CommandCom Round-Up

CommandCom kicked off with a bang, but what else could you expect from an event dedicated to Command & Conquer, one of the really big, really old PC brands still going to this day?

Taking place in Cologne, in a small suite of rooms tucked away from the noise and bustle of GamesCom, there was plenty on offer for the hundred-odd fans in attendance. Whether each individual was a treasured forum member, a top player, or a lucky competition winner, there was a sense of palpable excitement in the air.

The majority of the action took place across two rooms in particular. One was bedecked with PCs – monitors switched off, naturally - although a few 360s running Mass Effect 2 held court in one corner, while Dragon Age loomed high in the other, and a smattering of other games were on display. The other room was the presentation room containing rows of chairs and a large screen, and fleshed out with posters detailing not only Command & Conquer games but also a few other EA titles.

It wasn't long before all attendees, including myself, were ushered into the presentation room. While everything for the was being set up, some stared admiringly at the posters. Others chattered happily away in predominantly English or German, although a variety of other languages were also audible. Some set up cameras and tripods at the front. Personally, I was contemplating how sad it was that the screen this presentation was to be displayed on was bigger than my wall, but that's not really important unless any of you want to give me a big TV. The point is the same as was made earlier: excitement was in the air.

Things were kicked off by a retrospective on the Command & Conquer series, which acted as a nice reminder as to how far the series has come. The original Command & Conquer was released to ludicrous fanfare back in 1995, and you know what? Maybe I'm going mad, but it doesn't look half bad even now. Sure, the CG was terrible and the video compression technology meant that things were a tad blocky, but it was better than the interlaced rubbish most games of the period had, and the sprites themselves were so tiny that they had a unique charm. Pixel art is a lost... well, art.

The video shot through the rest of the series: Tiberian Sun in 1999, then C&C3 in 2007. Renegade appeared next and is undeserving of any more words, the unique multiplayer be damned. Generals – a game that traditionally divides fans more, even, than Tiberian Sun – followed, and then came the parade of Red Alert games: RA1, RA2, Yuri's Revenge, and finally Red Alert 3, with some proper full-screen CGI that looked astonishing on the large screen and oh dear I'm going to regret writing these words in fifteen years when there's another retrospective on C&C aren't I?

Two things were clear. First, CGI has come a long way. Second, Kari Wuhrer was a great Tanya in Red Alert 2.

The bit that really made the crowd scream, though, was the end: a shot of Kane. “Welcome, commander,” he intoned, “to CommandCom.”