No joke, whereas I used to be halfway by writing this text, EA dropped Command & Conquer – The Final Assortment on Steam. I had simply been questioning how the place I might get Renegade lately, and converse of the satan. I do know what I’m doing this weekend.

Probably the most amusing tales I’ve from my youth is the time a cousin and I spent many of the day taking part in Command & Conquer: Crimson Alert whereas consuming Warheads sweet. And never simply, like, a package deal of Warheads, however this large basket of them. For the subsequent few days, I used to be peeling lifeless pores and skin off my tongue. However the level of this story is that Command & Conquer has had a spot in my coronary heart since I used to be a child.

The sequence has been going since 1995 and went quiet after 2010 (not counting Rivals). In that point, it’s seen some ups and downs, however principally ups. That will help you separate the ore from the Tiberium, right here’s a tier overview of the video games within the sequence. I’ve tucked the enlargement packs beneath their related entry since it could be reasonably troublesome to match them.

F-Tier

Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor (1997)

Should you don’t keep in mind Sole Survivor, neither does anybody else. In truth, it’s the one entry on this listing that doesn’t have a Wikipedia web page or a user-submitted description on MobyGames. It was an online-only affair, which is attention-grabbing since Command & Conquer already had a web-based mode baked in. 

Somewhat than constructing bases and controlling a military, you managed a single unit, primarily in the identical means you’d within the RTS. In a means, it controls like a MOBA, however actually, it’s principally a deathmatch. You might transfer your items over power-ups, however you have been nonetheless clicking locations and letting them drive themselves.

If this was a mod as a substitute of a retail recreation, it might need had some worth again within the day. However as a retail product, it’s simply baffling. I believe it says one thing when EA even leaves it out of The Final Assortment.

D-Tier

Command & Conquer: Rivals (2018)

I’m admittedly biased towards cell video games, so I haven’t even performed Command & Conquer Rivals. It’s principally simply above Sole Survivor within the ranks as a result of some folks say Rivals is first rate, which Sole Survivors isn’t, so I’m simply going to take folks’s phrase for it and place it right here.

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight (2010)

If 2007’s Command & Conquer 3 prompt that the sequence nonetheless had some gas within the tank, Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight simply drove it off a cliff. I can perceive the intent right here. The truth that there hasn’t been a correct recreation within the sequence since (sorry, Rivals) ought to say all of it. The RTS style was perhaps, probably susceptible to rising stale, so that they wanted to shake issues up. It’s simply that, urgh, it wasn’t for one of the best.

The useful resource gathering and base constructing is gone. As a substitute, you could have crawlers and command factors. It’s such an enormous divergence from the conventional C&C method, that it could take some time to elucidate. Suffice it to say that just about every thing that made the sequence nice, isn’t right here. In a means, that’s spectacular in its personal proper.

C-Tier

Command & Conquer: Generals (2003)

Now we’re away from the unhealthy C&C video games and into, on the very least, the okay ones. Command & Conquer: Generals has its followers, however I’m not one in every of them. It was the primary one launched after EA closed down Westwood Studios, however whereas it isn’t unhealthy, I really feel prefer it’s simply so generic in comparison with the earlier video games. The Tiberian and Crimson Alert video games had a kind of fashion to them that isn’t current in Generals.

Somewhat than fictional factions, you could have the US, China, and the GLA (okay, that final one is fictitious). It’s only a modern-day warfare recreation with a couple of exaggerated abstractions. And that’s okay, I simply don’t suppose it compares very effectively.

It acquired an enlargement later the identical yr, Command & Conquer: Generals: Zero Hour, which, er, expands the storyline. Extra importantly, it brings again the sequence’ conventional FMV sequences.

Command & Conquer 2: Tiberium Solar (1999)

There’s not quite a bit flawed with Command & Conquer 2: Tiberium Solar. I believe my points with it are principally petty, however perhaps a few of you agree with me.

It’s a divergence from the relative groundedness of the unique Command & Conquer, leaning was extra into sci-fi. The world has been overtaken by the uncontrolled progress of toxic Tiberium crystals. This leads me to my first grievance, which is that it’s means too drab. Just like the video games earlier than it, the battlefields are desolate, uninteresting landscapes. I don’t love the troop varieties, and the dearth of mammoth tanks hurts me. In truth, the disappointing choice of tanks, generally, is a black mark on it, as as a substitute, the sport leans on strolling mechs.

Command & Conquer 2: Tiberian Solar: Firestorm is the primary time the sequence prolonged a recreation’s storyline with an enlargement. It provides two new campaigns that observe after the principle recreation’s narrative.

