Command and Conquer Tiberian Dawn
Ultra Cool Game #9
Type of Game
Sending troops to the slaughter against the backdrop of World War III, without the slightest regard for the victims and their families.
Release date on our machines
September 1995, right after we got our awesome new family PC. Virtual tanks in a real desktop tank, double the excitement.
Developer
Westwood Studios, Inc., my new favorite studio for the next sixty years. Too bad it disappeared long before 2045.
Publisher
Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Inc. I just love their name—it’s so ’90s-cool, and that’s okay.
Command & Conquer : available on Steam, on Electronic Arts site, and on Epic Games, but as the 2020 remastered version. It's a great version, actually, but the original game disappeared from the internet at the same time.
While I was still stuck in the Middle Ages, in an absolutely delightful time warp called Warcraft II, my cousin Walter Valise had already explored the future, commanding invisible tanks and metal obelisks that fired laser beams. Command & Conquer. An unrivaled and unsurpassed landmark in real-time strategy, one of the genre’s first blockbusters. Naturally, Walter thought it was a thousand times better than Warcraft II. And he convinced me without too much trouble, either. That really annoyed me, because it took me a while to get my own copy. I’d see the game boxes displayed in all their glory on the shelves of the hypermarket near my house, with the soldier’s face taunting me right there. For weeks on end, I’d send Warcraft II ogres and paladins into bloody battles, but all I could think about were mammoth tanks and flamethrower vehicles. And I waited as best I could until the weekend to squeeze in an hour of gameplay at my cousin Walter’s house. He’d show me the most intense missions, the most emotionally charged cutscenes, and I couldn’t stand having to watch this marvel from afar anymore. Finally, around March 1996—close to my eleventh birthday—I got Command & Conquer all to myself. Alright, no more burning castles and exploding sheep! Time for the real fight. The one with rockets and… ion cannons, yeah. And even though it had been out for six months and I was already familiar with part of it, the game really grabbed me.
Indoctrination Through Progress
Then he cast a love spell on me for his little sprites that made absolutely everything else seem insignificant in my eyes. Other games, but also food, other people, nature, my dog, and my Dragon Ball cards… all of that could disappear, as long as I had two hours to kick GDI’s ass. Come on, the kid isn’t affected at all. Luckily, that phase didn’t last very long. It’s just that it was replaced by an even worse one when the sequel, Red Alert, reared its Tesla-coil-tipped head.
Commanders and Companions
While Warcraft II dominated the fantasy-themed RTS genre, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn (which was still simply called Command & Conquer back then) established itself as the benchmark for contemporary-semi-futuristic games. At least in 1995–1996—things were moving fast back then. It didn’t make the genre any less simplistic or any more subtle, but at the age I was, it would never have occurred to me to get all worked up over all those ethical considerations. Hey, it was the ’90s, wasn’t it? On TV, we had The Terminator, John McClane, Ellen Ripley, and a whole bunch of stuff where the death toll ran into the thousands. We kids who watched those movies would fire up our PCs or consoles and dive into “special operations” where the death toll ran into the thousands—that’s all there was to it. Whether the experience boiled down to playing a depressed dolphin in Tides of Time or sending hundreds of soldiers to their deaths, our brains turned it into a rush of ultra-concentrated fun. More or less. Overall, not much changes here compared to the genre’s standards, since THIS IS the genre’s standard.
You build your base based on the money you have and the electricity you generate, which more or less replaces the population cap found in Warcraft II, War Wind, or StarCraft. Then you start amassing troops as quickly as possible. Simple, effective, well-balanced. Wait, let me summarize how I analyzed the scenario at the time. Two factions, the GDI and NOD, are fighting each other. And there’s Tiberium, too—a resource to harvest that kills any infantry who step on it, causing them to let out a magnificent scream of pain. That was enough to have fun, right? In truth, it’s a bit more complex and better written than that, but not by much. It’s important to note that the GDI—the Global Defense Initiative—represents the good guys, and the Brotherhood of Nod represents the bad guys. And “Nod” doesn’t really mean anything, aside from some obscure reference to the Bible or something like that. As in any story, playing the bad guys can turn out to be way cooler than playing the good guys.
I really liked both of them, but you have to admit that Kane’s character outshone everything else in terms of charisma. Who didn’t love him, really? When he first shows up and takes out his second-in-command who was speaking ill of us. Walter had shown me that scene before I’d even seen a single second of gameplay, and it blew me away. I think that’s what made me want to play Command & Conquer more than anything else—unless it was the red beam from the Obelisk of Light, which could incinerate almost anything with just one or two laser shots. And finally, I was able to complete the missions one after another on my own. I loved this sort of anachronistic dystopia in which the action takes place—as if the Gulf War were happening in 2095, but was still being fought using old combat methods dating back to the WWI. Machine gunners charging by the dozens to storm imposing fortresses, alongside tanks heavier than freight trains, while a satellite fires bursts of ionized energy from space.
