Command and Conquer Tiberian Dawn Remastered - Review

25 years ago Westwood Studios released Command and Conquer Tiberian Dawn. The game set the standard for real-time strategy games. I remember playing it when it first came out and then again a few years later. As PC gaming hardware improved I was no longer able to run it but never forgot about it. I have played every game in the series and while the series and the RTS genre has advanced a lot I always wanted to go back and play the original again. Fast forward 25 years and it has been remastered and released, the question is does it still hold up?


I like Jaffa Cakes, they remind of being a kid again and as an adult makes me feel like a big kid. I recently saw our local Spar had Jaffa Cake Nibbles, and I thought, yeah I want me some of those. I grabbed a bag and scoffed down most of them. Are they as good as normal Jaffa Cakes? No. But are they bad? Also no. They are just a bit a different, a slightly lesser version of the regular ones. Playing Command and Conquer Tiberian Dawn I found myself asking was it as good I remember and did remastering make it as good as the newer games in the series?

Story


The story has you pick on of two sides; GDI (Global Defence Initiative) and the Brotherhood of Nod. One is seeking to protect the world, the other to control it. There is a plant-like substance called Tiberian, it is powerful and is beginning to appear all of the planet.  The cut sequences provide a little more story but that is pretty much the whole story.


Overall the story is fairly light, and the cheesy cut sequences don't help as much as they should. To be fair though the story was pretty underwhelming the first time around and it was one of the few things that could not be altered.

Visuals


When I started playing I thought to myself the visuals look better but how much have they changed? Luckily, if you press the spacebar you can see what the game used to look like and even play the whole game that way. The visuals have been changed massively, everything looks better and smoother but without changing the core design. I think it was a great idea to be able to see what the game used to look like as it is only then I could fully appreciate the work put into it.


Overall the remastered visuals look great and getting to compare them so easily was a nice touch.



Music


When I first heard the soundtrack for Command and Conquer years ago I remember thinking how awesome it was and really wanted to have it on cassette or CD so I could keep listening to it. The composer for this legendary music is Frank Klepacki and Tiberian Sons. He has worked with Westwood Studios, Lucasarts, EA, Disney and many more. He has created the sound for the Command and Conquer series and I am already excited to play Red Alert again as it features some of his best work.


The soundtrack run at almost exactly an hour, there are no duds in it and I could listen to it again and again. Overall it is a great soundtrack and a great example of how important they are in games.

Gameplay


I really enjoy real-time strategy games, I love building up a base, having good defences, create an army and then wipe the enemy off of the map. With most modern games each side is fairly balanced, in Command and Conquer Tiberian Dawn that is not the case. GDI has the Mammoth Tank, it it impressive and pretty tough, but apart from the GDI structure and units feel weak by comparison of Nod. With Nod, they have strong defence turrets, a laser turret which destroys any unit no matter how strong. They also have flame troopers, rocket bikes, and stealth tanks.  While I enjoyed playing with both sides The Brotherhood of Nod is superior in every way.


Like the original release of the game, there are different difficulty settings and is possible to speed up the gameplay. This is invaluable once you have a good base defence and need resources to build your army.


Some people had reported glitches with some of the gameplay, maybe I was lucky or may a few patches fixed the issue. In any case, I did have any issues with the game crashing or failing to register things, which is always a plus.


Overall I enjoyed my experience and only wish that both GDI and NOD could have been a little more balanced.





Final Thoughts

So, after twenty hours how did I feel? Not bad. The story wasn't great but I can overlook this a little. The visuals were really sharp and the music was fantastic. The gameplay was pretty good but certainly could use a little balancing. Overall this one gets a 3 out of 5