Number 14: Command & Conquer
The Command & Conquer series has been a long time favorite of many players, with an extremely dedicated (and surprisingly fairly sane) fanbase and quite a few very respectable releases. Oh and being created by the inventors of the RTS genre, being the first series to explore it and the one to make it popular doesn't hurt a series popularity either.
But classic gameplay aside, there is another reason the series has persisted in the minds of it's fans over the years. Command and Conquer has a unique and never dull soundtrack, which somehow always manages to perfectly capture the feel of battle while at the same time being completely catchy and versatile in its own right.
A lot of the soundtracks versatility stems from the soundtracks equally varied inspirations. Composer Frank Klepacki credits many artists including Pink Floyd and Nine Inch Nails as influencing the sound and style. Additionally, while each of the songs was written for the game, Klepacki has said that he wrote them in batches, each batch holding a particular sound and style for several songs before moving on to a new batch theme.
Command & Conquer also won people over by being one of the first game soundtracks to make use of streaming audio from a CD, allowing for much more complex music then most games allowed at the time. It also allowed the use of voice samples alongside the more complex instrumentation, which allowed Klepacki to create some songs which were unheard of in games at the time.
A truly interesting tidbit about the soundtrack of Command & Conquer is that it's particular sound and style have not been approached again. There have been later titles in the series, and Klepacki has gone on to do other soundtracks, but none of them have ever entirely matched the original for style with the possible exception of the original Red Alert, which Klepacki produced a short time later, leading it to sound fairly similar at times.
In the end, Command & Conquer scores highest in its gameplay representation with this lists first perfect 5. While the rest of it's scores aren't quite as high (although still respectable), its hard to see a game of classic C&C in action and not come to the conclusion that in some strange way the music fits more perfectly then you imagined. Command and Conquer also picks up a bonus point for nostalgia, as well it should being one of the most memorable titles of gaming history.
Command and Conquer
Enjoyment: 4.25
Enjoyment: 4.25
Stand Alone Quality: 4.25
Composition: 4
Emotional Reaction: 4.25
Game Representation: 5
Non-Gamer Enjoyment: 0
Nostalgia: 1
Total: 4.55
In the end, with it's unique and slightly funky style, Command & Conquer takes 14th place in this years list.
Number 14--Command and Conquer by Frank Klepacki
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