And so now we come to the most recent game to brandish the Command and Conquer badge and it is a VERY different kettle of fish. C&C fans will remember a wisecracking Commando from the original game who could lay waste to legions of NOD soliders and leave their base a pile of smouldering ruins. In Renegade you play that very Commando. Of course assuming the role of a commando is very different to taking tactical control of the battlefield so for Renegade Westwood have left the RTS behind and entered the world of the FPS. Considering it is their first attempt at this style of game they haven't done too badly either. The game starts with a little bit of an introduction to Nick 'Havoc' Parker (the Renegade) and it doesn't take long to learn he's a sterotypical movie 'badass' with a heart of gold. You know the score ... gets the job done at any cost, no respect for authority and makes 'Arnie' style wise cracks whenever he blows something up or perforates an enemy's skull.

The appeal of Renegade's single player game is very much its ties to the Command and Conquer universe. The training module gives you your first up close and personal look at some of the structures and units fans of the series will be so familiar with. From there its into a series of different missions including assaults on NOD positions and rescue/extraction missions. Westwood are lucky that the C&C universe has been so fleshed out that they have plenty of material to draw on for the games story and missions. The very first proper mission of the game sees you joining a GDI squad under heavy assault. You aid them and then move on to locate a NOD base and aid in an assault on it. Its hard to emphasise just how much this feeling of being involved in a 'bigger' picture is Renegade's biggest strength. In many senses it is very similar to any other generic FPS in that the missions usually involve you picking up a certain item, proceeding to a certain point and all the while mowing down insane numbers of enemies but Westwood really have done a fantastic job of making you feel like you are just another cog in a big machine ... albeit a much more skilled cog than your allies.