A mix of Courage Under Fire and The A-Team, with a dash of Starship Troopers. Pick whatever references you want—it’ll work just the same! I just had a hard time figuring out how the rank-and-file grunts could take twenty tank shells to the face without dying, but once I realized you were supposed to just run them over, it made more sense. Honestly, that little squishy sound it makes when you crush them is super satisfying, right? Seriously, I’m just joking around, but the story really got to me. Especially the Tiberium infecting the planet, whose alarming spread seems inevitable. The tension is through the roof. The fanatical lunatics led by Kane are committing the worst atrocities, while the GDI—with its facade of benevolence—seems increasingly powerless to save the world… And the progress of our troops is visualized on a world map that changes as our faction’s color gradually chips away at the other side’s territory. So. Awesome. Mind-blowing. And it didn’t matter if the graphics were a bit rough. It was way more visually painful than Warcraft II and its almost cartoonish art style.
I can't really explain why, but after commanding some rather well-built mages and trolls, I just loved running over my enemies with an armada of hideous pixels. Our eyes got used to everything back then, and within seconds, we could tell the difference between that pathetic blob (an armored personnel carrier) and that pile of ochre-colored crap (a medium tank). I really enjoyed, in the remastered version of the game released in 2020, being able to press a single key to switch between the old and new graphics. I couldn’t even make out what certain parts of the scenery looked like when I switched back to vintage mode. Is that a rock or a tank wreck? Or an animal skeleton? Well, at ten years old, I could tell. And despite the awful resolution, the gameplay sessions had an incredibly cool vibe. The shouts of our soldiers, the look of the buildings, the hideous brownish color of the textures, the voice of EVA—a sort of onboard computer/assistant—who comments on what’s happening on screen and whispers “unit lost…” in a sorrowful tone.
But also the commando’s rough-and-tumble way of speaking, which made the phrase “Real tough guy!” part of my everyday vocabulary. The first GDI mission where cruisers blow up enemy turrets so we can set up our base in peace. We couldn’t control those ships, but that made them all the more cool. And nerve-wracking. And what about the animations at the refinery when a collector comes to dump its Tiberium ore there? The missions where you couldn’t build any structures, where losing even a single jeep would send you into a total panic. What haven’t I mentioned yet? The cutscenes, exactly. Short film sequences that wrap the storyline in a more or less deliberate sense of surrealism, where the actors give it their all—including a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor.
In any case, I hope so for their sake. It’s worth noting that I never picked up on this tongue-in-cheek aspect during my first playthrough of this game. I saw it as the epitome of class, without even noticing how close we were to the ridiculous in each of those cutscenes. The GDI general who keeps a mischievous smile throughout the missions, even when Earth is on the brink of implosion. Kane, who plays his role as a crazy guru beyond all our expectations, the sets cobbled together with passion… Absolutely everything about it is perfect! The whole thing creates an unlikely atmosphere that I’ve never found in the franchise’s subsequent games. That is to say, well, only Red Alert, since I gave up after that. In the first C&C, I was scared the whole time, but I was also constantly thrilled. It must be one of my favorite mixes of emotions. That makes me some kind of psychopath you should never get close to, right?
