Review by Tim Still

Name:      Command & Conquer for Windows 95
Publisher: Westwood Studios
Format:    CD-Rom
Available: Now

Requires:

O/S:       Windows 95
Processor: Pentium
RAM:       8 Mb
Graphics:  1Mb SVGA
CD-Rom:    Double speed
Soundcard: Most major cards supported

Tested on:

O/S:       Windows 95
Processor: Intel Pentium 75
RAM:       32Mb
Graphics:  2Mb Orchid (Cirrus Logic chipset)
CD-ROM:    Quad-speed
Soundcard: SoundBlaster 16 ASP
Controls:  Standard 2-button MS mouse
        

Command & Conquer for Windows 95

Now you must have heard of Command and Conquer. It sparked off a long and still-growing line of real-time strategy games, and, like Doom, its name is used not just as a game, but as a type of game. Many games are described in reference to a command-and-conquer-type of game, such as this is like it, or that isn`t. This is when you know a game has become a classic.

No? Oh, OK, then....

Just in case you haven`t heard of it, although I`d be surprised, I`ll fill you in on the background. Like all good wars, it`s basically a battle between the good guys and the bad guys. In this case, the good guys belong to the Global Defence Initiative, who operate under the orders of the United Nations Security Council, and therefore get the funding from governments and public organizations. However, the bad guys are much more interesting. Known as The Brotherhood Of Nod, they have ties with most of the larger terrorist organizations, such as the Irish Republican Army, Islamic Jihad and the Khmer Rouge.Their activities are world-wide, and are financed by the harvest of Tiberium, which is a strange substance, only recently discovered. It soaks up the nutrients from the ground, and forms into crystals, rich in precious metals, which are easily harvested at little cost, and converted into funds. Little is known about this strange material, only that almost a third of it is made up of minerals that cannot be identified. The Brotherhood has managed to control almost half the worlds supply of Tiberium, giving it great leverage in the international money markets, thus allowing it to fund it`s terrorist organizations on a level comparable with GDI`s technology.

Vs.

You can play the part of either a GDI or NOD commander, leading troops in more and more involved missions. The missions are similar for both sides, including such aims as search and rescue, retrieval of equipment or technology, elimination of all enemy forces, and other missions along this theme. In most missions, you will have to build a base and develop it to be able to produce the types of units you need to accomplish the mission. In all missions you start with a few units to fend off those initial pesky attacks, and these are sometimes the most critical moments in a mission, juggling a small force defending a base that has none of it`s own defences constructed. Some missions (on both sides) don`t require a base of any sort, and you have to make the best use of the troops you have when the game starts, sometimes getting reinforcements later on.

Gameplay

As previously mentioned, the game is a real-time strategy game, played on a map with no grid of any sort. This means that you can select a unit, and it will move to anywhere on the map you send it, as long as the terrain is navigable by it. The maps, which are different from mission, are made up from varying terrain, such as snow, desert, and grassy terrain. There are also rivers, shorelines, trees, bridges, cliffs, paths, river crossing points, villages, civilian structures, and tiberium fields. Initially, when you start a mission, you can only see the part of the map that your units can see, but as your units move around, more of the map is revealed.

The game is linear in progression. That is, you must complete one mission before moving on to the next. Each of the 35-odd mission is preceded by a good briefing and cutscene, and one also follows the completion of the mission. In total on the CD, there is over 60 minutes of cutscenes, and all of it is of a good quality. Of course, if playing against a computer all the time sounds a bit boring, then there are a few multi-player options. You can play 2 players either over a direct serial link, or modem connection. Up to 4 players can join in over a network, or, new to the Windows 95 version, you can play across the internet. Be aware, this requires your own ISP (Internet Service Provider), one is not provided with the game.

