Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn (PC, 1995)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8 Control-6/6.5* Challenge-7.5/7* Story-5
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-9/8.5* Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
*Gold version
+
Interesting mechanics and units (gunboats, nukes, stealth and mammoth tanks, repair bays, ion cannons, air strikes, engineers (take over enemy buildings)), sell buildings and (non-infantry) units (on the repair bay), speed up construction with more of each production building)
Two factions which are fairly different from one another
Good variation for its time (rescue missions, timed hold outs, capture base or objective, no-base missions, infiltrations, destroy x
unit/building etc. - most of them have scripted events)
Many different units (most of them useful)
Enemy AI is partially pretty good (sells buildings pre-death, dances infantry from tanks, tries to run over yours)
Control groups (CTRL+0-9)
Choose where to set up your headquarters
Decent voice acting (units in-game)
Satisfying sfx
Special characters (Commando, blows up buildings)
Destructible scenery and bridges
Speed and sound options
Most units can move while firing (allowing dancing/kiting which rewards micro management during combat; you can also use a "scatter group" command (X key))
Control/interface improvements over Dune II (select and order multiple units at once, hit Home to center on a selected unit/building, higher resolution, etc.)
Resource/tiberium spawn points (blossom trees)
Harvester is not selected when box selecting multiple units if it's inside the selection box
Run over infantry (and bikes, from the side) with vehicles
Good art direction
Allies can send harvesters to each other's refineries
Maps are often designed to allow alternate ways of dealing with the enemy
Alternate hidden ending cutscene as GDI
Killing civilians or wasting your troops does matter if playing as GDI (affects score, which often affects resources on the next mission)
Good length (15+ missions per side)
Mission tree (choose your own path through the game between missions - affects some objectives and maps, sometimes only gives the illusion of choice when actually making you play the same mission either way - would've been better to give the player a clue on how the choice affects them before entering the mission)
Some hidden items (money, stealth power up, healing, nuke plans (NOD SP), etc.)
Interactive NOD ending cutscene
+/-
Most units have very specific uses to the point where it becomes a bit absurd (rockets do almost no damage to infantry for example)
"silos needed"
Some vague elements during campaign (NOD 9 and 13 briefings, you only have to reach the crate to win in the mission where you're ordered to grab it and escape (also don't need to escape in the Commando mission (GDI 6)), GDI mission 6 failed goal leading to a different mission 7?)
Infantry have a tendency to start crawling when fired upon (double click usually gets them up; gets frustrating in no-base missions where every unit counts)
Building construction is dependent on headquarters
Resource gatherers ignore danger
Some units have extremely limited sight
Uses for new units are usually only explained in the manual
Sometimes an objective is only mentioned in the text briefing (not in the previous cutscene)
Formation command? (undocumented, it isn't kept while the units are moving)
Very cheesy cutscenes (live actors talking to the camera against CGI backgrounds)
Engineers can take over buildings in perfect condition (they need to be heavily damaged in RA which is more balanced, though each engineer used still does a lot of damage to a building there)
Nod structures are red while their units are blue
Concrete walls are rather weak
Air units can't be used to explore while in the air (won't remove FOW; can still be used to explore by landing and taking off near the fog repeatedly)
Can't manually change the target of a SAM site or Advanced Guard Tower (makes engineer strikes easier)
Harvesters don't harvest efficiently and will sometimes move into enemy territory to find tiberium to gather (need micromanagement)
Explored territory stays fully visible (unlike in Warcraft or Starcraft)
Money crates placed under churches (MP only?)
