Command & Conquer - IBM PC CD-ROM
           Published by Virgin I.E. (œ44.95 RRP)

                Reviewed by Richard Hewison

Westwood Studios aren't the most prolific of developers, but each
of their releases is usually well worth the wait. In the past, they
wrote the first two "Eye of the Beholder" games and the "Kyrandia"
trilogy of graphic adventures. They also found time to create
"Lands of Lore - The Throne of Chaos" and "Dune II - Battle for
Arakis". The latter was an excellent point and click
strategy/action game inspired by the 'Dune' novels by Frank Herbert
and following on from Virgin's original "Dune" game developed by
the French team Cryo. Now we have "Command & Conquer" which has
been in development for the last two years and has been previewed
to death at the last three or four trade shows in London (ECTS).

"C&C" is very much like "Dune II" - in fact it began life on paper
as a data disk for said game. However, quite early on they realised
that they had enough ideas to create a whole new game.  Also, most
of the ideas were not in keeping with Frank Herbert's universe, and
so "C&C" was born. If you've played "Dune II" then you will find
yourself right at home with this game, but more on that in a
moment.

In these days of 7 CD-ROM games stuffed with useless video clips
and even worse acting, it's nice to see "C&C" comes on just two
CDs. It's also very pleasing to see that the game runs very
smoothly on a DX2 66 MHz, when most games are stressing these as
the minimum spec. The game also only needs 520k of conventional
(base) memory to run, and will work with just 2Mb of XMS memory
(according to the manual - yet the box states the game needs
8Mb...hmmmm).

This game has tons of pre-rendered 3D Studio and video footage
(which I usually hate) but it's put together so well that the
glossiness of it all is sometimes a little blinding! The game also
features a brilliant technique known as DSA (Digital Streaming
Audio) for musical scores, dialogue and sound effects. With this
new technology, PC audio is no longer restricted to FM or General
MIDI limitations. There are 19 different music tracks that play
during the game, and you can choose which ones to play and when.
The CD is only accessed once in a while, which means that whilst
the CD music is playing, the game can still access the CD and load
in game data etc. (I guess it must somehow store the CD music in
the computer's memory). What you get is full digital speech, sound
effects and CD music all at the same time.

Anyway, enough on the aesthetics. What about the game? You can
choose to play as one of two sides in the war - GDI (Global Defence
Initiative) or the Brotherhood of NOD (the bad guys). The game is
split into a series of missions. As the game progresses, you can
choose which areas of the map (Eastern Europe) you will try to
conquer next. Before each mission begins you are treated to a video
briefing and (usually) a pre-rendered sequence.  For example, the
first GDI mission throws you into a beach head assault. The mission
is to destroy the few NOD forces nearby and set up your
Construction Yard. As you begin you have a few soldiers already on
the shore. A boat of yours launches an attack on a NOD tank whilst
more GDI reinforcements are deposited on the beach. Each mission
differs in the type of vehicles, ground troops and constructions
made available to you. Building construction costs money. You get
money by harvesting Tyberium, a substance which is highly sort
after in the "C&C" world. By gathering Tyberium, you earn money.
You can also see off existing buildings and get second hand prices
for them if you are really desperate (this helps limit the problem
of you running out of money and being unable to buy new soldiers,
tanks etc. when things get desperate).

Clicking on a soldier or tank gives a "Yes Sir!" response. You then
click where you want them to move to, or attack if you point at an
enemy. You can assign the same command to a group by clicking
outside the group and dragging a box around them. They are then
treated as a 'unit'. Each soldier, vehicle or building has a
'health' meter which will be green (ok), yellow (damaged) or red
(about to expire!). As the game progresses, more varied troops,
vehicles and buildings are introduced depending on which side you
are playing in the conflict.  Missions can vary. The first two as
GDI give you a construction yard to build, which can then construct
other buildings (for harvesting Tiberium, storing Tiberium,
training troops, etc).  However, it comes as a bit of a shock when
the third mission doesn't give you this facility!

The graphics are in VGA 320 x 200 but are very detailed despite
this. The rendered sequences between the missions are also
excellent in quality and execution. The backdrops are also nice and
varied - deserts, jungles, etc.  (makes a change from all that sand
in Dune II!).

You could say I like this game. It might become repetitive after a
while but the game is easy to play, gets harder as you progress and
is one of the best presented CD-ROM games I've seen so far in VGA.
Oh, there is also a two player link facility allowing you and a
friend to go head-to-head. The 'capture flag' game in 2 player is
great (anyone who has had a go at paintball will know what you have
to do in this one). Excellent stuff - and a sequel is on its way
already!

NB - If you shop around you can get this game for under œ30.00.
                              - o -