Command & Conquer

The Good
The gameplay is a refinement of Dune II : The Building of a Dynasty. You establish your base, build defences for it, and ensure you have a supply of income through the collection of tiberium.

C&C established the standard gameplay elements that all latter RTS were based on. The User Interface was well done with it being possible to create groupings of units that could be easily called and sent into battle.

Unlike WarCraft, C&C did not counter the two sides with duplicated units, but had GDI and Nod forces possess unique units that countered each other. Infantry could be effective in groups against tanks, yet were vulnerable to artillery. Artillery was in turn vulnerable to tanks. An intricate rock-paper-scissors balance was crafted.

Graphics were excellent and the carnage that ensued from the battles was a delight to behold. Infantry crawl on their stomachs to avoid being pulverized, tanks smoke when damaged, the bases are all well drawn and distinctive. Full Motion Video filmed top notch actors to help set the scenes of the game. Most of the missions had clear goals.

The music and sound is top-notch. The sound of the battles is loudest when your screen is centered on the action and is more muffled when you are away from the battles looking after your base or harvesters.

The Bad
The AI is weak, not mounting much of an assault, and is helped with some challenge base layouts. Basically, tackling a based requires a tactical hand, first of all disabling the defensive turrets, then throwing waves of armour at the enemy. It is not very skillful, but is a lot of fun. At times, units reacted poorly to being attacked and not responding with returning fire which was frustrating.

The Bottom Line
Set in a fictional future where two global forces (Global Defence Initiative & the Brotherhood of Nod) battle over an alien and powerful resource called Tiberium. Players must help guide their chosen faction through a series of missions by balancing micromanaging resource collection, base creation, and mortal combat all in real time!

Each successive mission introduces the player to new units and structures that they can build and employ. By creating a Tiberium Refinery, you create a Harvester that will intelligently collect resources, return to base, and refine these resources into credits that you then use to enhance your base and army. The interace is intuitive and incorporates mainstay features like grouping and map deployment.

Command & Conquer is the undisputed yardstick by which all following Real Time Strategy games were measured by. I give this game 29 out of 30.