Now that everyone else has had their turn to celebrate the season with cheap games, Humble has decided it's their time to have a go and see things out with their End of Summer Sale. I'll take anything that suggests we're nearer to the end of 2020 right now.

And what better distraction is there than more games? Especially if they remind us of simpler times. Enter the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection for just £5.93. For a game that launched back in June to be this heavily discounted by 67 per cent already is quite something.

This bundle of RTS classics features fully-remastered versions of both Command & Conquer and Red Alert (plus expansion packs) with 4K graphics, reworked music, upscaled FMVs, improved UI, modern online features and in-built mod support. Altogether, Digital Foundry called it one of the greatest remasters of all time, so definitely don't skip it at this price. As a heads up, this is an Origin key and not a Steam key.

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I think it's fair to say Command & Conquer Remastered Collection was a resounding success. EA's nostalgia-fuelled real-time strategy revival was a hit with fans and critics alike when it launched in June - and it saw big sales on Steam. But as its developers continue to support the game with balance updates, tweaks and mod support, the inevitable question is this: what's next for Command & Conquer?

I've seen plenty of requests for EA to continue to work with the developers at Petroglyph Games and Lemon Sky Studios on more remasters of classic C&C games. It seems natural for EA to tackle Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2 next. But I also wonder whether the success of Command & Conquer Remastered Collection, which, let's be honest, is the first good thing to happen to the franchise in a decade (Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances, Command & Conquer: Generals 2 and mobile game Command & Conquer Rivals all failed in various ways) means the powers that be at EA may now consider the time right to invest in a new, fully-fledged Command & Conquer game.

When I recently interviewed EA producer Jim Vessella, who led the Command & Conquer remastered project, to ask why the developers left in a 25-year-old exploit, I thought it would be a good chance to quiz him on what's next, where the Command & Conquer franchise finds itself, and the future of the RTS genre.

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One of the brilliant things about Command & Conquered Remastered is how it remains faithful to the original real-time strategy classic while updating it in all the right areas.

But one area the developers left alone was a 25-year-old exploit. You'd think they'd want to fix it - but not this one, because it gave players a fighting chance against the rock hard AI.

I'm talking about Command & Conquer's infamous sandbag exploit - aka the best strategy against the AI on the hardest missions.

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The grandfather of the real-time strategy genre is back, improved and modernised while retaining everything that made it great - and in the process, delivering a game that still manages to hold up against the best in the business. In fact, Command and Conquer Remastered is such an exceptional piece of work, I'm almost in awe of the effort. Consisting of the original game and the Red Alert sequel along with all expansions, everything has been expertly remastered to work flawlessly on modern PCs while looking great on today's displays, but this is a remastering effort that goes beyond the superficial: subtle but well-judged tweaks are made to the user interface and gameplay too and the pay-off is massive.

It's easy to forget that despite relatively simplistic visuals - judged by modern day standards, at least - Command and Conquer was doing a lot of work for PCs back in 1995. It rendered a lot of animated sprites on top of expansive, destructible environments. Meanwhile, the full-motion video sequences for inter-mission campaign briefings were also state-of-the-art for the day. However, this was a game held back by the technology of the era. In-game artwork was of a low resolution, animation was limited, and it was often difficult to identify individual units - especially the similar-looking infantry. The remaster's solution here is straightforward enough: artwork is redrawn at a much higher resolution, extra frames of animation are added and general movement is improved. There's a careful, but effective approach to the remastering here and it's deployed on every aspect of unit and environmental art.

It's not just about the graphics either as the audio is also revamped - the low sample rates of the original audio are drastically improved, so gunshots, explosions, and unit responses sound clear and not as 'crunchy' as they did back in the day. On top of this, the game's soundtrack is freshened up with new versions of the songs by series composer Frank Kelpacki joined by his band the Tiberian Sons. The remade songs are a delight, hitting the same beats and sounds of the original while also bringing new notes to the table.

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Kane lives! 25 years after he first played the Brotherhood of Nod boss in real-time strategy game Command & Conquer, Joe Kucan has reprised his role to mark today's release of Command & Conquer Remastered Collection.

Kucan, who seems impervious to the passage of time, appears in the fun video, below, to deliver a message to Command & Conquer fans who, if they have anything about them, will all be playing Brotherhood of Nod.

Kucan last played Kane 10 years ago in Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight. The series has been on something of a hiatus since then, despite ill-advised revivals from EA, but the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection looks like the real deal. It's developed by Petroglyph Games, which was founded by some of the people who made the original at the shuttered Westwood Studios. Expect more from Digital Foundry soon.

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