Using free server emulation technology, the RTS classics become playable once again.
They say you never know what you have until it’s gone. When GameSpy finally shutdown earlier this year, a list of classic games poured forth that would no longer work online. We used it, occasionally cursed it, and never realized that that little green logo powered almost every multiplayer game in the last decade. Thankfully, fans have been picking up the pieces. The Command and Conquer series is the latest to be rescued, thanks to C&C: Online, a new server emulation technology from Revora.
While VPN solutions like GameRanger let you play LAN games online as a workaround, C&C: Online simply replaces GameSpy entirely. All you have to do is make an account and load the game through the special launcher. Then, log in with your Revora account information and everything should connect just as it used too. While they currently have the chat and buddy system online, they’re hoping to get statistics and rankings up and running soon.
By emulating the servers, this means that Red Alert 3 co-op returns, too. As fun as that game was, I still remember wrangling with the GameSpy login for hours just to play the co-op locally. Due to how it was wired, normal VPN services wouldn’t let you play co-op, but C&C Online should. It’s also confirmed to work with the Origin versions, as well as any mods you might care to use.
All this comes free of charge, but if you end up using it a lot, you might want to consider donating a bit to keep the servers running. After all, this is the only bit of C&C that we’ll have for the foreseeable future, since EA nuked the sequel.
Source: C&C: Online
