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

Mass Effect 3 - The Mega Review

Back in February 2012, I was getting excited about the release of Mass Effect 3.  While the original Mass Effect was underwhelming with a slight glimmer of promise Mass Effect 2 was amazing, the characters, story, and gameplay were all pretty solid.  When I played Mass Effect 3 I could see great improvements in the visuals and overall gameplay, that being said there was something a little lacking, in particular, some of the story especially the ending(s).  In fact, I felt strongly enough about that it is only recently that I decided to replay it, this time with all the downloadable content.


Many years ago I found that I really did not like prawns, I wanted to, but they always left me feeling underwhelmed, as time went by things changed and I tried them again and found I felt differently about them.  The dish I like most is hot chili garlic prawns, with a helping of egg fried rice, or noodles.  I am not sure if my palette became more refined, or I was simply more open to the experience.  Playing Mass Effect 3 again I found myself asking, was this my hot chili garlic prawns that I love now, or the underwhelming taste I remember from years ago?

Story

Once again you take on the role of Commander Shepard, and again try to save the galaxy, this time though the stakes are higher than before.  The Reapers have stopped being subtle, and are now out in force to destroy all life in the Galaxy, like a hardcore version of Thanos in Avengers Infinity War.

Shepard was with the Alliance in the first installment in the series, Cerberus in the second one, and now he is back with the Alliance.  In the early part of the game you get the impression, there is slight distrust towards him, and that he is perhaps mistaken about the impending Reaper invasion.  Fast forward a little and it's clear that Shepard is as honest, and trustworthy as always, and he was right about the Reapers, again.  Time to feel smug, wait there is a war on, no time to be smug, save it for later.  

The aim is to try and get as many races working together, gather a massive fleet and try to take a stand against the Reapers.  There are interesting stories along the way, in particular, I really enjoyed the Geth storyline which helped give a very fresh perspective on them.  The downloadable content (DLC) certainly added a lot to the overall story and for the most part was pretty enjoyable.  The Citadel DLC focuses on an assassin trying to kill Shepard, but the main focus is about the crew of the Normandy hanging out, it was a lot of cheesy fun.  The Leviathan DLC added so much to not only Mass Effect 3 but also the series as a whole, I genuinely can't say more than that without spoiling anything.  The From The Ashes DLC saw an introduction of a new playable character, a Promethean, you get an insight into what happened last time the Reapers showed up 50,000 years ago. The Omega DLC was by far the dullest, Aria is not the most interesting character to start with, and it just didn't add anything to the game.

Overall I felt the story to be more solid than my original playthrough, this was for two key reasons, the downloadable contents and the extended ending.  While the experience was better second time around I feel it would have been a more memorable game had they released the game with some of the downloadable content the first time around rather than trying to pry more money out of loyal fans.

Visuals 

The series has come a long way since the original Mass Effect, the visuals are still looking good especially for a last generation console game.  The HUD now looks and feels a lot crisper which helps for smoother gameplay.  One of the most visually stunning parts of the game apart from the various planets are the Reapers themselves, giant robotic squid type beings, which I know doesn't sound impressive, but trust me they're impressive.  The planet Benning had a very Judge Dredd feeling to them, orange skies, trash and beaten up buildings and containers everywhere.  The planet Kallini was cool, snow-capped mountains, a monastery that was futuristic, but also looked old.

Overall the game is visually impressive and really helps in bringing the whole galaxy to life.

Music 

The music has a very different feel from Mass Effect 2, which I suppose makes sense as the Mass Effect 3 is about all-out war.  The sound runs between being Tron-esque and a Hollywood war movie, and in honesty, it works pretty well.  Initially, I was disappointed that Jack Wall did come back to do the music, but the other composers returned along with a new one which worked just as well if not better.  Sam Hulick, Christopher Lennertz, Cris Velasco and Sasha Dikiciyan return, along with newcomer Clint Mansell create the sound for Mass Effect 3.  This group has collectively helped create some amazing and fun soundtracks including; Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Ghost in the Shell, Black Swan, The Fountain, Sausage Party, Agent Carter, Bloodborne, Prototype, Borderlands, Deus Ex Mankind Divided and Borderlands 2.

The soundtrack features over an hour of music, with some great tracks, including, 'Fate of The Galaxy', 'Mars', 'A Future For The Krogan', 'The Cerberus Plot', and 'Arlakh Company'

Overall a pretty solid soundtrack, that really helps create the feeling of war and all-out annihilation.

Gameplay

The gameplay is a lot stronger than it was in Mass Effect 2, no more getting stuck on walls or Shepard not crouching and then getting destroyed by the enemy, you can now roll too, which can be handy.  The biotic abilities feel a little more refined, and the weapons as a whole seem more precise and powerful.  There is now the option to add mods to weapons, which isn't a bad thing but I never felt like it made a huge difference.  The most powerful weapon was the MII Suppressor, a full clip could drop many an enemy, in some ways it felt as good as when I used to dual wield enforcers in Unreal Tournament.  The character classes fall into, Soldier, Infiltrator, Vanguard, Sentinel, Adept, Engineer, each offer their own benefits, but like with Mass Effect 2 you can add/swap some abilities if you needed.

