Command & Conquer: Renegade

Command & Conquer: Renegade from 2002 brought the world of the Tiberium saga out of the isometric strategy view for the first time and into first-person action. The player takes on the role of Havoc, an elite GDI commando, and experiences the conflict with the terrorist organization Nod from the position of a single soldier on the ground - among tanks, Nod obelisks, and Tiberium fields that players had until then known only as icons on the strategic map.

The game combines infantry firefights with rides in armored vehicles, from light vehicles to the iconic Mammoth tanks, and also offers multiplayer battles where GDI and Nod teams face off and players build and defend bases much like in the parent strategy game, just from the perspective of a single soldier. Renegade tried to faithfully carry over the atmosphere and units from Tiberian Sun and the original Command & Conquer - from classic Nod infantry to buildings like the Obelisk of Light - so series fans recognized a familiar world, even though it played completely differently.

Critics and players praised the game mainly for its multiplayer and faithfulness to the universe, less so for its technical execution and artificial intelligence, and the planned sequel Renegade 2 was ultimately canceled. Renegade thus remained the series' only excursion into the first-person action genre.

Compared to the strategy games from the same universe, where the player commands an entire army from a bird's-eye view, Renegade offers a completely opposite angle - a battle experienced first-hand by a single soldier amid the noise of explosions, gunfire, and burning tiberium. It is precisely this contrast between the commanding distance of the strategy entries and the raw closeness of the battlefield in Renegade that makes the game an interesting companion piece to the main series, even though it is technically and generically a completely different type of game.

Why play it: For Command & Conquer fans who want to experience the war between GDI and Nod from the perspective of an ordinary soldier instead of a commander, with the familiar units and buildings of the Tiberium saga within arm's reach.