Command and Conquer Remastered - Review
There have been countless games at this point, that have been released again as remasters, HD upgrades or enhanced ports and each with varying degrees of success. Electronic Arts have been the last major publishing house to dive into the world of Remasters and so far, they have completed two, Burnout Paradise Remastered and now Command and Conquer Remastered, but with only two titles complete, are they doing well, or is there still room to grow.
Growing up, I was never a PC gamer, my machine was always on the lower end of the spectrum, in terms of raw power, Minesweeper was about as advanced as I could get, so I missed a lot of the early days of PC gaming. One series that I did pay attention to, was Command and Conquer and for good reason, it had a story like that felt real, and as each game released, you got more and more invested, which kept interest growing. When EA announced they were remastering the original game and then Red Alert, I felt happy, as it would be my chance to play the games for the first time, outside of on a friends PC, but I was worried about who would be doing the job and then when Petroglyph were announced, I felt good about it. For those who might not know, Petroglyph was formed by members of the former Westwood Studios, the actual studio who created the series and they did so once EA shuttered the doors. It is a nice moment to think that the studio who formed out of the ashes, was approached by their former bosses, to recreate their original and iconic series.
The series first kicked of 25 years ago in 1995 and when remastering something from back then, there are generally two trains of thought, redo everything and make it, as if it were made today, or enhance what was there before and they went with the latter. By taking this road, the game still retains the same charm that they had when the game first released but makes things presentable for the modern audience. With the developers being open and honest as they developed the series, there was a lot of time for fans to get their voices heard and it seems that any feedback was taken seriously. The game boots up with the original logos, from Westwood to EA, they are there in all their 90’s glory, but more than that, you even get a replica DOS screen, which helps connect the old and new, before the game starts to scan for new tech, to help update the presentation, it is a nice touch and one I welcomed. Before you get into that though, you have to select the game you want to play, which is annoying, because in order to swap from The Tiberium Wars to Red Alert, you have to quit out and start the game up again, there is no option to swap in the menus. What is in the menus though, hidden away are some secret missions, which is a nice touch, if you can find them of course.
Being able to play both the original Command and Conquer, plus its follow up Red Alert and all their expansions means that there is a lot of game to discover. While the first game puts you into the shoes of a commander, that at the time, was a potential look to the future, and in Red Alert, has you taking control of a what-if scenario how of past conflicts might have changed. Both games tell stories that feel like they could be possible, given the right circumstances, heck the original game could have Tiberium replaced with oil, or any other valuable mineral and you could draw similarities to recent history. While Red Alert and its expansion, The Aftermath, provide a more fantastical scenario, elements feel like they could have happened, if only one or two events played out differently and that is the fun of it. Both games provide solid stories and given that each contains two sides to the conflict, there is a lot of replay value to be enjoyed, and on the plus side, if you grow bored of the stories, you can head online.
In terms of the core gameplay, much has not changed, there is still the core harvest materials, build up your army, conquer the enemy, at least for those missions that require it. There are still odd things like a single engineer being able to capture an enemy building, them moment they enter it, but at least that is true to the way the game used to be. The gameplay, being honest, is old school and while that works for nostalgia, I would have liked to have seen some tweaks to the core, nothing major just a few modern touches. There are missions where you control just one guy and have them take down enemies, without any of the production elements, which is nice, and the game ensures that you can just focus on that. The controls have been given a modern overhaul, but for those that want to stick to the old school inputs, that is an option for you as well, the fact that you can mix and match the controls, to find your perfect balance is a wonderful touch.
Focusing on that is made easier, with the games improved presentation and that is perhaps the thing that any returning fan, or even a new fan will notice. By default the game will present you with the updated visuals, something that is nice, but any time you wish, you can press the space bar and have them revert to the original style, which if you are playing at 4K, be prepared for the pixels. While the ‘new’ look is not something that a modern game might be made to look like today, you can easily spot the work that went into each building, vehicle, tree and soldier, because when you swap back and forth, there is no disconnect between the designs, sure things are cleaner in the new look, but they still look like the original. The soundtrack also got an overhaul, the same classic midi tunes from the original release, got remade for the modern day and there is even a bonus soundtrack option, if you want to kick things into a higher gear, plus a jukebox, but more on that later.
The downside with the presentation is any cutscene and I do mean any, now the developers have said that they were not able to get their hands on the original film, which had the live action scenes recorded, so they took another approach. They used AI in order to attempt to bump the resolution up and some clips, it looks like everything just got smoothed out and a little blurry and others it is nothing but pixilation. The problem with the computer animated cutscenes is more down to pixilation, but there are times when the framerate seems very out of sync, compared to the main game, which can be a little hard on the eyes. Now with the live action stuff, they could have remade them completely, but that would have lost the heart of them, so while I appreciate that they remain as they were, the quality is mixed as best. The CGI cutscenes though, apart from being very janky, with how weird things looked in the mid 90’s, they honestly should have been redone, they could have kept the original looks easy enough, just do them again for quality, but they didn’t and I feel it was a missed opportunity.
On the plus side is the collection of bonus content and there is a lot, from behind the scenes on the videos, to green screen captures of them, which theoretically mean you could insert Kane into any sort of situation. The jukebox, which I mentioned before, houses all the music and you can craft a playlist, that contains the tracks you like, then have it play back during the game. There is also a mission editor, skirmish maker, online modes, full mod support and more, it is packed with content and is just a love letter for fans.
Command and Conquer Remastered is the perfect collection for those who want to revisit their gaming history, it has a sense of wonder and care to it, that far to many remasters lose in order to just do shiny visuals. While not all aspects have been treated with the same care, they have done a solid job with most of it, so hats of there. The gameplay hasn’t aged that well and while I appreciate the effort with the control options and other gameplay choices, the core is still the same and while others might appreciate the retro flavour, I was hoping for a little more. Considering the amount of bonus content, custom options and multiplayer though, there is plenty here to enjoy, while new gamers might not enjoy everything, the core game still feels worthy of a shot.
The Score
8.0
Review code provided by Electronic Arts
The Pros
+Visuals have been given a wonderful refresh, without losing what was important
+The sheer number of options available for game modes, mod support and bonuses
The Cons
+Almost all the cutscenes suffer from degradation and either look blurry or pixelated
+The core gameplay, while solid, is still a product of the 90’s and that may turn people away