The mini-game of mining planets from Mass Effect 2 is gone, now you can scan planets quickly for War Assets, although if you are not careful the Reapers will find you, and then it's game over.  Hacking is also gone and replaced with by-pass which see Shepard hold his hand up for a few moments to unlock certain doors.

One thing that really bugged me, as it had in previous games was the mission completion list.  In some cases you would be asked to carry out a mission, you might then go and get distracted with other ones but there is nothing to let you know you had completed that part of it.  Then it would be mean you had to go to the area you may have got the required item from and see if it was still there or not.

The addition of Jarik, the new playable Promethean character, was good but not great as his abilities were not really any better than the other characters and in some ways felt weaker.  The DLC added a lot to the gameplay (apart from Omega) which was great but once again made me feel it should have been available in the original release of Mass Effect 3.

Overall some great gameplay that has a lot of improvements of Mass Effect 2, in particular, the cover system and weapons.

Final Thoughts

After thirty plus hours, how did I feel?  Pretty good actually, it was certainly a better experience than the first time around.  The gameplay, visuals, and music were all pretty strong, the real game changer was the addition of the story.  I have mentioned it already, but it does make me angry that the game was not released with downloadable content and extended ending, it would have made the overall experience a lot more solid, and perhaps it would not have received so many negative reactions from fans.  If I take my experience as a whole this time, with all the bells and whistles attached I would have to give it 4 out of 5

Command and Conquer Generals Deluxe Edition - Review

I sometimes neglect my Alienware Aurora R3 PC, I just get so wrapped up playing console games I forget about it.  I decided on playing a PC game and went with Command and Conquer Generals.  I  played it when it was first released, which was nearly fifteen years ago now and I really wanted to play it again.  I own Command and Conquer: The First Decade so thought this time when playing Generals I would also play the add-on Zero Hour.


I like Rice Pudding, I wouldn't have it all the time but it's tasty.  Admittedly it doesn't look very appealing and it's quite simple but there is just something about it that gets me excited.  I mean when Muller Rice Apple was first released I ate lots of it, even now I'm thinking about going and buying one.  Rice Pudding can be served hot or cold, you can even add a little jam or fruit if you want to jazz it up.  Playing Command and Conquer Generals I found my asking with this something simple and satisfying or was it just simple and horrible looking?

Story

The story is pretty straightforward, there is a group called The Global Liberation Army (GLA) they are a well-organised terrorist group that is quickly becoming a superpower due to their growing numbers and influence.  It's up to the US and China to stop them at all costs.  With the add-on Zero Mission, this story does not really change other than the introduction of someone called Dr. Thrax (an almost non-existent bad guy) that is responsible for the GLA's chemical weapons.


The little story there is not highly engaging and I certainly missed the video introductions that were present in the rest of the Command and Conquer series.  I know sometimes they were a little cheesy but they were fun and featured some great actors including James Earl Jones, Udo Kier, Michael Biehn, Tim Curry and George Takei.  When it came to the story and character development there simply wasn't any.

Visuals

After fifteen years Command and Conquer Generals has aged, but how many of us haven't?  The backdrops look really nice and there is a bit of variety in the landscape, there are deserts, snow-capped mountains and in Zero Hour you even get to see a little bit of Germany.  The important thing is not to zoom in on the infantry, they look like characters from a children's pop-up book. There were a few details I really liked in the game including watching buildings being slowly constructed and watching the roll-up door on the war factory opening and a new vehicle rolling forth.  The GLA tanks were interesting as they looked like cars with the shell of a tank dropped on top of them, I imagine they would feature in 'My First Tank Book', but once you collect scrap from the wreckages of your fallen enemies they slowly look like a kick ass tank.  Without a doubt the best looking unit was China's Overload Tank, it looks like a mobile fortress that has two massive cannons on it, you can either keep it simple or build Gatling guns, Propaganda towers or a Bunker on them.


While visually the game may have aged as a whole the backdrops look really good, as long as you don't look too closely at infantry units.


Music

The score is fairly diverse and each group has its own unique sound.  USA features strings, electric guitar and overall has a very militaristic sound, similar to some modern-day war and espionage style films, it reminded me of some of the pieces used in the film The Rock.  China makes use of Asian instruments including Pipa, Suona, Yangpin, Gong and Paigu drums. The GLA goes with a Middle Eastern/Arabic sound and features many interesting instruments such as the Oud, Ney, Riq, and Buzuq.  The three style share one similarity and that is the use of electric guitar and drums to give a rock sound, these generally are reserved for the assault tracks.  This diverse soundtrack was created by:


Bill Brown, an America Composer, and performer who has worked on a number of games including
Wolfenstein (2009), Lineage II Chaotic Chronicle, Quake III Arena, Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.

