It wasn’t intentional; games were harder to come by then, especially as a kid with limited cash, and it wasn’t as popular with my local group as games like StarCraft. Maybe it was the setting, which felt closer to our own world. Maybe it was just bad luck, or the fact that nobody I knew owned any of the games, so I couldn’t borrow them from someone. For whatever reason, I never got into it. Command and Conquer Remastered was a chance for me to jump into the series origins and see how these games hold up if you aren’t wearing your nostalgia goggles.

The collection itself is expansive, including Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn, its prequel Command and Conquer: Red Alert, as well as all their expansion packs – one for Tiberian Dawn, two for Red Alert. It also includes the console missions from the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 releases of Tiberian Dawn, as well as the console cinematics from the PlayStation release of Red Alert: Retaliation. It’s an absolutely staggering amount of content. There are over 100 missions here, each accessible through the new level select system. This makes it easy to jump between campaigns, replay missions, play branching missions you missed, hunt for secret missions, and even load up custom games. If you’re into Command and Conquer, this collection will keep you busy for a long, long time.

"The games have been redrawn with support for 4K resolutions, and like many modern remasters, you can swap between the old and new graphics with the push of a button."

Aside from the sheer amount of content on display, the most notable thing about the remaster are the new graphics. The games have been redrawn with support for 4K resolutions, and like many modern remasters, you can swap between the old and new graphics with the push of a button. The updated visuals are some of the best you’ll find in an RTS remaster, making everything look better without sacrificing the game’s visual style. The developers are clearly proud of their work, and the new option to zoom in and out with your mouse wheel is a nice touch. Unfortunately, it’s not a complete home run. As good as the new visuals look, the lower-res units pop better against their backgrounds. They look worse, sure, but they’re actually easier to see, which is important in an RTS. I still preferred the new graphics overall, but it’s kind of a shame they’re not a complete improvement.

Another major change is the new sidebar. Just like the original, it sits on the right side of the screen. In the original games, everything was split into two columns, making it easy to click back and forth and build what you wanted. You had to scroll some to get to everything, but that was all. Now, troops, vehicles, buildings, and superweapons each have their own tabs. Switching between tabs can be tiring, even if you’re making good use of the hotkeys to do so, and there is no option to use the original sidebar if you want to. Your mileage may vary – community feedback seems positive overall – but I’d be lying if I said I liked constantly having to switch tabs.

The game’s sound design has been overhauled, as well. Original music and sound producer Frank Klepacki returns, and he went to the trouble of recovering the game’s original audio assets. There game’s music and sound effects have been remastered, though you can listen to the original, low quality tunes if you want, too. In addition, twenty tracks were re-recorded and mixed by Klepacki and The Tiberian Sons, and they sound amazing. There’s even previously unrelased tracks you can unlock by completing certain missions. All told, there’s over seven hours of remastered music from across the series here, and it sounds fantastic. Songs are accessible at any time through the game’s jukebox and you can make your own custom playlists if you like, too. Command and Conquer’s soundtrack absolutely shreds, and the obvious care taken here is greatly appreciated. My only complaint here is that going into the jukebox stops whatever track you’re listening to, even if you don’t pick a new one, which is a bummer if you’re listening to a track you like and don’t know its name. The game will jump to another track automatically, but it’s still kind of disappointing.

The FMVs, unfortunately, haven’t fared as well as the audio. The developers weren’t able to recover anything beyond what shipped with the games initially. Instead, they opted to run them through an AI upscaler, which brings them up to modern resolutions. The results are… mixed, at best. Some look utterly fantastic. Others look like they’ve been smeared with Vaseline. Still, I’m grateful for the effort. There are also bonus videos you unlock for beating missions that were apparently discovered in the basement of EA Los Angeles. These include green-screen tests, behind-the-scenes footage, and even photos taken t during the making of the original games. It’s fascinating stuff, especially from a preservation and archival perspective, and the videos themselves are of pretty high quality, to boot.

There’s a number of other improvements, including skirmish mode and difficulty options for Tiberian Dawn, a map editor, mod support, and customizable hotkeys. There are even gameplay improvements like shift-selecting and double-clicking units, unit queuing, and the option for a more modernized control scheme that lets you do crazy things, like tell units to move with right click instead of left clicking. EA has even released the games’ source code to the community. What it adds up to is that this is the definitive versions of these games. This is an excellent remaster, right up there with Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and StarCraft: Remastered, and leagues ahead of WarCraft III: Reforged, which is still struggling to implement features from the original game.

"Remastered is faithful to these games to a fault, and there are many faults here, many of which stem from the age of the games themselves."

If there’s a problem with this collection, it lies within the games themselves. Remastered is faithful to these games to a fault, and there are many faults here, many of which stem from the age of the games themselves. Unit pathing is awful, particularly in Tiberian Dawn. You’ll have to constantly check on your units to ensure they’re not killing themselves by walking over a Tiberian field into an enemy army, or halfway across the map to harvest resources when there are patches right next to your base. Sometimes, units will refuse to move at all, or you’ll have to click multiple times if you want them to do something like change direction.