Different icon graphics in the DOS version (less realistic looking)
Air strikes are a lot more effective than in RA
NOD campaign works like a hard mode instead of there being difficulty options
NOD SSM Launcher is only available in MP
-
Lacking some useful hotkeys (building and unit production)
No "attack area" move and no rally points
Unit selection is somewhat buggy (move-click too fast after selecting and the unit is deselected, touch the top edge of the screen when boxing and the selection is canceled, end the box selection on a building and it might get selected instead of the units you've boxed in)
transport usage is slow and clunky
Can't add units to a group via boxing (dragging a box with the mouse cursor to select multiple units) - need to select one at a time
very micro management heavy due to sloppy path finding (harvesters on final NOD mission (where there’s a river between your bases) constantly get confused about where to drop their load, units ordered to move can get stuck and start attacking enemies or forget to attack the enemy you've told it to) and lacking macro commands (need to manually click each unit on a list to build them, clunky list interface)
Extremely poor reaction range on units
Lack of specific unit commands (patrol, guard, attack area)
Some poorly balanced units (rocket launcher vehicles (oddly effective vs. infantry) and flamer infantry seem too strong, grenadiers are arguably the best infantry unit)
Units tend to move closer than they need to when attacking (making standing still in the proper positions almost always be preferable)
the mini-map is too zoomed out (Windows)
Can't manually target air targets with rocket soldiers
Can't select air units until they land without using control group numbers
Some trial & error (artillery easily stalls meaning you’ll have to target ground against incoming infantry units, higher score doesn't always mean more resources on the next mission, sandbags can be used to easily spread out your buildings more (working around the placement rules), transport helicopters don't show up on the radar until they land, no need for a standard one after building the advanced comm. center, SAM sites are more vulnerable while firing, nukes are weaker in MP, need to take out enemy SAM sites to enable air strikes (and they are still available if the enemy rebuilds their SAM sites), unit attack range oddities (certain angles give better range for infantry), surprise reinforcements, CPU doesn't need a Silo in single player)
Unit arrival time to the NOD Airstrip is affected by how far from the right edge of the map it is placed
Flamethrower hit detection
The CPU never retreats (can be tedious to track down the last unit) and rarely focuses fire
pretty low resolution (DOS)
No waypoints
Can't queue multiple units to use the repair bay
APC control issues (more tedious to load than in RA, can't select it as part of a group using Shift if that group includes infantry)
The AI is sometimes idiotic (has no problem with sending infantry to their death on tiberium fields, easy to lure its Orcas or Harvesters with Bikes, or lure its engineers to a SAM site (a building which can't be taken over), easy to use a decoy on it to draw attention from Engineer carrying APCs or Commandos, sometimes doesn't use available troops in base when attacked, sometimes troops don't even react to attacks, won't advance past stealth tank 'walls' or sandbag walls)
Less alerting voice messages than in RA?
Regular power plants are more cost effective than advanced ones (but take up more space and are destroyed in one hit by nukes)
Can't move your view to a certain spot via the mini-map without deselecting one's currently selected units
No skirmish matches
No 'select all units on screen' hotkey
Uneven volume levels (cutscenes are quieter)
Flamethrower troops (NOD) are harder to micro than grenadiers (GDI)
Orcas forget their target's position if the target is fast moving and far away (need to repeat the attack order while closing in)
Can't run over sand bags with any unit?
Some unfitting and/or annoying music (can be changed in-game though which is a nice feature)
Bugs:
-Orcas/Apaches can be hidden behind some buildings (avoiding targeting by enemy flyers)
-Orcas can attack air to air if you target the enemy flyers while they're on the ground
-Sell infantry bug: Place them near sandbags...
Notes:
-Gold ver. differences: https://www.myabandonware.com/game/command-conquer-special-gold-edition-arh
-Hotkeys (Some are Gold ver. only?): G=Guard, X=Scatter, S=Stop (also makes Orcas/Apaches retreat immediately which is pretty useful), (CTRL+)F7-F10=Bookmark/recall location, TAB=Open/Close Sidebar, H=Select and center on Construction Yard, N=Select and center on next Unit, R=Resign (all units use a suicide bomb in MP) or Surrender in SP, Home=Center on selected unit/building, ALT+#=Center on specified control group, A=Ally selected player (MP only, press again to cancel), CTRL+ALT+LMB Click=Guard selected Area or Unit,
-Repair Bay bug: If a unit is destroyed by an air strike while on it, it won't work anymore
-To use nukes, building the Temple of Nod is not enough. You'll need to get the crates in missions 6, 8, and 12. You may have to capture or destroy some of the buildings to get at the crates. (Level 8: By an Orca pad, level 12: under the GDI construction yard.)
-Contrary to what the manual says: The advanced comm. center does appear to be well-armored, and Mammoth Tanks can't run over walls
-Orca air to air quirk: If the enemy chopper is in the air, force attack on the ground on the opposite side of the enemy helicopter. In other words, if the enemy helicopter is on your right, fire you missiles at the square to the right of the helicopter. Your missiles will fire towards the ground, but they will hit the enemy chopper instead since they pass through the enemy's airspace.