Mikael Sandgren, a Swedish Composer, who has worked on games, movies and TV series. He has worked on Command and Conquer Red Alert 3, Dazed and Confused, Body of Evidence and Memento.

The soundtrack runs for over two hours and features more than fifty tracks, this includes the Zero Hour add-on. My favorite pieces included:

'Helix Amanda'
'Assault USA Main Menu'
'Peacetime USA 3'
'Peactime USA 5'
'Peacetime USA 10'
'Peacetime USA 11'
'Assault GLA 2'
'Assault GLA 3
'Peacetime GLA 6'
'Peacetime GLA 8'
'Assault China 2'
'Peacetime China 4'
'Peacetime China 7'
'Assault China 7'

While the soundtrack is nowhere near as memorable as say Red Alert it does offer a fresh perspective that makes from an entertaining accompaniment when you are planning the downfall of your enemies.

Gameplay

Command and Conquer at its core is rather simple: build up a base, train an army, defeat your enemy.  There are many moving parts and that is what makes it such an enjoyable Real Time Strategy game. I love the peacefulness of building up a base, adding defenses while at the same time building a small army to take down my enemies.  The picture above gives a great snapshot of that, I love the dashboard which has only improved since the early games, everything you need is right in front of you.  The three campaigns/sides are very different and because of this, I have given each of them their own dedicated section.


China

This will sound like a strange statement but I love propaganda, more specifically the propaganda towers, I love the healing abilities it gives to units.  I found it was great to have when enemies attacked the base but also was great when it was made mobile, with some careful planning the loss of units could be greatly reduced.  China has so many great units including the Nuke Canon, Helix Helicopters, and the Overlord Tank.  The Nuke Cannon is powerful as hell but is made more tactical by using Neutron Shells that kill humans but keep vehicles intact so you can steal them.  The Helix Helicopters are like floating fortresses which can be equipped with Gatling Cannons, Propaganda Towers or Bunkers to hold infantry.  The best unit of China's was the Overlord Tank, big, powerful, and is like the daddy to all the other units by keeping them safe, plus one of its catchphrases is 'extra large' said in a really deep voice.  The weakest unit was the Dragon Tank that while it sounds cool is just flamethrower on wheels that are easily destroyed.  Overall I found China to be the superior force and loved their campaigns the best.


USA

One of the best assets are the General Abilities, these can be purchased by gaining experience points, the best ones to me are the Stealth Fighter, Fuel Bomb, A10 Strike and Para-drops.  There are some really interesting units, one of them being the battle drone which can be equipped to most vehicles, they not only offer good defense against infantry but also do the automatic repair which is pretty nifty.  My favorites units were the Comanche helicopter fast and have a powerful rocket attack and the Microwave Tank which could disrupt buildings stopping the needless destruction of units, also great for making popcorn.  There were some great missions but by far the toughest was 'Black Gold', it features a large oil field you have to fight for control while building up your base and stopping enemies attacking you from multiple directions.  Overall team USA had some interesting units and abilities but was nothing compared to China.


GLA

They are low maintenance and don't require power plants to power buildings.  I should feel bad about this next part but I don't, there are 'workers' you use to construct the buildings that have many different catchphrases including: 'please don't hurt me', 'ow, okay I go', 'you change your mind often' and 'does it have to be so far?'.  I never felt guilty about ordering them around because they just complained so much.  There were a few units that stood out including Marauder Tanks that could be upgraded by collecting scavenged parts, Angry Mobs who were funny but also truly destructive and the rocket buggy, great for distance attacks, however, if they get looked at for too long they fall apart. A special shout-out to the bike units, add a gun you get gun bikes, add a rocket and you get rocket bikes, the only downside is that they are really weak to pretty much everything.  One of the most powerful weapons in the GLA's army is the SCUD Storm, two or three launches of this chemical weapon can wipe out an entire base.  My favorite mission was 'On The Waterfront' which involves you jumping from one island to another while making use of the USA's particle cannon. Overall the GLA would have to get second place, some interesting units and it's hard to ignore the power of the SCUD Storm.


Outside of this, all sides have the ability to gain auto repair/healing once individual units gain enough experience which I found to be a great perk.  The only thing really lacking gameplay wise was the lack of a Naval presence which I really missed.  Overall many, many great hours of gameplay to be had.




Final Thoughts

So after forty plus hours (this time around) how did I feel?  Pretty good.  It can be tough trying to stand the test of time and after fifteen years Command and Conquer Generals certainly does it's best.  The original problems it had when it was released years ago still haunt it now.  There is a lack of any story and some of the visual close-ups are a little hard to take.  That being said the game has an interesting and diverse soundtrack, along with some really great gameplay.  This was not an easy one to score, overall I give this one 3 out of 5