark Sheppard from the original Command & Conquer. He was later replaced by Nick Seymour Parker, known as "Havoc", while Logan was placed as the tutorial guide.

    Online servers

    The game's online servers were migrated from the official Westwood Online infrastructure to the community-run XWIS (XCC WOL IRC Server), under approval and sponsorship from EA's German office on 20 October 2005. The Westwood Online domains have acted as a redirect to XWIS services since then, requiring no additional steps from the user to access the servers short of registering an account.

    An alternate master server was hosted on GameSpy, and was scheduled to shut down on 30 June 2014, like for other Electronic Arts titles in the wake of GameSpy's total closure.

    References

    In the game cutscenes and some posters inside Nod buildings you can see footage from the original 1995 Command & Conquer. For example, in the cutscene when Havoc is commandeering a hovercraft, there is a screen on the command ship's bridge where you can see him arriving to an island, but in the same graphics as the original game.

    Awards

    • GameSpy
      • 2002 – Wish It Had Been A Hit Award (for its multiplayer mode)

    Information also contributed by Rantanplan and Plok

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    Related Games

    Command & Conquer
    Released 1995 on DOS, 1996 on SEGA Saturn, Windows
    Command & Conquer: The First Decade
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    Command & Conquer: Generals
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    Command & Conquer: Red Alert
    Released 1996 on DOS, Windows, 1997 on PlayStation...
    Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
    Released 1999 on Windows
    Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
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    Contributors to this Entry

    Game added by MAT.

    Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Rantanplan, Corn Popper, paul cairey, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, Plok.

    Game added March 8, 2002. Last modified March 17, 2024.