For many gamers over the age of 30, Command and Conquer represented many firsts for us. It was our first Real-Time Strategy game, our first experience with live-action Full Motion Video, and our first game narrative that was nuanced and very well thought out. A quarter century later, the traditional RTS genre is pretty much being held aloft by one game: Starcraft II. Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection will not change anything with the genre, but it does serve as a valuable and much-needed reminder of what so many games today have lost.

C&C Remastered is squarely aimed at those who played the original Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert in the mid 1990s; it makes no overtures whatsoever to today’s generation of gamers. This is immediately apparent in the opening introduction, which takes the original CD-ROM (remember those?) installation sequences and cleverly reworks them to make it look like your EVA (Electronic Video Agent) is upgrading itself into the modern era. I cracked a smile when the EVA cycled through various antiquated audio selections such as “Sound Blaster” before arriving at “High Definition Audio.”  So many details of these sequences will be lost on anyone other than veteran C&C players, and hell, once it’s complete, the EVA even says “Welcome back, Commander.”

The two games are largely unchanged from a gameplay perspective, warts and all. You still set up your MCV and construct a base, amass an army, and annihilate the enemy like before. The AI pathfinding is still remains somewhat dodgy, with units sometimes eschewing the shortest route to their destination and casually strolling into enemy territory. C&C Remastered‘s charm stems from its massively enhanced visuals and sound, giving the gameplay a refreshing feel, like a new coat of paint on an old Gran Torino. The updated visuals are a huge standout, and you can now zoom in to scrutinize the new details they gave the units, such as the GDI Commando’s sniper rifle and the driver in the Allied Jeep. For longtime C&C fans, it’s like the revealing of the mystery of what these units would look like if they weren’t tiny pixellated blobs.

The remade soundtrack especially deserves mention. C&C Remastered features a full-fledged customizable Jukebox with remastered tracks from both games, but the real highlight is the suite of completely remade songs done by original composer Frank Klepacki and the C&C tribute band Tiberian Sons. The tracks are superbly arranged and mixed, with classics like Mechanical Man and Act on Instinct given much needed facelifts to take them out of the cheese of 90s midi into the gritty punch of live drums, guitars, digital synths and Stingray bass. It’s incredibly rare for any game, let alone an RTS, to pay so much attention to its music, and that’s why the C&C soundtrack still remains the greatest videogame soundtrack of all time. Each and every one of its tracks can stand on its own as a properly thought out piece of music, and not pedestrian drivel designed to solely accompany visuals.

Beneath these new additions and updates, the biggest takeaway from playing C&C Remastered is how so many of its storytelling details flew over my head as a kid. RTS games are rarely known for storytelling, but just like their soundtracks, the C&C games’ storylines are galaxies beyond the low bar set for them. Without ever spelling everything out for you, they use a combination of news reports, mission briefings, and cutscenes to give you insights into the current state of the world, the nature of GDI/Allies and Nod/Soviets, and the role Tiberium plays in shaping the world of C&C. The responsibility is on you to put the pieces together, and it really is fascinating to see C&C prophesying some of today’s events. In particular is how the insidious forces of Nod use the media to paint GDI as a villain in an attempt sway public opinion (not unlike Hamas and Hezbollah in the Middle East), and Nod’s exploitation of vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa, in order to shore up resources and supporters in their fight against GDI (not unlike similar efforts by China in Africa).

The most appealing aspect about C&C is how it puts emphasis on unconventional areas to enhance its gameplay. In today’s gaming industry, all the marketing strategies and focus groups would tell you that story and soundtrack are of least concern when developing almost any game. Yet the guys at Westwood Studios defied that conventional wisdom, and as a result, Command & Conquer remains one of the most rewarding RTS games to play because everything you do feels so badass. The immersive storyline gives meaning to your strategic machinations, giving motivation to go from one mission to the next in order to see how the story unfolds. The soundtrack goes above and beyond the elevator-music standard that plagues so many games, working together with the visuals to add heaviness to every building constructed, every army moved and every enemy annihilated. C&C Remastered is pretty much required for anyone who appreciates the original games for these qualities, and hopefully can inspire appetite in developer Petroglyph for another batch of remasters for Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2.