It does exactly what it says on the tin...

User Rating: 8.4 | Command & Conquer: The First Decade PC
C&C: The First Decade (TFD) has been getting quite a few "adequate" or "mediocre" reviews because of the laziness of EA. TFD doesn't update multiplayer on any of the pre-Generals titles, and so playing your fellow Commanders online in the Tiberian universe is next to impossible. This is disappointing, as I missed the multiplayer from Tiberian Sun completely (I was on dialup at the time), and now it looks like I'll never get a chance to crush my friends with a battalion of Titans. There is also a complete lack of any new content and there were a number of bugs pre-patch, which caused no end of irritation to loyal Command and Conquer fans.

That said, TFD still does exactly what it says on the box: It gives you every Command and Conquer game in existence so far, updated to work on Windows XP, which means you can once again play through the original games. It also includes all of the expansion packs - a definite bonus for those of us who have been searching for a copy of Tiberian Sun: Firestorm for years. It gives you the complete single-player campaigns and skirmishes, which means a chance to relive your original C&C experience, or for those of you unlucky enough to have missed it the first time, to catch up with one of the most important strategy series' in existence.

The real selling point of TFD is not what's in the box, however: It's the price you get it all for. The entire Command and Conquer series is available for the same price as just one of the games contained within when released. That's more or less six games and six more expansions for the price of one. Even considering that the price of these games has depreciated over time, TFD is still good value for money.

It is unfortunate that EA were so sloppy with this, as it really could have been worth 9.0 or 9.5 with the right attention. Unfortunately, my irritation at EA in general remains constant, even as my admiration for Westwood's games increases.

If you don't own a significant proportion of these games, this is a worthy investment. However, those of you who already own most of the games in this pack should seriously consider if you want to throw your money at EA. The games in TFD definitely deserve respect - I'm just not sure that the publisher does.