-The enemy AI cheats in some ways (see [4-3]): http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/196961-command-and-conquer-gold-edition/faqs/1834
-It's possible to see stealth tanks via the mini-map (select an Orca and move the cursor to where you think the tank is) or by allying the enemy
-Gold version 1.06c (fan patch) notes: http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/cnc95upd/cc95p106/patch106c_r3_en.html#toc_2
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-9/8.5* Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
*Gold version
+
Interesting mechanics and units (gunboats, nukes, stealth and mammoth tanks, repair bays, ion cannons, air strikes, engineers (take over enemy buildings)), sell buildings and (non-infantry) units (on the repair bay), speed up construction with more of each production building)
Two factions which are fairly different from one another
Good variation for its time (rescue missions, timed hold outs, capture base or objective, no-base missions, infiltrations, destroy x
unit/building etc. - most of them have scripted events)
Many different units (most of them useful)
Enemy AI is partially pretty good (sells buildings pre-death, dances infantry from tanks, tries to run over yours)
Control groups (CTRL+0-9)
Choose where to set up your headquarters
Decent voice acting (units in-game)
Satisfying sfx
Special characters (Commando, blows up buildings)
Destructible scenery and bridges
Speed and sound options
Most units can move while firing (allowing dancing/kiting which rewards micro management during combat; you can also use a "scatter group" command (X key))
Control/interface improvements over Dune II (select and order multiple units at once, hit Home to center on a selected unit/building, higher resolution, etc.)
Resource/tiberium spawn points (blossom trees)
Harvester is not selected when box selecting multiple units if it's inside the selection box
Run over infantry (and bikes, from the side) with vehicles
Good art direction
Allies can send harvesters to each other's refineries
Maps are often designed to allow alternate ways of dealing with the enemy
Alternate hidden ending cutscene as GDI
Killing civilians or wasting your troops does matter if playing as GDI (affects score, which often affects resources on the next mission)
Good length (15+ missions per side)
Mission tree (choose your own path through the game between missions - affects some objectives and maps, sometimes only gives the illusion of choice when actually making you play the same mission either way - would've been better to give the player a clue on how the choice affects them before entering the mission)
Some hidden items (money, stealth power up, healing, nuke plans (NOD SP), etc.)
Interactive NOD ending cutscene
+/-
Most units have very specific uses to the point where it becomes a bit absurd (rockets do almost no damage to infantry for example)
"silos needed"
Some vague elements during campaign (NOD 9 and 13 briefings, you only have to reach the crate to win in the mission where you're ordered to grab it and escape (also don't need to escape in the Commando mission (GDI 6)), GDI mission 6 failed goal leading to a different mission 7?)
Infantry have a tendency to start crawling when fired upon (double click usually gets them up; gets frustrating in no-base missions where every unit counts)
Building construction is dependent on headquarters
Resource gatherers ignore danger
Some units have extremely limited sight
Uses for new units are usually only explained in the manual
Sometimes an objective is only mentioned in the text briefing (not in the previous cutscene)
Formation command? (undocumented, it isn't kept while the units are moving)
Very cheesy cutscenes (live actors talking to the camera against CGI backgrounds)
Engineers can take over buildings in perfect condition (they need to be heavily damaged in RA which is more balanced, though each engineer used still does a lot of damage to a building there)
Nod structures are red while their units are blue
Concrete walls are rather weak
Air units can't be used to explore while in the air (won't remove FOW; can still be used to explore by landing and taking off near the fog repeatedly)
Can't manually change the target of a SAM site or Advanced Guard Tower (makes engineer strikes easier)
Harvesters don't harvest efficiently and will sometimes move into enemy territory to find tiberium to gather (need micromanagement)
Explored territory stays fully visible (unlike in Warcraft or Starcraft)
Money crates placed under churches (MP only?)
