Review Aleosha 2/5 · May 15, 2026
Not as I remembered it
The remaster modernizes the interface in a few smart ways. Unit production now supports queueing, and the sidebar has been split into four tabs instead of the original two, separating infantry, vehicles, and superweapons. You can double-click units to select all of the same type, and the game finally supports the more standard right-click controls instead of the original left-click …
The remaster modernizes the interface in a few smart ways. Unit production now supports queueing, and the sidebar has been split into four tabs instead of the original two, separating infantry, vehicles, and superweapons. You can double-click units to select all of the same type, and the game finally supports the more standard right-click controls instead of the original left-click command system. On the other hand, there are still no rally points, unit waypoints, or attack-move commands.
What the remaster really exposes is how much classic RTS design depended on limited AI. With the updated AI enabled, even harvesters become dangerous early on, because the first missions only let you build infantry, and harvesters aggressively run them over.
The biggest problem appears during the commando mission. It’s one of the game’s classic scenarios: you infiltrate a base with a lone sniper-equipped commando and blow it up. In the remaster, though, the improved AI completely breaks the mission, since the entire enemy base immediately swarms your position.
I actually went back and downloaded the original Windows 95 version just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things, and it really is much easier there.
Replaying it as an adult also made me appreciate parts of the story that completely flew over my head as a kid. The game opens with governments and scientists trying to suppress the truth about Tiberium’s toxicity, leading to infected soldiers. NOD manipulates public opinion through propaganda, including false reports that GDI destroyed an orphanage. Meanwhile, the UN cuts funding to GDI. For a game released in 1995, a lot of its themes feel surprisingly prophetic.
Ironically, I enjoyed the GDI campaign far less than I expected. Maybe it’s the balance changes, but I constantly found myself starved for resources while the AI seemed to generate money far faster than any human player could.
What’s funny is that I remembered the original Warcraft being brutally difficult and Command & Conquer being relatively easy. Revisiting the remasters now, it feels like the exact opposite.
I was even enjoying the final mission right up until the Hand of Nod started firing. I don’t remember it ever being capable of wiping out multiple buildings at once in the original game, and the remastered AI can apparently trigger it twice in a row, which is enough to erase your entire base almost instantly.
