Real-Time Strategy genre or abbreviated as RTS is a niche genre that is only interested in certain people. Although it was popular in the 80-90s with the onslaught of several legendary games. But its popularity could not last long in the 2000s. This is evidenced by the shrinking interest of players, especially gamers today after the shooter and action genres dominate.
One of the originators of the RTS genre is Command & Conquer made by Westwood Studios. The game has a fairly simple gameplay according to the title it has, which is to give command and control the enemy headquarters. Mechanics to build headquarters, gather resources, to form an unlimited number of troops it has, make Command & Conquer the mecca of other developers who want to make games with the same genre.
Unfortunately, the interest of RTS fans to spur developers to rework games with this genre is not directly proportional to the popularity of the genre. Make a lot of developers and publishers, do the legendary game remastered to attract the interest of new players. Including old fans who are very loyal. That raising RTS is not as easy as turning a hand and fulfilling quite a few fans' requests.
One of the publishers who grants the fans' requests is Electronic Arts. Although it failed with Command & Conquer Generals 2 which was finally canceled after the beta. Electronic Arts is trying to bring back the first Command & Conquer and the first Red Alert in a unit they call Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection.
EA struggle to return the franchise is not easy. This is because members of Westwood Studios, the developers they have closed, have split up at other companies. Luckily, some of the studio's senior developers founded a studio called Petroglyph. A studio that is still moving to develop RTS games like GreyGoo to Forged Battalion with a taste of Command & Conquer that they have worked for years.
EA also recruited LemonSky to help Petroglyph work on Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection complete with original music composer Frank Klepacki. Present a complete nostalgia as well as an illustration of how this series was once popular in the past. Then could the classic RTS formula be translated so well by the two teams? Check out the following review.
Super Complete
Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection presents two games at once, from Command & Conquer to the first Red Alert. The story revolves around the GDI or Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of NOD which are fighting over one another, Tiberium, an unlimited resource that suddenly appears on earth to maintain world security. While Red Alert is still with the story of Allied against the USSR, which is full of classic drama.
GDI is described as a military organization supported by the government to fight NOD, a terrorist organization that will do everything possible to achieve its objectives. NOD did not even hesitate to use terror, propaganda to conspiracy to destroy the image of GDI in the public eye to crush all its troops.
Similar to the GDI and NOD conflicts, Allied and USSR have a drama that is more or less the same as both. The Red Alert story begins when Professor Einstein managed to kill Hitler before his heyday became a Nazi leader. Eliminate the world war that triggered an inevitable conflict between Allied and USSR. Each faction has a unique drama of war, including internal conflicts between the top brass.
Each story will begin with a briefing through a short film. Because the assets used are legacy assets, Petroglyph and LemonSky don't reproduce the video. Aside from the actors getting older, they still want to maintain the authenticity of the original series. Therefore the developer uses AI to clarify the video even though the picture still looks unclear.
The presentation of the video briefing then continued with the selection of areas in the map to attack. From here you can choose one of two or three choices of areas that you can attack. Each area will have a different briefing and ending. So, make sure you choose everything after completing all of its mission.
Not only the story is retold with the help of modern technology. Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection also presents all missions from expansion such as Covert Ops to iterating consoles. Including Red Alert Retaliation released on PlayStation 1. Some secret missions such as Jurassic and Ant Mission are also present in the game. Each of these secret missions can be accessed using cheats. Yes, they have presented cheat codes that have long been left behind in the game.
Completeness of Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection makes old fans feel the nostalgia of half-half with great satisfaction. Making it a remastered game that not only maintains its authenticity, but also provides complete additional content without having to split it up as an expansion like its old iteration.
The visual appearance that was overhauled in such a way that the 4K resolution also made Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection become one of the older games that can still compete today. At least for visual problems. In contrast to the original iteration, the visual appearance of the game is sharper because it was drawn and re-animated by Petroglyph and LemonSky. However, you who still want to enjoy the old look can also change it by pressing the space key.
You can also zoom in zoom out by using the mouse scroll like the current RTS game. This provides a point of view that suits your style of play and comfort. Especially you who have trouble seeing the big screen and picture.
A timeless classic RTS formula
Authenticity Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection is not limited to the completeness of the content, but also still maintains gameplay that is arguably quite standard for the series. You can still build a base using MCV or Mobile Construction Vehicle, collect resources, both ore and Tiberium, to form an unlimited army and build superweapons to crush your enemies.
The combination of tanks, infantry troops and headquarters defenses such as pillboxes, gun towers, flame towers, to tesla coil and your decision to make the flow of the game interesting and unique at the same time. All your decisions to be the type of turtle or defense player, as well as aggressive players who prefer to attack first will determine how long you play a round or mission.
Interestingly, the formula is timeless and is still very exciting to be played back. Even for this very modern era. This cannot be denied because Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection has a genre-based game that changes our view of strategy in the past. Despite the fact, there is still a lot of content that they don't fix.