Different icon graphics in the DOS version (less realistic looking)
Air strikes are a lot more effective than in RA
NOD campaign works like a hard mode instead of there being difficulty options
NOD SSM Launcher is only available in MP
-
Lacking some useful hotkeys (building and unit production)
No "attack area" move and no rally points
Unit selection is somewhat buggy (move-click too fast after selecting and the unit is deselected, touch the top edge of the screen when boxing and the selection is canceled, end the box selection on a building and it might get selected instead of the units you've boxed in)
transport usage is slow and clunky
Can't add units to a group via boxing (dragging a box with the mouse cursor to select multiple units) - need to select one at a time
very micro management heavy due to sloppy path finding (harvesters on final NOD mission (where there’s a river between your bases) constantly get confused about where to drop their load, units ordered to move can get stuck and start attacking enemies or forget to attack the enemy you've told it to) and lacking macro commands (need to manually click each unit on a list to build them, clunky list interface)
Extremely poor reaction range on units
Lack of specific unit commands (patrol, guard, attack area)
Some poorly balanced units (rocket launcher vehicles (oddly effective vs. infantry) and flamer infantry seem too strong, grenadiers are arguably the best infantry unit)
Units tend to move closer than they need to when attacking (making standing still in the proper positions almost always be preferable)
the mini-map is too zoomed out (Windows)
Can't manually target air targets with rocket soldiers
Can't select air units until they land without using control group numbers
Some trial & error (artillery easily stalls meaning you’ll have to target ground against incoming infantry units, higher score doesn't always mean more resources on the next mission, sandbags can be used to easily spread out your buildings more (working around the placement rules), transport helicopters don't show up on the radar until they land, no need for a standard one after building the advanced comm. center, SAM sites are more vulnerable while firing, nukes are weaker in MP, need to take out enemy SAM sites to enable air strikes (and they are still available if the enemy rebuilds their SAM sites), unit attack range oddities (certain angles give better range for infantry), surprise reinforcements, CPU doesn't need a Silo in single player)
Unit arrival time to the NOD Airstrip is affected by how far from the right edge of the map it is placed
Flamethrower hit detection
The CPU never retreats (can be tedious to track down the last unit) and rarely focuses fire
pretty low resolution (DOS)
No waypoints
Can't queue multiple units to use the repair bay
APC control issues (more tedious to load than in RA, can't select it as part of a group using Shift if that group includes infantry)
The AI is sometimes idiotic (has no problem with sending infantry to their death on tiberium fields, easy to lure its Orcas or Harvesters with Bikes, or lure its engineers to a SAM site (a building which can't be taken over), easy to use a decoy on it to draw attention from Engineer carrying APCs or Commandos, sometimes doesn't use available troops in base when attacked, sometimes troops don't even react to attacks, won't advance past stealth tank 'walls' or sandbag walls)
Less alerting voice messages than in RA?
Regular power plants are more cost effective than advanced ones (but take up more space and are destroyed in one hit by nukes)
Can't move your view to a certain spot via the mini-map without deselecting one's currently selected units
No skirmish matches
No 'select all units on screen' hotkey
Uneven volume levels (cutscenes are quieter)
Flamethrower troops (NOD) are harder to micro than grenadiers (GDI)
Orcas forget their target's position if the target is fast moving and far away (need to repeat the attack order while closing in)
Can't run over sand bags with any unit?
Some unfitting and/or annoying music (can be changed in-game though which is a nice feature)
Bugs:
-Orcas/Apaches can be hidden behind some buildings (avoiding targeting by enemy flyers)
-Orcas can attack air to air if you target the enemy flyers while they're on the ground
-Sell infantry bug: Place them near sandbags...
Notes:
-Gold ver. differences: https://www.myabandonware.com/game/command-conquer-special-gold-edition-arh
-Hotkeys (Some are Gold ver. only?): G=Guard, X=Scatter, S=Stop (also makes Orcas/Apaches retreat immediately which is pretty useful), (CTRL+)F7-F10=Bookmark/recall location, TAB=Open/Close Sidebar, H=Select and center on Construction Yard, N=Select and center on next Unit, R=Resign (all units use a suicide bomb in MP) or Surrender in SP, Home=Center on selected unit/building, ALT+#=Center on specified control group, A=Ally selected player (MP only, press again to cancel), CTRL+ALT+LMB Click=Guard selected Area or Unit,
-Repair Bay bug: If a unit is destroyed by an air strike while on it, it won't work anymore
-To use nukes, building the Temple of Nod is not enough. You'll need to get the crates in missions 6, 8, and 12. You may have to capture or destroy some of the buildings to get at the crates. (Level 8: By an Orca pad, level 12: under the GDI construction yard.)
-Contrary to what the manual says: The advanced comm. center does appear to be well-armored, and Mammoth Tanks can't run over walls
-Orca air to air quirk: If the enemy chopper is in the air, force attack on the ground on the opposite side of the enemy helicopter. In other words, if the enemy helicopter is on your right, fire you missiles at the square to the right of the helicopter. Your missiles will fire towards the ground, but they will hit the enemy chopper instead since they pass through the enemy's airspace.
-The enemy AI cheats in some ways (see [4-3]): http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/196961-command-and-conquer-gold-edition/faqs/1834
-It's possible to see stealth tanks via the mini-map (select an Orca and move the cursor to where you think the tank is) or by allying the enemy
-Gold version 1.06c (fan patch) notes: http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/cnc95upd/cc95p106/patch106c_r3_en.html#toc_2