Conquering Command & Conquer

Source article: Command & Conquer is EAs next big freetoplay AAA franchise

August 15^th, 2012

Westwood Studios was right on the mark in 1995 with its creation of Command & Conquer, the first iteration to an amazing real time strategy franchise. The game quickly took off because of its engaging story line and futuristic mechanics. Command & Conquer also was the first game to implement cut scenes filmed by professional directors, featuring real actors. It was not too long afterwards that Electronic Arts released Command & Conquer 2: Tiberium Sun.

The Command and Conquer franchise was growing fast, and fans could not get enough of it. The game had so much potential, and Electronic Arts knew exactly how to act on this. Electronic Arts broke the Command & Conquer franchise into sub-franchises. The Tiberium Saga was the first of these sub-franchises and contained the original Command & Conquer as well as the new Tiberium Sun. The Tiberium Saga featured a post-modern world plagued by an unknown organic compound called Tiberium which, although dangerous, contained scientific potential. The second sub-franchise to be released was the Red Alert Saga. The Red Alert saga took place in a parallel version of World War II where Albert Einstein perfected time travel and Nicola Tesla created weapons capable of considerable damage. The last sub-franchise to be added to Command & Conquer is the Generals Saga. Command & Conquer Generals is currently the only saga with one game, despite which is known as the best Command & Conquer game.

Many games have been introduced into the Command & Conquers sub-franchises, all sharing the same game mechanics found in the original game. However, in 2012 Electronic Arts released Command & Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight which was intended to end the Tiberium Saga. Unfortunately the game did not go as intended, annoying series purists. Tiberium Twilight was the first game in the Command & Conquer franchise to follow different game mechanics. Instead of creating and building up an army to eliminate your opponent from the map, Tiberium Twilight requires you to capture nodes throughout the map and hold them until you gain enough points to win. Many players of the Tiberium Saga were not happy about this. Not only changing the core mechanics that embody every Command & Conquer game before, but adding so much change within a sub-franchise.

            Tiberium Twilight is in no way a bad game. The high definition graphics and engaging multiplayer experience is enough to satisfy any RTS player. GameInformer went on to give the game a generous rating of 7.75. Tiberium Twilight’s campaign not only contained amazing cut-scenes that Command & Conquer is known for, but prepared the player for the intense multiplayer game that is said to be the main dish of Tiberium Twilight.

            Tiberium Twilight, although a well-made game, was rejected by many Command & Conquer enthusiasts. Many players refused to accept changes to an otherwise perfect game. However, the new game was an innovation for Electronic Arts which will soon lead to Command & Conquer Generals 2: Frost Bite in 2013. Perhaps if Electronic Arts had released Tiberium Twilight under a different franchise it would have had more success and acceptance in the game market. 

-Brandon Dahn