Command & Conquer is very special to me. For this 32-year old, the two games presented in this Remaster collection are the very games that got me into gaming itself. I'd say they quite literally changed my life, since before that I was more interested in chasing a football around whenever I had a free moment. Sure, I'd dabbled in a few computer games before, but for me, they were amusing distractions that didn't hold lasting cultural appeal. But then one day at a friend's house he happened to introduce me to a little 'strategy' computer game where you could control armies in a cool contemporary military setting, with a little science fiction mystery thrown in. That game was Command & Conquer. This was different from any previous game I had played, not just because of genre or presentation, but the feeling it elicited in me. C&C was a pixelated, 2D strategy game from 1995/6, but it was immersive.

This collection is a complete presentation of the first two games in the C&C franchise and their respective expansion packs - complete with content that never appeared on the PC versions that was exclusive to console ports. This all adds up to over 100 single player missions which will take you a long time to complete, especially on Hard mode. Spread throughout your playthrough of the game is the bonus gallery collection which pieces together making of material that dedicated EA producer Jim Vessella and the rest of the development team and community members have managed to source from the archive. These unlock after every single player mission, and are a really neat behind the scenes look at the early Westwood days from 25 years ago. These are mainly bts camera shoots which were saved from the archive or personal developer photos, but the first item in each bonus gallery and actually the first thing that plays when you boot up either game is the recreation of the legendary install sequences from a community member who completely understood why and how these processes were your first dive into the immersive Command & Conquer world. Each is an introductory sequence like the original installer, but shown as a 4K upgrade instead. These are the perfect nostalgia trip as the first thing you experience.

But this isn't just a lazy collection of past content presented in the same archaic way, the main reason for buying this collection is of course the modernising work that's been painstakingly completed by Petroglyph and Lemon Sky, who developed all of the remastered art and animation assets. Their work has made this release exciting; a game that looked and sounded fantastic in the mid 90's now still has that same effect in modern 4k resolution, but crucially it doesn't look like a different game. Just now there is a vivid sense of 'de-blur' with the upgrade. This effect is literally put into practice within one of the game's features; you can press the space bar within any of the single player content and the game seamlessly switches between the old, now blocky presentation and the new crystal clear 4K textures. Other important restoration work that you would expect has also been completed, such as modelling the UI after more modern C&C games for ease of use, and the game running on a more modern engine and multiplayer servers, allowing the games to run in 2020 and beyond in just the way as you would have expected them to back in the day, but with even more features that have become expected in RTS. One of the most notable new additions are replays and observer modes, which I think are an essential RTS addition and one that didn't come to the C&C franchise for a very long time.

What makes the storyline so immersive in a strategy game before modern graphic techniques and impressive budgets became available is the Full Motion videos which wrap before and after every mission. They're mainly pov briefings of your charismatic superior giving you orders for your next mission; Kane's presence accompanied by his almost ethereal like surroundings captivates young and old. This of course, is the aspect of the game which has aged the worst in the 25 years, as to fit such an amount of FMV onto CD still required a heavy amount of compression. Unfortunately in making this remaster, uncompressed original assets of the video couldn't be found, so Petroglyph had to develop the best upscaling algorithm they could to take the originals to the best quality possible. The results are mixed, and certainly won't blow anyone away, but considering what they had to work with, the smoothing plus improved frame rate from 15fps to 30fps is certainly appreciated.

The campaigns of both games remain compelling thanks to the rich storytelling techniques, but also thanks to the incrementally difficult mission structure. It doesn't take long for the difficulty to ramp up, and younger players who may have grown up with more developed products of the RTS genre may be astounded to discover either the fiddly and/or precise nature with which you may need to navigate or place your units for certain missions, or perhaps the shocking lack of resources for many maps, a particular bone of contention for those who prefer the tried and tested 'build up and swarm' technique of overwhelming the enemy. These aspects may not have aged so well for those who didn't play and don't understand the originals, but of course the remaster project has kept the play and feel of every detail exactly the same. Unit pathfinding is another flaw in a game of so many units in such cramped and bottleneck maps, one which perhaps could have been improved on, especially as mods have already seemed to have improved this archaic behaviour. Difficulty levels for the single player are a welcome addition in terms of challenge but unfortunately seem like an afterthought, especially for the aforementioned original. No careful work was put into changing specifics for each mission between difficulties, rather a general RTS trope of having enemy units perform 10% better while yours perform 10% worse is implemented. This wouldn't be so bad for games with sweeping expansive economies and soft counters, but for Tiberian Dawn in particular, such is the precise puzzle like nature of the mission design and already very tight mission balance, it reduces your scope for achieving success, rather forcing you to do things perfectly in a very specific way,

One of my favourite parts of these games, which has often been my persistent love long after playing stops is the utterly exciting, genre melding soundtracks by Frank Klepacki. Frank's music in these games really made a name for him and remain his most important work of his career. Also included are 22 bonus tracks recorded by Frank & The Tiberian Sons which are a 'greatest hits' of C&C and are completely amazing versions of classic tracks.