Career Takeoff
er cutting his teeth on console games that weren’t necessarily well-known or acclaimed—such as Warriors of the Eternal Sun or Young Merlin—Frank Klepacki has reached the pinnacle of his craft and delivers an absolutely masterful soundtrack. I love the scores from those games, you know. But there’s no denying the insane leap forward this guy has made in just a few years. He became famous thanks to this insane album, right? I mentioned just a moment ago that Command & Conquer conveys a kind of ecstatic anxiety. The music plays a huge part in creating this atmosphere that’s both oppressive and invigorating at the same time. Half the tracks convey a sense of oppression that makes you break out in a cold sweat, keeping you on edge about the next enemy attack. And then there’s the other half. The mega-cool side, which almost makes war seem like a recreational activity that chases away all your dark thoughts. Feeling a little sluggish? Turn the volume all the way up and go wipe out a hundred enemy units! Well, just make sure you pick the right song. There’s nothing like it to set off the screams of grenadiers incinerated by their own shells and the distinctive roar of rockets fired from turrets. The mix of crazy electro and wobbly rock works wonders, especially when industrial sounds and R&B vocals get thrown into the mix. A conglomeration of influences that, by some miracle, manages to blend together without a single false note. These tracks exude a sort of unbelievable harmony. You can almost picture yourself behind the wheel of an armored vehicle, driving at full speed with a smile on your face, while shells explode all around you. And you’re so caught up in the moment that you drop your cigar laughing as you lay waste to enemy lines, completely unconcerned by the wreckage and corpses littering the battlefield. Mowing down entire regiments of enemies has never been so satisfying. Well yeah, my friends. Fighting, armed conflicts, conquering the world through violence—there’s nothing cooler than that, right? Pretty much the opposite of Cannon Fodder, more or less. While I thankfully didn’t end up as some berserk foreign legionnaire, I still love listening to the game’s most badass tracks over and over. In my top 10 list of video game soundtracks that keep popping into my head to give me a crazy energy boost, seven of them are from Command & Conquer. There are five from Tekken 3 and four from WipEout, too. And yes, I can count—thanks. This soundtrack alone deserves its own article. Note: I’m talking about the original soundtrack! The very first one—the one you hear while you’re playing—not the version you usually find online, which adds vocals and effects. AND WHICH CUTS OUT SOME TRACKS!! Seriously, though. Respect went out the window with this useless version. By the way, huge shout-out to the remaster once again, because it does a great job of bringing back the old 1995 tracks. What a pleasure to rediscover “Demolition” and “Take ’em Out” right in the middle of a game, especially since they’d disappeared off the radar. EA’s best move—maybe their only good move since the early 2000s, come to think of it. I actually have an article lying around somewhere dedicated to the soundtrack. But the more time passes, the more I’m afraid to reread it. I think I’ll just leave it buried deep in its Google Drive folder—it’s better that way.
Débriefing et Dinosaurs
Summer 1996—I don’t quite remember how it happened, but while I was on vacation with my dad, I ended up spending a day with Walter and his parents, even though he’s actually my cousin on my stepfather’s side. We met up at the pool at a campground to debrief on our Command & Conquer adventures. He’d already finished the game, while I was still stuck on Nod’s final mission. I listened to him with a dazed look on my face, looking all frail in my black-and-purple Arena swim trunks. Since we didn’t have a computer available, we went back to his bungalow and he drew the map for me on a piece of paper, explaining what to do and where to go to finally crush those GDI cockroaches once and for all! That was our way of enjoying our vacation: talking about our everyday lives outside of vacation, in other words. Our parents never found out, thankfully. They would have deprived us of… um, camping? Or playing on the computer when we got home? Good question. Then again, they were never interested in what we had to say. Which suited us just fine and hurt us at the same time. Anyway, those breaks from our favorite games, spent talking about our favorite games, had a special flavor to them. How can you experience that wonderful feeling of fulfillment when you turn your PC back on after a long wait if there’s no break, right? Well, yeah. Go touch some grass, guys. You’ll come back even more hooked on your video games. Isn’t that awesome? A week later, I head home with my hands shaking with anticipation, and I follow the instructions written on the sheet. Instead of focusing on my little base on its last legs, I send engineers to explore a remote corner of the level. And sure enough, my cousin wasn’t lying—there’s an enemy base to capture here! I took over the buildings with the engineers, totally euphoric. Mammoth tanks in Nod colors, man! Silver armored transports and medium tanks, bro! Wahahaha, so freaking cool. And there you go—I finished the mission! Come oooooon, this Walter guy is a true ally to the cause. Oh no, not feminism—we wouldn’t hear about that for another fifteen years, easily. I was thinking more along the lines of Nod’s supremacy over the rest of the world. As soon as I could, I ran over to Cousin Walter’s place to break the news to him. Imagine my surprise when I saw him still blasting away at light tanks with rocket-launching trucks.
“You’re still playing the game even though you’ve already finished it?” I asked him. He replied with something like, “Nah, but this is the expansion. Covert Operations, with new missions and everything.” I was speechless—even more content for this crazy, insane game? “And wait, Walter added, you haven’t seen the maps where you fight dinosaurs.” I was completely blown away, right then and there. Cousin Walter had tinkered with a few lines of code in some file or another, and now T. rexes, Triceratops, Raptors, and Stegosaurs were tearing his troops to shreds! When he did that on his PC, I just thought it was incredible. TEN TIMES COOLER than Jurassic Park on the Super NES. Walter had just attained a sort of superior status as a kid who could do things unknown to ordinary mortals. And I knew that if I finished this game, I’d come out of it a better person, just like him. And you know what? Well, no—I never grew up.
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