Command & Conquer Remastered Collection. There are only old people in battle

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All modern strategies in real time grew out of two classic studio franchises Westwood : glorified Dune II and her heiress, Command & Conquer. And now, 25 years later, the publishing house Electronic Arts releases the remaster of the very first parts of the cycle C & C: Tiberium Dawn And Red Alert.

The plot of Tiberium Dawn is built around the confrontation of the GDI government coalition and terrorists from the fraternity of the NODs, who are fighting for control of the alien mineral Tiberius

But who now needs Command & Conquer – this slightly silly militant originally from childhood? EA is puzzling over this issue from the moment it acquired a franchise in 1998. The publishing house flirted with e -sportsmen ( Tiberium Wars), then with fans of the shooters (canceled Tiberium ), then with fans of plot-oriented games ( Generals 2 , also canceled), then with a mobile market ( Rivals ). It seems that after many metamorphosis, the series finally lost its own identity and has come to a dead end.

Well, there is nothing shameful in taking a breath and returning to starting positions. Fortunately, remakes and remasters are now in trend: for 2020 alone, two dozen reprints of classic games are scheduled. Someone like a cycle developers Modern Warfare , simply “refreshes” the technical component; others are actively interfering in the functionality, simultaneously breaking that it did not need to be repaired, as it turned out in the case of Warcraft 3: Reformged.

Red Alert plays an alternative to the Cold War, in which Albert Einstein returned to the past and eliminated Hitler, accidentally provoked the aggressive expansion of the USSR

EA wisely rely on maximum authenticity: to create C& C Remastered Collection, it attracted the studio Petroglyph Games , in which many people from the original Westwood still work. Indeed, who else to adapt the game of 25 years ago, as not to those who themselves belong to that generation? Even if their loyalty to traditions risks scaring new players. But if your youth fell on the dawn C& C, I congratulate: Remastered Collection is made for you!

Remaster was created by fans for fans with a characteristic "collective" perfectionism. The release included not only the first Command & Conquer and Red Alert, but also all officially released additions and exclusive levels for consoles, plus the mission editor and support for user modifications. To spur modders, EA announced cooperation with Steam Workshop and even released the source code of original games for open access. The project is clearly designed for a long life in the hands of the community.

The database of the game is already slowly filled with user cards that can be loaded to yourself at any time and used in multiplayer

By modern standards, Remastered Collection looks more or less neat. The redrawn models are distinguished by commendable details, the schematics of the cards are smoothed with greater gradation of the colors, and the animation is executed quite “sprite” so as not to break out of the two-dimensional retro-world. Visually, the game would have happened to the court on today's mobile devices, but apparently EA was afraid of the anger of the hardcore RS-Auditory.

Alas, the age of the game manifests itself stronger. Personnel with living actors have been preserved well, especially on close -ups, which developers added clearness with neural networks. But completely computer videos with their primitive geometry of models and blurry textures on modern monitors look frankly obsolete. Other studios would have remade these episodes from scratch, but Petroglyph restrained either the restrictions on the budget, or an uncompromising desire for authenticity.

Like Warcraft 3: Reforged, remaster C& C allows you to switch between classical and updated graphics, only this time the transition can be made instantly and at any time during the battle – just click on the "gap". The game gives similar freedom in choosing a soundtrack. For each mission, you can make a playlist of C& C favorite hits and Red Alert, and many compositions are available in the original mono-version, as in the new Hi-Fi mixes. In some cases, the author of the music Frank Klepaki even manually recreated the working conditions from the 90s and re-recorded tracks that were not preserved at master.

Remaster allows you to instantly switch between classic and new graphic design, as well as configure the scale of the camera for better control over the situation

The Remastered Collection is generally full of such optional, but pleasant small details that will surely cause fans of tears of tenderness. For example, the game uses Westwood and Electronic Arts vintage logos, and at the start it loses a new video with a simulated DOS game of the game and “updating” the classic C& C to 4K version. In addition, the passage of the plot campaign opens access to a huge gallery of bonus materials with briefings rehearsals and unsuccessful doubles. Real treasure for fans of game history!

Another thing is that the new-old Command & Conquer is really more like a historical artifact. To worse or to good, this is the very game that has established the basic rules of the RTS genre … And over the last quarter century he has significantly advanced forward. Or "upheated", as, perhaps, veterans strategists will say.

Beginners of the Spartan design of the 90s may seem confused and claustrophobic. In many missions, players are thrown into a location with the most minimal information about the task and ways to achieve it. No clarifications along the course, no intermediate tasks on which you can run into an understanding of unfamiliar mechanics. Here is the starting set of units, and somewhere on the other side of the map-the target hidden by the fog of the war. How to get there? Decide for yourself – and do not be offended if the painstaking study of the location ends with significant losses and eventually leads you to a dead end.

CGI-Catcins straight from 1995

Ah, in some cases, to win, you need to be at the right time in the right place? Well, you will find out about this when you fail. If you want to clarify the functionality of your fighters, especially these mysterious men in helmets? To do this, you have to expand the base. Where exactly? Find out the test and error method. Is it possible to manually direct the infantry, which dense artificial intelligence leads either under the tracks of trucks, then to the toxic fields of minerals, then for friendly fire? Yes, C& C has its own scripts of behavior, but Casper Spins Casino you will learn about their existence only if you look at the options menu yourself. How the local economy works and what energy is consumed for? You will figure it out for the third hour of the game.

Of course, 25 years ago, this was how I had to study games: painstakingly testing the mechanics, digging in the layout of control and reading paper manuals. But for a modern, less resilient public, it would be possible to add a tutorial.

An even greater discomfort is able to cause multiplayer: it is also clearly designed for hardened old -timers C & C. No matter how widely the matches are tuned, you will understand the real level of enemy skill only after he will break you, because back in the 90s he learned the necessary combinations of hot keys. And organizing a comfortable game with your company is not so simple, especially if everyone is scattered between Steam and Origin: synchronization of friends lists and support for the local network has not yet been established. However, the developers have already taken the problem on the pencil and promise to facilitate the process when they will take off quarantine in the United States and work will return to the usual direction.

Do not forget to unlock the secret mission in Red Alert, where you have to encounter giant fire -breathing ants!

The cover is not lying: Command & Conquer Remastered Collection-this is really a game from the mid-90s, visually fitted to 2020 standards. Its old -fashioned and all related restrictions, it is not shy, and often even flaunts them.

It is guaranteed to force the faithful C&C fans to recall youth, and at least introduce the rest with the sources of the RTS genre. And it is not difficult to assume that for EA it is only a sample of the pen before entering Remaster Red Alert 2 – the most “modern” of the classic games of the cycle.

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