Since release I have been playing and adoring this cherished gem from my childhood, having just recently 100%'ed everything on hard. C&C Remastered is a heartfelt love letter to fans like myself who grew up with the original two games. Every nuance of the titles has been inspected and pondered how to improve the presentation in a contemporary age, without losing the original feel which made these games so special. While this purist approach can be disappointing in certain factors such as core gameplay and insistence on remastering rather than remaking core assets, it ensures that the games play exactly how one would remember, rather like riding a bike after a long absence, except this time putting on your prescription lenses and revelling in how clear everything looks now, wondering how the original sprites and video filled you with such wonder when they were clearly so rudimentary. Yet fill you with wonder they did, fulfilling your sandbox general itch by throwing soldiers and tanks around faster than the enemy could, and this collection is a perfect trip down memory lane for that childhood general, daydreaming about tanks and tiberium.

Disobedient Sheep! is a wonderful couch co-op game, designed for quick bursts and a party-style atmosphere. The objective is always simple - herd your fluffy companions with familiar sheepdog strategy, but instead of traditional means of directing them or keeping them in specific places, you'll be doing well to just keep them alive in an hazardous environment that the Farmer's Union could never have signed off on!

The main modes of Co-op and traditional versus require you to keep as many of your sheep alive as possible before the clock runs down to zero. Sounds simple right? Well, in this game the sheep pen will produce wacky Looney-tunes esque hazards such as volatile dynamite and oversized anvils falling from the sky which will reduce your poor livestock to a woolly paté in a matter of seconds. Your job as the plucky sheepdogs is to keep them away from this danger by herding or barking, and secondly if you're playing versus, to do the opposite to your opponent's sheep!

You can also do this in an endless mode and just try and rack up the longest time possible, or other versus modes include a king of the hill system wherein the majority pastural player within the control zone will rack up the most points, and Sheepball!tm where it's simply a matter of herding the most Sheep into your opponent's pen or 'goal' before they do. There's enough variety in the modes to offer different challenges whilst still keeping the overall play style and strategy.

The control scheme is of note too - when the game boots up it will prompt you to share one controller between two players. The game is simple enough with few buttons that this is achievable, but unlike other party co-op games where this may be an option, here the developer actively encourages you to play like this to aid the co-operative bind, much like a three legged race. This is something that will certainly divide opinion, as the freedom to not be physically pressed up against someone else is always desirable, and certainly during versus - competitive players might actually start to wrestle the controller out of an adversary's hand if tension is high and sportsmanship low enough! Currently with even numbers of players, the game has to be played like this (no options could be found to switch to traditional sole control) so perhaps this should be considered for post-release support.

The game is full of charm, be it the colourful palette and woolly textures of the game, the unorthodox narrator and bouncy music, or simply the animation of a sheep being blown sky-high by an enormous stick of dynamite. It's perfectly suited to a laid back couch atmosphere.

As mentioned in my opening sentence, the game can only survive in quick bursts. Surely this is how it was designed, rather than marathon progressive adventures, but you're often left thinking that unfortunately the game lacks content at the moment. You can have a lot of fun in one of the various modes, but have ticked all the boxes once you've played several rounds. Considering the game is endearing, you naturally want to see more from this universe - be it more hazards, more canine characters, maybe even more modes (although the current list is suitable). I think the main area that certainly requires more are the stages, or 'maps'. Currently it's just one grassy area for all of the different modes and if I recall correctly, the size of the area is consistent throughout all of these. A great string to Disobedient Sheep!'s bow would be to further up the absurdity of the premise and perhaps introduce the game to outlandish environments such as an uneven volcano surface, or perhaps on the moon? This way several different gameplay variables could be brought in which would add a lot to differentiate the dynamic of the game. Furthermore, customisability is an element that could be introduced. Settings could be present that allow a user to drastically increase or decrease the hazards for example, or adjust the playing space or even just the zoom level. Also why not more milestones to measure success with the game? Stats, leaderboards, challenges, and of course Steam achievements. With these additions, Disobedient Sheep! could become more than a cute diversion at a party and instead a regular weekend time sink for players looking for more.

Despite what some may consider to be missing at the moment, Disobedient Sheep! is a worthy addition to your collection if you're a couch co-op enthusiast. It captures an integral dichotomy between co-op and versus which allow you to jump instantly between the two without learning any new mechanics or controls, which is perfect for all ages and perhaps environments that aren't conducive to detailed explanation. Dive in and keep that pesky flock safe, they won't do it themselves!