Command and Conquer is a strategy video game developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive. The story tells a tale of a savage war waged by two factions: The Global Defense Initiative of the United Nations and a loosely coalesced enemy called the Brotherhood of Nod (led by a man named Kane). These groups fight for control of a substance called Tiberium moving across the Earth. The developers set Command & Conquer in the time of modern warfare. Some added scenes include a variety of Westwood Studio employees playing characters in the game and an actor, Joseph Kucan, to play Kane.
This game requires the player to construct a military base and obtain a variety of resources necessary to run the base to as effectively as possible attack and conquer the enemy. The Nod army is made up of a number of cheap units with more unusual weapons such as rocket bicycles and stealth tanks. There are approximately fifty units and structures. Control of the Tiberium is the goal of the game. Tiberium is transported by harvester units to a refinery for processing. When the player builds structures, more units and structures are for sale. Command & Conquer features two fronts, one for each side. The object of this game is to control or eliminate all enemy structures.
The story opens in an alternate time frame after a meteor explodes in the Tiber River in 1995. As a result of this explosion, a foreign substance called Tiberium becomes very sought after because of its ability to process special metals from the soil. The Brotherhood of Nod claims to have predicted the potential of Tiberium and invests in the technology to acquire and process the Tiberium crystals. The Brotherhood uses this refined substance to prop up an evolving number of armies led by Kane.
Command & Conquer was an initial success selling more than three million copies when it was released. Many reviews were positive. Command & Conquer Gold was rewarded by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences as “Computer Strategy Game of the Year” in 1998. Entertainment Weekly praised this game noting, “If you liked playing with toy soldiers as a kid, you’ll think you’ve stepped on a land mine and gone to heaven.” The publication Next Generation referred to it being, “a game that any strategy fans have to pick up.” Computer Games Magazine called the game, “an adrenaline rush in a box.”
Command & Conquer appears to be a video game that morphed well from its inception as a DOS-based product into the highly sophisticated, complex, and energetic version it is today. With its development into a more expert-friendly game, the new player may be lost in the haze. Command & Conquer has a multitude of player, forums, cheats, and Q&A sites so the newer player need never feel alone and may always find someone who has overcome the same challenges and achieved the same successes while playing the game. Perusing more recent reviews finds that the Command & Conquer game series is fun had by all for an exceptionally reasonable cost and, in most cases, free in many respects.
