The Command and Conquer that started it all, failed to conquer computer AI.
The Command and Conquer series has always been very solid by offering balanced game play. However, I felt that Tiberian Dawn was incredibly frustrating with its’ slow AI and harsh single player conditions.
Units often don’t go where they are ordered to, especially for tanks and slow moving units. Instead units seem to always get stuck in crevices and cracks. Another issue is that the units have no sense of awareness that allies are in danger. If two infantry units are next to each other but only one gets attacked, the other infantry unit just sits there. You literally have to control every single unit and order them to attack before they actually do.
Another problem I frequently met with in the game is the horrible and insane single player missions. The single player missions have ridiculous objectives, such as to kill every single enemy building and UNIT. Although these missions are not impossible to complete, it becomes an annoying time-sink as the few remaining units are hidden somewhere in a corner. Another type of mission objective that has been to my chagrin is the find the ‘package’ mission objective. In these types of missions the player is given a small band of units to find a special item. Simple right? However, the enemy can build a constant stream of units that SOMEHOW know where all the player’s units are. In a few occasions I had to complete a mission with a single unit, with the other band of units acting as distractions. In addition the opponents in the single player missions seem to access otherwise impossible abilities that the player herself/himself cannot achieve. Although special abilities would make sense in a single player portion of a game, the abilities that the computers use have nothing to do with the story’s plot. When playing as NOD, the GDI opponent seems to have an unlimited number of air strikes even with multiple SAM sites built (on the GDI side, the only way to get an air strike is to destroy all the opponents SAM sites). When playing on either side, the computer seems to have the ability to build anywhere and build otherwise impossible buildings such as the construction yard (the construction yard is actually a unit that is deployed). Also in the final missions, the computer possesses an enormous amount of resources and chugs out the most expensive units at you. In these missions, it is impossible to defeat the computer without destroying the harvesters, turtling like crazy and then waiting for about an hour or two until the computer’s economy finally fails.
Granted C&C was a great game for its time with many of its mechanics used in following C&C games. It was and still is, a joy to watch the cinematic videos with live actors, making the experience feel realistic. C&C Tiberian Dawn takes about 15 hours to complete each side and can be played for free.