Command & Conquer: Crimson Alert 3 (2008)

Constructing off the success of Command & Conquer 3, EA determined to revisit the Crimson Alert subseries. And, actually, it wasn’t unhealthy. They went all out on the story, giving Tim Curry an appropriately ridiculous spot as Colonel Anatoly Cherdenko. If something, the story has outlived the sport itself.

The gameplay in Command & Conquer: Crimson Alert 3 is… nice. Regardless of including the power to construct offshore, it’s probably not revelatory. If something, it sort of reveals off EA’s, er, blander sensibilities. Not egregious, simply okay.

It was expanded by Command & Conquer: Crimson Alert 3: Rebellion, which was equally not spectacular.

B-Tier

Command & Conquer: Renegade (2002)

Talking of simply okay, Command & Conquer is the okay-est first-person shooter I’ve ever performed. It couldn’t be extra par if it tried. Absolute boilerplate.

Nevertheless, it beneficial properties bonus factors for C&C followers like myself. After taking a look at these buildings from above, really with the ability to see their scale and their inside was so cool. Plus, you bought to drive a bunch of the autos that you simply commanded within the unique. Its adherence to the sequence it’s based mostly on makes it nearly indispensable for followers, which is why I’ve bumped it as much as B.

Sadly, it didn’t discover a lot of an viewers exterior these followers. It wasn’t very profitable and was an element in EA unceremoniously shutting down Westwood.

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (2007)

Again in 2007, 4 years was a very long time to go with no new entry within the sequence. For some time, it felt like EA had simply buried it. However then Command & Conquer 3 got here out and felt prefer it rejuvenated the sequence. Persevering with from the Tiberium Solar eco-apocalypse setting, C&C3 introduced again every thing that folks cherished concerning the unique, together with FMV cutscenes and, extra importantly, Mammoth Tanks.

It felt just like the sequence had a future once more, however that didn’t actually final. It was principally only a glowing success in a cloud of company apathy.

Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath was the compulsory enlargement right here. It was okay when you most well-liked NOD over GDI for some purpose.

A-Tier

Command & Conquer (1995)

The unique Command & Conquer was a formative recreation within the burgeoning RTS style. It got here out the identical yr as Warcraft II, and whereas it didn’t utterly eclipse that recreation, it was means higher general. I stated it.

C&C was nice again in 1995, and it’s nonetheless nice. The 2 opposing sides of NOD and GDI have their very own strengths and weak spot, mission selection is excellent, and the marketing campaign has branching routes based mostly in your (poorly knowledgeable) selections. The story generally feels a bit of too simple, however the existence of Tiberium provides it a bit of additional spice.

It had an enlargement launched in 1996, Command & Conquer: The Covert Operations, nevertheless it’s nothing too thrilling. It principally focuses on including some tougher missions.

Command & Conquer: Crimson Alert (1996)

The follow-up to Command & Conquer doesn’t change a lot when it comes to gameplay however is far more imaginative with its setting and narrative. It opens with Albert Einstein touring again in time and murdering Hitler, so you understand you’re in for a experience. With the Nazis faraway from historical past, Europe stays mired in financial uncertainty whereas the Soviet Union grows unchecked. Once they come to blows, issues get determined.

Crimson Alert takes every thing that was nice about Command & Conquer, adjustments little or no, however provides a lot extra coloration with its alternate Chilly Conflict setting. It’s simply superior.

So superior that it acquired two enlargement packs: Counter Strike and The Aftermath. Each add new missions and there are some new items thrown in. Nevertheless, like The Covert Operations, they don’t have a uniting storyline, so that they’re fairly missable.

S-Tier

Command & Conquer: Crimson Alert 2 (2000)

As nice as Crimson Alert was, a leap in graphics did quite a bit to make it really feel extra like one thing was at stake. Within the unique Crimson Alert, you have been principally combating it out in open fields, however in Crimson Alert 2, instantly there have been all kinds of landmarks the battles unfolded round. That alone made it really feel just like the stakes have been increased. It opens with the Statue of Liberty crumbling (which is bizarre because it’s created from copper, not stone), so you understand issues are getting actual.

Crimson Alert 2 was simply enjoyable and imaginative. The story was extraordinarily entertaining, and the sequence’ mission selection is effectively on show. Simply taking part in it, it’s not arduous to determine why that is the zenith of Command & Conquer.

There was one enlargement for the sport referred to as Command & Conquer: Crimson Alert 2: Yuri’s Revenge. It was a narrative enlargement that continued from the tip of the Allied marketing campaign. This was the final traditional C&C recreation that Westwood developed earlier than EA shuttered the studio. As a result of we are able to’t have good issues.