Command & Conquer Remastered – the 90s of gaming
Command & Conquer is an old school RTS Classic war game that old school gamers have played at least one time in their lives since it’s release in 1995. Recently, Electronic Arts teamed up with Petroglyph, and Lemon Sky Studios to give the RTS game community a little treat to bring us back in time with the release of Command & Conquer Remastered. The release of Command & Conquer in this day in age didn’t seem like it was going to fit, but EA and the dev teams from other studios ensured that this remaster of a 90s game lived up to its name.
With a more in-depth Online PVP mode to easily play with others, and a few easy clicks to modify Command & Conquer to your liking, going back to this old school RTS will be a walk in the park because of its modern control being spot on with other games on the market. With its name already known and has an excellent polish to the music and graphics, Command & Conquer Remastered is a must buy if you’re an RTS game collector.
Is the gameplay still relevant in this day in age?
Going back to 1995, when Command & Conquer was first released, the real-time strategy gaming genre was fun and easy to run to get one’s mind moving. Command & Conquer Remastered still makes its mark into today’s RTS genre shelf because of its attention to detail, and many updates to ensure the game sticks out. Having the Online PVP option now opens a whole new door to the Command & Conquer franchise, with over 250 maps to choose from, and with the community taking advantage of the new Workshop system to make custom maps and skirmishes for a custom lobby with others. It’s an easy must try if you’re into RTS games. The new remastered Command & Conquer does have its drawbacks for modern RTS gamers that aren’t used to the limited movements around maps during battles, and the scratch of the head health to a unit table that will have you wondering why tanks take three shots to kill an infantry unit but can roam around and simply run over each of them for an instant kill.
Looking past the gameplay mechanics and the look and sound of the game, the Command & Conquer games have always been fun to play because of the cutscenes, and in Command & Conquers’ case cinematics, to ensure the gamer feels like they’re being talked to directly and are part of the mission. That is something that brought tears to my eyes when I started to play again, knowing I was the one standing in the enemy Kane’s way, which is the reason I can move forward and play through every mission.
Are the graphics still there?
One of the main things that come to mind when trying out a remastered version of a game like Command & Conquer is if the graphics are going to be up to par in today’s day in age. We’ve seen it many times recently that some games that get remastered don’t see the big picture when it comes to ensuring visuals are fully HD now and also keeping the music updated. These are two things that Command & Conquer Remastered did correctly!
When you first get into a mission, you’re asking to press the Space key; this will toggle that the player will be able to do at any time during gameplay and will switch graphics from legacy mode to 4k advanced graphics mode during solo play. That type of feature is the reason people come back to remastered games such as Command & Conquer, knowing that time was spent on the looks instead of game mechanics that sometimes changes up the old school style gameplay.
Another remastered mechanic put into the game is a whole new remastered music pack that gives the player over seven hours of rocking music tracks to listen to by the original composer Frank Klepacki and the Tiberian Sons. Command & Conquer Remastered has the looks and sound of a modern RTS, but it still gives off the old school gameplay mechanics that we all know and love.
Getting back into old school games
In the end, are the new graphic and sound changes in Command & Conquer Remastered enough to bring an old school gamer to play through all 100+ campaign missions again? The answer is simply yes. Electronic Arts and the developers over at Petroglyph, & Lemon Sky Studios have ensured that the new Command & Conquer lives up to its name and doesn’t fall short when it comes to looking modern, but being a great classic. With an EA price tag of USD 19.99, the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection has enough gameplay and playthrough time to make up for the price tag on sale or not.
