Command & Conquer is a real-time strategy video game developed and published by Westwood Studios in 1995. Set in an alternate history, the game tells the story of a world war between two globalized factions: the Global Defense Initiative of the United Nations and a revolutionary militant organization called the Brotherhood of Nod, led by the mysterious Kane.

The Story Behind Command & Conquer

In 2008, an unofficial patch was released to keep C&C working on both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows XP and higher. Due to a deal between Virgin Interactive Entertainment and Sega, the console version was a Saturn exclusive until 1997. Castle said that, because the company was creating other titles at the time, development of Command & Conquer was not a "working party", but lead programmer Joe Bostic later said that it was "so much fun that I would sometimes marvel that I actually got paid as well".

These cutscenes contain no professional actors aside from Eric Alan Martin, a Las Vegas actor playing GDI General Mark Sheppard, and Kucan, who played Kane and was heavily involved in their production. However, Castle noted that the team "created a parallel universe to avoid dealing with the sobering issues of a real war". A spin-off game titled Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor focuses entirely on online multiplayer, putting the players in control of single units in modes such as deathmatch and capture the flag.

How Command & Conquer Plays

Each faction has its own unique types of units, its own superweapon, and its own combat strategy: GDI relies on superior firepower and armour at the expense of greater production costs and slower movement; while Nod relies on a combination of numerical superiority, superior speed, and unconventional tactics, generally at the expense of less firepower and poor durability. At times during the campaign, the player can choose which mission to undertake, which offer different scenarios to overcome. Base production and unit training is funded by gathering Tiberium, the game's sole resource, through the use of harvesting units, and processing them into credits through a refinery structure.

In total, the game contains around fifty units and structures. The Nintendo 64 version, while lacking multiplayer support as well, features updated graphics, with 3D models and environments, and four new Special Ops missions (which are different from the ones in the PlayStation port), though the FMV cutscenes were removed and replaced with static images, accompanied by voice acting and sound effects. Command & Conquer features two single-player campaigns, one for each faction, in which the player must undertake a series of missions across a campaign map for their chosen faction.

Why Players Still Load It Up

Polish web portal Wirtualna Polska ranked it as the seventh most addictive game "that stole our childhood". Peter Smith of Computer Games Magazine called Command & Conquer "an adrenaline rush in a box", writing: "Everything about this game shouts quality". Entertainment Weeklys Bob Strauss offered the game effusive praise, writing: "If you liked playing with toy soldiers as a kid, you'll think you've stepped on a land mine and gone to heaven".

Critical reception of Command & Conquer was highly positive. McDonald called its combat a "satisfying blend of action and strategy", and noted that this, combined with an attention to "little details", made the game a "success", also praising its cutscenes as "terrifically executed". Smith lauded the game's music and sound effects, gameplay and story, and even its install program.

Command & Conquer — Frequently Asked Questions