This is a problem during the campaigns, which doesn’t have difficulty spikes so much as difficulty mountains. Some missions are absurdly easy; others are ridiculously hard. When the optimal solution to a mission is to load an APC full of engineers, suicide rush it into a base so you can capture as many buildings as you can, and then sell them for cash, it’s fair to say that there might be room to reflect on what went wrong during that mission’s design. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of excellent missions, too, particularly the ones with unique elements or that focus on stealth, but several of them simply aren’t fun to play. Many of them ask you to kill everything on the map, so it’s not uncommon to spend time watching your army traipse around to find the one rocker trooper or SAM site you missed.

Red Alert handles most of this stuff significantly better than Tiberian Dawn does but both games have these issues. I don’t want to criticize them too heavily because the games are 24 and 25 years old, and they do still have some very fun moments. That said, RTS design has improved substantially in the last few decades. As old as they are, games like StarCraft and Age of Empires II are much easier to go back to today than Tiberian Sun and Red Alert are because they play better, and that’s doubly true of something more modern, like WarCraft III or the later Command and Conquer games. I know because I loaded them up to check.

"If you already love these games, picking up this collection is a no-brainer, but it’s harder to recommend to everyone else."

This is also true of the game’s multiplayer, which supports the enhanced graphics and features custom games and ranked play. The matches I played worked fine, but these aren’t particularly deep games. They don’t have move and attack options, formations, or any of the modern features we associate with the RTS genre.  There’s room for shenanigans, sure – loading up and entire APC with engineers and stealing an enemy’s base out from under them works here, too – but if you’re coming from more modern games, you might be a bit let down.

The collection also doesn’t work perfectly. I ran into one bug that crashed my game whenever I loaded a certain save file, meaning I had to replay that entire mission from the start. The new unit queuing feature also turned itself off several times, despite the game telling me it was on, and I had to toggle it off and on several times until it worked.

Don’t get me wrong, this is an excellent collection, especially for its $20 price tag, and one of the best remasters of an RTS game you’ll ever see. The issue isn’t the work Petroglyph has done here. The studio is made up of folks who worked on these games, and the love and care put into this collection it obvious. The issue is the games themselves. They’re not bad by any means, but they are exceptionally dated, often in ways that makes them frustrating to play. If you already love these games, picking up this collection is a no-brainer, but it’s harder to recommend to everyone else.

Even with these flaws, however, this is a remarkable collection that longtime fans will surely enjoy. EA has done a very good thing here, both in terms of releasing the source code for these games and in creating a collection that serves both as the definitive version of these games and an archive of an important part of Command and Conquer’s history. If nothing else, I can’t help but hope this collection does well so that other games in the series like Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2 get this treatment. This is an excellent remaster, but the games inside aren’t for everyone. If you can put up with the niggles, this collection is more than worth it. And if nothing else, it proves that all these years later, Command and Conquer’s still got it.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Petroglyph Studios’ eagerly awaited Command and Conquer Remastered Collection is now available for PC. The collection includes Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert along with their respective expansion packs – Covert Operations, Counterstrike and The Aftermath. Check out the launch trailer below to see the game in action.

Boasting remastered visuals that still retain the original’s aesthetic, players can also switch back to the legacy visuals at anytime when playing solo. The music has also been remastered with composer Frank Klepacki re-recording 20 tracks for this release. FMV cutscenes have been restored upscaled and there’s more than four hours of B-roll footage to check out in the gallery.

Command and Conquer Remastered Collection also comes with mod support, allowing users to create and share their mods via the Steam Workshop. If that weren’t enough, the multiplayer been overhauled and custom lobbies can be created. The collection retails for $19.99 on Steam and Origin.

The Last of Us Part 2

The biggest release of next month bar none, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2 will finally release next month. The tale centers on Ellie as she embarks on a quest for vengeance that spans several seasons and cities. Coming off of the latest gameplay reveal – which showcased combat, exploration, stealth and Hotline Miami music, of all things – Naughty Dog’s magnum opus is looking pretty fun to play. Touted as the developer’s biggest game yet, we’re excited at the prospect of running through the story, agonizing over every plot twist and then replaying it again to see what was missed. The Last of Us Part 2 is out on June 19^th for PS4.

Valorant

Riot Games, known for its popular MOBA League of Legends, takes a different path with Valorant. It’s a free to play first-person shooter that emphasizes teamwork with realistic guns and objective play. You’ll compete in a best of 24 rounds match against an enemy team, buying weapons and other equipment to come out on top. Sprinkle in some Overwatch-esque hero abilities and Ultimates and you’ve got an intriguing mix of action. It’s clearly catered towards esports but can it make a dent in the more mainstream market? We’ll find out when Valorant launches on June 2^nd for PC.

