The classic real-time strategy franchise Command & Conquer has been largely ignored by its caretaker EA in recent years, but modders have used open source tools like OpenRA to carry the torch for nearly a decade, regularly patching and improving the original. Command and conquer and its sequel Red alert with new quality of life features. In some cases, dedicated fans have even managed to use the engine behind the games to create something unique. One of those mods, Combined weaponsa project that has been in development for almost four years, recently received a new update from developer Inqubi and has enough content to be considered an original entry in the C&C franchise.
The full list of changes and additions is too extensive to summarize here, but Combined weapons features the five factions of the Command & Conquer franchise, each with their own subfactions, which have unique powers, units, upgrades, and other bonuses. For example, playing as the American subfaction of the Allies grants you enhanced air capabilities, while the Psi-Corps of the Soviets gives you access to mind control units.
The mod uses some of the content of the original. Command and conquer and Red alertbut it also incorporates assets of Red alert 2 and Tiberium Warswhile combining them with a host of new sprites, all rendered in the original, chunky C&C style.
Combined weaponsThe 34-mission campaign summarizes the plot points that tie together the timelines of various C&C titles. In a similar spirit, Combined weapons It also includes nine new tracks combining series composer Frank Klepacki's original songs.
Unfortunately, Combined weapons It's missing some of the polish that comes packaged with it. Command & Conquer Collection Remastered in 2020, but it shows off many of the quality of life improvements that the OpenRA engine has added to the base game, including new accessibility options, support for ultrawide monitors, build queues, and more.
At the time of writing this article, Combined weapons It's the fourth most popular mod on Moddb and after trying it out myself, I would encourage any Command & Conquer fan or RTS fan to give it a try. The mod is available as a standalone download. Simply download and install the package from Moddb.