Command & Conquer

Overview

Command & Conquer (also known as Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn) is a critically-acclaimed real-time strategy game developed by Westwood Studios and originally released in 1995. The first entry in the long-running Command & Conquer franchise, it is often credited, along with Westwood's previous game Dune II and Blizzard's Warcraft II, with popularising the genre and establishing many genre conventions which persist to this day.

Command & Conquer is set in an alternate history 1995 and focuses on the conflict between the GDI, a multinational military organization, and the Brotherhood of NOD, an ancient and mysterious terrorist group lead by the enigmatic Kane. The two factions primarily vie for control of the mysterious substance Tiberium, which acts the as game's sole resource.

The game was released as freeware on its 12th anniversary and can be downloaded from EA's official website.

Factions

Command & Conquer documents the First Tiberium War, which pits the Global Defense Initiative (GDI), lead by General Mark Sheppard, against the Brotherhood of Nod, lead by Kane. Players can take control of either faction in the single-player campaign or multiplayer skirmishes.

Global Defense Initiative (GDI)

The Global Defense Initiative (GDI) is a military alliance of Western nations operating under the auspices of the UN Security Council. GDI commanders field an array of mostly conventional units, who fare well in a head-to-head confrontation but lack flexibility compared to Nod.

Brotherhood of Nod

The Brotherhood of Nod is an ancient and mysterious terrorist group devoted to its charismatic leader, Kane. Nod are masters of asymmetric warfare, with units that, while generally weaker than their GDI counterparts, excel in unconventional warfare.

Plot

A mysterious alien plant-like crystal, named Tiberium, has been discovered by Doctor Ignatio Mobius on the banks of the river Tiber in Italy. Kane, leader of the secretive Brotherhood of Nod, disputes this, claiming that the substance was in fact first discovered by Nod, and named by Kane after the Emperor Tiberius. Tiberium Crystals are easy to harvest and full of potent elements, and so it rapidly becomes the most valuable mineral in existence. Both the Global Defense Initiative (GDI), and the Brotherhood of Nod begin harvesting Tiberium to fund their respective war efforts.

Kane wants to spread Tiberium throughout the entire world, having humans accept it and live with it, all the while using it to create an army to rival that of the GDI. On the other hand, the GDI has found Tiberium to be deadly to humans and plans to remove it from Europe, while also using Tiberium as a resource to fund their war against Nod. The subsequent conflict between the GDI and Nod is known as the First Tiberium War.

Endings

The GDI campaign is considered canonical by subsequent games in the series.

GDI

At the end of game, GDI forces destroy the heart of the Nod empire at the Sarajevo Temple of Nod. The base can either be destroyed by an ORCA attack or by an Ion Cannon. In both cases, the final cut-scene show Kane inside the base as it's levelled, he is assumed to be dead.

Nod

In this ending, the Brotherhood of Nod successfully capture the codes to access the GDI's Ion Cannon. The player can then choose to destroy one of four historical world landmarks — the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the White House or the Brandenburg Gate.

Characters

GDI Characters

General Mark Sheppard

Supreme Commander of the GDI and hero of the First Tiberium War, General Sheppard played a pivotal role in defeating the Nod. During the game Sheppard is put in the spotlight after his forces are accused of a civilian massacre in Poland. Eventually, due to his persuasion and charisma, the charges are dropped and it is discovered that the whole event was fabricated by the Nod to discredit the GDI and cut of their funding. The plan backfire against the Nod and General Sheppard is able to lead the GDI to victory.

Colonel J.C. Carter

A GDI field commander who gives missions and briefings to the player. During the game, he plays a big role in battles taking place in Estonia in which he requires your assistance to overcome the Nod forces.

M.O. Morelli

Leader of the GDI air force and an experienced pilot, Morelli is a cool head who provides you a few missions during the game. In the First Tiberium War, she is responsible for helping you with the defense of Bialystok and recovering nuclear material from the Brotherhood of Nod.

Dr. Ignatio Mobius

The world's foremost expert on Tiberium, Dr. Mobius was the first person to discover the mutagenous substance (a claim disputed by Kane). He is known to be quite a mad scientist and needs protection from Nod forces during the game.

Nod Characters

Kane

The Supreme Leader of the Brotherhood of Nod, Kane is a devious and ruthless man who will do anything to accomplish his goals. He believes that Tiberium is the future of mankind and that only Nod can harvest its true potential.

Seth

Second in command and Kane's right-hand man. In the campaign, Seth is your immediate superior and tasks you with most of your missions. As the game progresses, he becomes increasingly jealous of you and the attention you are getting from Kane for being so successful. Eventually, he tries to send you on a suicide mission to destroy the Pentagon but Kane steps in and shoots him. The player is then promoted to Seth's position.

Greg Burdette

A reporter working for the WWN network, Burdette is secretly working for the Nod. During the first Tiberium War, he films a report claiming that GDI troops slaughtered innocent civilians in Bialystok, Poland. In reality, the whole report was created behind a green screen under the guidance of Kane. The anti-GDI propaganda temporarily works and GDI's funding is cut by the UN.

Others

Female Reporter

An unnamed female reporter who appears at the end, newscasting the conclusion of the game on national television. Depending on the player's actions, the Female Reporter will broadcast different story on each play through. She talks in a very slow and off-beat tempo.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is composed by Frank Klepacki and published by Westwood Studios. The double-CD soundtrack consists of 22 tracks with a combined duration of approximately 72 minutes. The soundtrack was bundled with some of the collector's editions of the game. On November 1, 2005, the soundtrack was made available on iTunes — fully remastered with some enhancements made in to each song (eg. extra vocals).

1. "Act on Instinct" (2:45)
2. "No Mercy" (3:21)
3. "Industrial" (2:52)
4. "Iron Fist" (3:29)
5. "We Will Stop Them (Deception)" (3:07)
6. "Radio" (2:59)
7. "On the Prowl" (2:59)
8. "Recon" (4:18)
9. "Drone" (4:13)
10. "In the Line of Fire" (2:02)
11. "Prepare for Battle" (3:27)
12. "Depth Charge" (4:12)
13. "Rain in the Night" (2:34)
14. "Creeping Upon" (3:39)
15. "Target (Mechanical Man)" (2:49)
16. "Just Do it Up (Just Do it)" (2:20)
17. "C&C Thang" (3:10)
18. "To Be Feared" (2:41)
19. "Drill" (4:28)
20. "Full Stop (Warfare)" (5:02)
21. "In Trouble" (3:07)
22. "Air Strike" (3:11)

System Requirements

EVA Game Installer

One unique feature of the DOS version of Command and Conquer was the game installer. In the game itself, the Electronic Video Agent (commonly referred to as EVA) is an AI which processes and conveys information to commanders on the battlefield. In the installer, EVA speaks to the player guiding them through the installation process as if they were connecting to a sophisticated military network.

Parts of the final install process from installer was shown the first time the Windows 95 version was launched (the Windows 95 installer was a generic install Wizard though), and was part of the intro movie for the PlayStation version (which had no actual install at all). The sequence shown in these versions is a cutscene of the final files being copied to the system, and the computer linking up with the EVA command systems, as well as the words "Welcome, Commander", which became a recurring phrase throughout the main C&C series.

Trivia

Because of strict laws in Germany and the possibility of it being outlawed, all soldiers were replaced with robots which didn´t spill red blood when killed and a different sound effect was added. All FMV was dubbed in German too.