Command & Conquer

Command & Conquer (abbreviated as C&C or CnC) is a real-time strategy video game franchise, first developed by Westwood Studios. The first game was one of the earliest of the RTS genre, itself based on Westwood Studios' landmark strategy game Dune 2 and introducing trademarks followed in the rest of the series. This includes full motion video cutscenes with a notable ensemble cast to progress the story, as opposed to digitally in-game rendered cutscenes. Westwood Studios was taken over by Electronic Arts in 1998 and eventually closed down in 2003. The studio and some of its members were absorbed into EA Los Angeles, which continued development on the series.

History

The first installment, Command & Conquer, was released worldwide by Westwood on August 31, 1995. The plot is set sometime in the near future where the Earth becomes infected by a mysterious resource known only as Tiberium. A global war ensues between the UN-formed Global Defense Initiative to contain it and the cult quasi-state revolutionary Brotherhood of Nod, led by the enigmatic Kane, which seeks to harness it. Highly successful, it was followed by Command & Conquer: Red Alert in 1996 which is set in an alternate universe where the Soviet Union wages war with the Allied West. Developed as the prequel to the original, the Red Alert series was spun off into a separate, lighthearted and comic series, while the original game and its sequels became known as the "Tiberium" series, retaining its sci-fi and serious tone. The first game is sometimes referred to as Tiberian Dawn as a result.

Red Alert

Red Alert is the highest level of emergency in several warning systems.

The level is used, e.g., by the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory System (USA), the British BIKINI state and Ontario's Red Alert emergency bulletin. A fictional example appears in Star Trek.

Red Alert may also refer to:

Music

Novels and films

Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a real-time strategy computer game of the Command & Conquer franchise, produced by Westwood Studios and released by Virgin Interactive in 1996. The second game to bear the "C&C" title, Red Alert is the prequel to the original Command & Conquer of 1995, and takes place in the alternate early history of Command & Conquer when Allied Forces battle an aggressive Soviet Union for control over the European mainland.

It was initially available for PC (MS-DOS and Windows 95 versions included in one package), and was subsequently ported to PlayStation. The PlayStation version was also re-released as a download on the PlayStation Network for PSP and PS3. On August 31, 2008, Electronic Arts who acquired Westwood Studios in 1998 officially rendered Command & Conquer: Red Alert freeware.

Gameplay

Red Alert was praised for its user interface, which claimed to be more developed than the competing games of its time. Players could queue commands, create unit groups that could be selected by a number key, and control numerous units at a time. The game was known to be easy to control, simple to learn and responsive to users' commands. It also featured two factions that had differing styles of play. Red Alert is also hailed as one of the first games to feature competitive online play. The single player campaign also received high praise for its detailed story line and missions, which often required the player to defeat the enemy with various sets of circumstances before continuing. Like Tiberian Dawn, the game has split routes for most missions. The objective stays the same but only the map layout differs. The single player campaign was also complemented by live action cinematic sequences that are a feature of all Command & Conquer RTS games since the original, except for Command & Conquer: Generals.

Alert

To be alert is to be in a state of alertness.

Alert or ALERT may also refer to:

As a word

Places

Ships

Other uses

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 is a 2.5D real-time strategy computer game by Westwood Pacific, which was released for Microsoft Windows on October 23, 2000 as the follow-up to Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Red Alert 2 picks up at the conclusion of the Allied campaign of the first game. Its expansion is Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge.

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 contains 2 playable factions, Soviets and Allies which both previously appeared in Command & Conquer: Red Alert. The single player campaign is structured in an alternate-ending mode as opposed to a progressive story mode. Red Alert 2 proved to be a success, both commercially and with critics, receiving an 86% from GameRankings.

Plot

Like all other Command & Conquer real-time strategy games, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 contains two separate campaigns, with distinct story lines, one for each playable faction.

Synopsis

After the attempted conquest of Europe depicted in Command & Conquer: Red Alert, the Soviet Union is in utter ruin. Joseph Stalin is dead, and the Soviet military has been all but destroyed. The Allies determine that a regime change would cause mass unrest in the Soviet Union, and in order to gain both support and stability in the region, the victorious Allies name Alexander Romanov, a distant relative of Tsar Nicholas II, as the puppet Soviet Premier. Romanov acquiesces to the Allies' demands at first, though he builds up the Soviet military for "defense purposes" – a cover for an intended invasion of the United States of America.