Desperados 3

Bounty hunter John Cooper makes his long-awaited return in Desperados 3, a tactical strategy title set in the Wild West. Set before the first game in the series, the story sees Cooper teaming with the likes of hitman Doc McCoy. Players will utilize their various talents to complete missions, using stealth and violence in equal measure (like hypnotizing guards or dropping boulders on them). You’ll even be caught off guard at times and have to outwit opponents during ambushes in Showdown Mode. Out on June 16^th, Desperados 3 will be available for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Disintegration

Disintegration comes from V1 Interactive, a new studio founded by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto. It takes place in the future where humans have undergone Integration and place their minds inside robots. You play a Gravcycle pilot named Romer rebelling against the militaristic Rayonne that wants the remaining humans to undergo Integration at any cost. What is Romer’s role in all of this and will his Outlaws get their humanity back? Don’t let the sci-fi setting fool you – this is an FPS meets RTS title where you fight from above as a pilot while your merry band of soldiers battles on the ground. It’s intriguing but we’ll see how the final product – especially the multiplayer – plays when Disintegration launches on June 16^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Phantom: Covert Ops

Phantom: Covert Ops is the latest tile from nDreams, better known for its adventure title The Assembly. You’ll traverse stealthily through environments as a Phantom, investigate the plans of antagonist General Zhurov and sometimes gun down foes with impunity. Plus you have David Hayter, the former voice of Solid Snake, voicing Zhurov. What’s not to like, aside from the admittedly sharp looking visuals and combat? Phantom: Covert Ops releases on June 25^th for Oculus Quest and Rift.

Warborn

Like Fire Emblem but with a lot more mechs, Raredrop Games’ Warborn offers four factions to control – each with their own unique abilities – in a 40 mission campaign with 90s style anime presentation. You’ll take advantage of different terrain, capture resources and battle foes in turn-based combat. Skirmish mode is available for custom matches with the AI but you can also go online to 1v1 other players (with cross-play supported at launch) and design your own maps with the editor. Warborn releases on June 12^th for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Command and Conquer Remastered Collection

Wary of strategy remasters after Blizzard’s shoddy Warcraft 3: Reforged? Command and Conquer Remastered Collection should fix that when it releases on June 5^th for PC. Comprising the first game and Red Alert with their respective expansions, this collection offers revamped visuals with 4K resolution support, a revamped UI and multiplayer, and redone FMV cutscenes (including some unreleased footage and much more). That’s not including mod support, a map editor, remastered music and the ability to switch between the old and new graphics. Developed by former Westwood Studios devs in collaboration with the community, Command and Conquer Remastered Collection promises to revive the series with a bang.

Tour de France 2020

The real Tour de France may have been postponed but it can be experienced in video game form when Tour de France 2020 releases on June 4^th for PS4, Xbox One and PC. It offers all 21 official stages with the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race making its debut along with a better racing interface and improved time trials. There’s even a first person camera to fully immerse yourself in the race. It’s an overall unorthodox racing game but one that fans of the genre may get into. And of course, if you need your fill of pro cycling, then Tour de France 2020 is well worth looking into.

Waking

Jason Oda’s Waking starts with a dire premise – the player character is in a coma, endlessly dreaming. You’ll journey through memories, making choices and remembering loved ones while battling against dark foes to try and wake up. Promising a “new type of experience” that blurs fantasy and reality, Waking combines exploration and action across an unconventional dreamscape. Nothing too crazy but we’ll see for ourselves just how far the rabbit hole goes when it releases on June 18^th for PC and Xbox One.

Hunting Simulator 2

Among the various titles on this list, Neopica’s Hunting Simulator 2 casts no illusions as to what you can expect. This is a hunting title. Nothing more, nothing less. You travel through locations like Colorado, Texas and Europe, tracking down over 30 different animals (which boast “realistic” behaviour) and hunt them down. Hunting Simulator 2 is out on June 25^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC and if nothing else, should help to determine who’s really a good boy.

Electronic Arts has finally provided an in-depth look at the gameplay and features for Command and Conquer Remastered Collection in a new trailer. Developed by Petroglyph Studios, it features the old-school FMV cutscenes, remastered in superb quality. Check it out below.

More importantly though, the collection has a release date. It’s out on June 5th for PC on Steam and Origin, retailing for $19.99. It will be include with Origin Access Premier though whether early access will be provided to subscribers remains to be seen. Command and Conquer Remastered Collection includes the first two games – Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn and Command and Conquer: Red Alert – along with the Covert Ops, Counterstrike and The Aftermath expansion packs.

Along with updated controls and UI, it also features 4K resolution support, a remastered soundtrack and a Map Editor. Multiplayer features include 1v1 quick matches, leaderboards, replays, custom games and much more. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.