At a glance, the gameplay is still the same as their previous work, Dune II, which was remade into Dune 2000 in 1999 for release on PlayStation 1. However, unlike Dune 2000, Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection tends to have gameplay similar to Dune II with the characteristics of some units that are still less responsive when given command.
Some infantry and tanks will take a while to respond to your consecutive command. Seen they will do a little loading animation when ordered to two different places. The animation is also still very rigid even though they have done a visual overhaul and animation.
Unresponsiveness of the unit also propagates when some of these units are at enemy bases or when other units are busy fighting the enemy in close enough distance. If you do not give the command, then they will not attack and remain silent, exactly a robot. Some outside reviewers also complained about how the harvester unit could not find its way back to headquarters, but for more than 10 hours I played it, I did not find the problem at all.
Lack of information about what to do is also a problem in the 90s game. The era in which the Command & Conquer series was released. Some unit mechanics hiding behind the darkness and sudden attacks of enemy battalions have indeed become a challenge. But at the same time making the challenge is very extreme, which makes you have to do trial and error to be able to solve it.
The problem has been fixed and improved in the new Command & Conquer iteration. Although it's not so annoying in its application. But it would be better if Petroglyph and LemonSky improved it with more flexible animations such as Red Alert 2 or new iterations of the franchise including Dune 2000 rather than having to stay true with the original series. This is because the game is currently under the title of remastered and in my opinion, it is quite natural if the problem is corrected. Although in the end, the game did not provide 100% authentic experience according to the original series.
They can also add waypoint seekers such as Red Alert 2 to make it easier for units to attack several buildings or units at once without having to give the second, third, and so on. Or implement commands such as guarding areas where units will take the initiative to attack the enemy if he has been ordered to guard a certain area.
Mod Support Since Initial Release
EA's commitment to the Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection community is indeed extraordinary. That they want to give fans full support for the game. Therefore EA releases the game source code a few days before the game is released. Allow fans to modify all its contents using mod.
Mod made by fans will immediately be accessed via the options menu. There are various types of mods, ranging from cheat mods, increasing ore or Tiberium growth, to removing the fog of war (black mist) from the map. The presence of Mods will certainly make the game more exciting and interesting. That fans are free to "fix" some things that might not be in the game.
Not only limited to the source code, but they also provide a map editor to create your map. You who are lazy to make it can also enjoy the user map that is available when choosing skirmish mode.
Additional Bonuses that have never been Published
The hard work and efforts of Petroglyph and LemonSky and EA to restore the authenticity of Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection deserves thumbs up. That they managed to present two legendary games to be enjoyed by gamers today and old fans to reminisce. However, there are very different things besides visuals being modified in such away. One of them is the bonus gallery mode which was never published in the original series.
EA, Petroglyph, and LemonSky decided to add behind the scenes or behind the scenes to Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection. Some Westwood missions are working on the mission campaign mode video briefing. The video, which is mostly done by several iconic actors including NOD leader, Kane, shows the process of taking pictures in the background screen.
From here we can see how the director divides it into several scenes that are finally selected to be present as a game mission briefing. Bonus content above can be opened every time you complete the mission. This is the reason I previously why I advise you to play it again.
Familiar Music and Sound Remastered by Frank Klepacki
If we hear the word Command & Conquer, of course, it will not be separated from the sound design and epic and familiar music in our ears. EA's attempt to recruit Frank Klepacki, his original music composer to work on Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection, is an excellent choice.
Frank changed the iconic music of the game with a new arrangement that was still fun to listen to. Call it Red Alert's iconic music, Hell March, which has a lot of versions that it works on. Unfortunately, the music cannot be accessed through menus other than the jukebox menu when playing the game. Makes me quite disappointed because I have to play the game first before I can enjoy the music of the maestro.
Conclusion
Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection is a remaster that seeks to revive its franchise from the grave. EA, Petroglyph, and LemonSky's efforts to try to popularize the RTS genre amid the dominance of action and shooter games deserve a thumbs up. They can even do it better than some other remastered games that finally quite flop. That their efforts not to move away from the authenticity of the original series made the fans feel betrayed.
The visual appearance is okay with AI technology that tries to modernize old school videos complete with music that was remade with various versions indirectly giving a message that the RTS genre will be back soon. That Command & Conquer is still not dead and remains faithful provides nostalgia and happiness for its fans.
The bonus that Westwood had never published at all before was also added to its insight. Because from here we can find out how our favorite games were done in the past.
But unfortunately, the problems that occurred in the 90s were also not corrected. Call it giving a command or the absence of instructions to take the next step during a singleplayer mission. The challenges are quite extreme because of the limitations of technology makes you have to try certain steps to complete each mission.
Even so, it did not erase the nostalgia and important elements that turned out to be timeless despite being played in modern times. Especially for old fans. While new fans will be able to get an idea of the extent to which the game is developing by playing this historic game.
I highly recommend you old fans to play Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection if you want to taste the sweetness of past glory with a more modern visual appearance.