Articles & Editorials: The Appeal of C&C

Why is it about Command and Conquer that so many people find entertaining and/or addicting?

The first Command and Conquer game as released in 1995, and with it, a genre was launched. It was a ground breaking game, something new and different.

At first that may have been the attraction, simply it was different. But as time went on the appeal of Real Time Strategy (RTS) grew, and a many other games were made on the same basis as Command and Conquer.

Was the fact that the game allowed you to command massive armies and crush your enemy in a multitude of nasty ways and toy with them using nuclear weapons until the last pocket of resistance was crushed the attraction?
No doubt that aspect of the game would appeal to control-freaks.

Of course, the devious aspect of strategy is a definite winner in C&C. For some reason, slipping a spy into an enemies Battle Lab can be just as satisfying as winning a massive tank battle.
Even better when they don’t realise what’s happened, and a Chrono Ivan pops up in their base and wipes half of it out.

Some might get adrenalin rushes from the game, say when, after a long struggling battle, and there’s a critical moment that will decide the game, such as taking over derricks, winning an important battle, or sneaking a spy into the enemy ore refinery. Doing any of these can provide a definite sense of achievement.

For me, its the thrill of battle mostly, not knowing for sure if your battalion will succeed in that important battle, not knowing when to expect an attack and being surprised by a seal in an IFV getting past your defences when you are expecting 50 tanks in your face.

Whatever the appeal is, I am confident that it will keep the genre and C&C going for many years to come.

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