Depending on what side you play, there are different units to build, attack with, and get destroyed. The GDI side, have infantry units toting either miniguns, grenades, or rocket launchers. Each infantry unit type can only carry one sort of weapon, and this is determined by their training. Later on in the game you also have access to a commando, a highly trained killer carrying a long range sniper rifle and a lot of C4 explosive. You can use him to blow up buildings and take out enemy soldiers at long range. He also has some cracking lines. Whereas most units respond with a crisp "Yes Sir" or other similar efficient military response, the commando will say things like "I`m on it." or, when told to blow up a building, he`ll come out with "Got a present for ya!" as he runs towards the doomed structure. There are also engineer units available in the game, and these chaps are most useful, as they can take over enemy buildings. There`s nothing worse than being in a multi-player game, and suddenly finding you can`t build any more units. Zipping back to your base, you see that most of your buildings seem to be under the control of a hostile force, and enemy troops and vehicles are pouring out of the facilities! Annoying is not the word. Mind you, it`s a cause of great enjoyment if you can do it to them... ;-)

GDI vehicles consist of armoured cars, armoured personnel carriers (useful for sneaking a squad of engineers into the enemy camp), medium tanks, rocket launchers and the huge mammoth tank. There are also 3 airborne units. The Orca helicopter, armed with 5 missile salvo`s, the A-10 ground support aircraft, and the Chinook transport helicopter. There are also a couple of naval units, but these are not under your direct control, and you can`t build them. Finally you also have a mobile construction vehicle, which converts into your initial construction yard allowing you to start building your base, and a harvester which runs of to a field of tiberium, collects a full load, and deposits it back at your refinery.

NOD troops are similar to GDI, but they do have some specialist units which are unavailable to the good guys. They have no grenadiers, but they do have flame-throwers, which are lethal to other infantry units, and also chemical warriors, who do a similar job, but instead of fire, they employ chemical warfare. Vehicles differ greatly from their GDI counterparts, with the exception of the MCV and harvester, all units are different. Nod forces employ recon bikes, buggies, light tanks, mobile artillery, flame-thrower tanks, surface to surface missile launchers, and the stealth tank, which is more fun than a whole KFC bargain bucket with the free chocolate ice-cream cake. The stealth tank is cloaked in a Lazaurus shield, rendering it invisible to all enemy units except guard towers and infantry. This means you can get a few of them together, and go hunting behind enemy lines, or park one on a bridge, and block enemy harvesters from returning to base with their load of tiberium. The only trouble is, they only have a light armour, so if spotted, or caught dropping the shield to open fire, then they can be quickly killed. Even if just damaged, the trail of smoke from the damaged unit is a dead giveaway. The NOD forces also have an air capability with it`s apache helicopters. Armed with a gatling cannon, it`s great for taking out troops, or, if attacking in packs, destroying buildings or lighter armoured units.

Structures also differ depending on which side you`re talking about. Both sides have Construction yards, two types of power plants, refineries, tiberium storage silos, communication centres, helipads, a repair facility, and the ability to build barriers from sandbags, chain link fencing, or concrete. Only GDI, however, have infantry barracks where infantry is trained, two types of guard towers, advanced communications centres, and weapons factories where armoured units are constructed. Only NOD forces, on the other hand, have the Hand Of Nod building, (basically the same as the infantry barracks), armoured turrets, SAM sites, airfields where purchased armoured units are delivered, Obelisks of Light (a form of laser for base defence), and the Temple of NOD. Of course, with prudent use of engineers, any buildings that the enemy have constructed can become yours. And if that building is capable on constructing a unit you normally can`t, it gives you the opportunity to give the other side a taste of their own medicine.

The graphics

Graphically, it looks pretty good in SVGA. The actual game area is quite small, and looks OK for it, but it can get confusing identifying the infantry units at a glance sometimes. The Sidebar looks a lot better than the old version, with the unit and structure graphics being very crisp. The sound hasn`t changed at all from the Dos version, but then it didn`t need to, being fine for the game, with combat and voice messages sounding great. There is also the really good audio music in the background (25 tracks in all), that you can actually enjoy, rather than turn off after 5 minutes because they`re getting annoying, as in some games. The manual has changed, with more information on what needs what to be constructed, and GDI and NOD units and structures split better. The section on playing the game, near the front of the manual, also seems to be slightly better written, and there are also 2 tutorials for each side at the back of the book. It`s nice to see that Westwood have taken the trouble to re-write the manual, rather than just re-print the old one with a few new bits in it.

Conclusion

I`d say that if you don`t already have Command and Conquer for Dos, then go and buy this immediately. If, on the other hand, you already own a copy, then unless you really want the new internet options (you can play the old version on the net using Kali), or for some reason you would specifically like a copy for Windows95, then it`s probably not worth getting a second copy. Mind you, it`s still a very good game...

Tim Still for Game Over!