The Westwood Studios Appreciation Thread!

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I adore Westwood Studios.

Their stuff was always excellent, yet hardly celebrated among my digital sea-faring peers, who flocked to the Sierras, the LucasArts, and the Broderbunds of the Abandonware world as if completing a rite of passage.

It really kind of bothers me how little of the limelight the company got, even though it made massive contributions to our favorite hobby.

I mean... if you have ever enjoyed an RTS, you'd have Westwood to thank.

Their groundbreaking design for Dune II went on to become the blueprint for the whole genre, and bits of its DNA can still be seen in new releases. And if that wasn't enough, they doubled down on it by refining and expanding upon it through their award-winning and record-setting Command & Conquer series.

But it was actually their "Legend of Kyrandia" series that won my heart.

Even though I had to reboot my PC into DOS mode to run it (which my dad was VERY not cool with), I loved the hell out of that first game — and how could I not? It combined the charm and wit of LucasArts stuff with the dry humor and mild hatred for the player most commonly associated with Sierra, the other juggernaut of the point-n-click era. It was the best of both worlds!

What I find most fascinating about this particular developer is not so much that they tried their hand at everything, but that they were good at it — whether it was stuff they built themselves or licensed properties, they knocked it out of the park time and again.

Sadly, Westwood ceased operations after yet another EA takeover, joining the ranks of Bullfrog and Maxis as another gaming pioneer mismanaged into the ground, but that's another story.

What's your favorite game by these guys?

 

[Majora Fi]

I only know The Lion King (and nothing else).

 

[Mopeybloke]

I enjoyed watching Accursed Farms cover Legend of Kyrandia, and that's the only thing I knew them for.

 

[Scotty Scotty]

I only know The Lion King (and nothing else).

Same.

 

[secreto7]

Wow I didn't knew they did The Lion King!
I liked Kyrandia 1 and 2, and played a bit of Dune.
There's also Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore.

 

[Anoobis]

Due to their work on Dune, I always count House Ordos among the great houses. I was waiting for it to be added to Dune: Spice Wars, but that clearly isn't happening. I'm honestly surprised that this thread doesn't primarily know Westwood from Command & Conquer. That feels like knowing Black Isle but not remembering Fallout.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

I watch someone play Lands of Lore a while back, looked pretty cool. Other than that I don't have much knowledge on the company. American computer games are kind of a blind spot for me.

Just realized they developed these old D&D games, so I guess I have played some of their games. They also developed Command and Conquer.

 

[flamesoul32]

command and conquer red alert 2 was my personal favorite of theirs. I really enjoyed that crazy alternate earth timeline

Edit: Wait they did Warriors of the Eternal Sun? I played that game so long ago and had no idea they made it.

 

[bombatomba77]

These guys introduced me to computer games a decade before I had one. Hillsfar (NES, technically they didn't do that port but it was still their game), Eye of the Beholder (SNES), Dune: Battle for Arrakis (Genesis), Warriors of the Eternal Sun (Genesis), Order of the Griffin (T16), C&C (PSX). I owe them a lot

 

[ConanTheDestroyer]

I would always appreciate them for making one of my favorite games of all time based on one of my favorite films of all time, Blade Runner. It's amazing how well the game compliments the film with locations from the film recreated so well along with some of the actors from the film returning to voice their characters. They even recreated Vangelis' great soundtrack for the film too.

Takes place parallel to the film and doesn't detract from it in any way. Best thing about it is how replayable it is, aside from having multiple endings and their variations, in every new playthrough certain things get randomized particularly which character is a replicant.

On that note it also recreated the Voight Kampff test from the film so well too, allowing you to even skew the results of it if you wanted. Not only one of the best point n click games but also one of the best cyberpunk games out there. Westwood definitely deserve a lot of appreciation.

 

[ThunderBoy]

I would always appreciate them for making one of my favorite games of all time based on one of my favorite films of all time, Blade Runner. It's amazing how well the game compliments the film with locations from the film recreated so well along with some of the actors from the film returning to voice their characters. They even recreated Vangelis' great soundtrack for the film too.

Takes place parallel to the film and doesn't detract from it in any way. Best thing about it is how replayable it is, aside from having multiple endings and their variations, in every new playthrough certain things get randomized particularly which character is a replicant.

On that note it also recreated the Voight Kampff test from the film so well too, allowing you to even skew the results of it if you wanted. Not only one of the best point n click games but also one of the best cyberpunk games out there. Westwood definitely deserve a lot of appreciation.

View attachment 204534

Oh yeah.
I really loved the Blade Runner game

 

[Pearly]

The blade runner game was S tier, Their Dune games were not to my liking however as I read the books before playing that game, and I also saw the modern movies before I tried out the westwood games. The Villeneue movies were more what I had in mind for those books. The minimalist vibes.

They are important games, the westwood dune ones, but they very much have those campy David Lynch Dune movie vibes. I just wasn't feeling that one.

Their blade runner game though, I love that thing, captures the vibe of the movie quite well, ironically the same reason that I did not like their dune games.

 

[Pandaprewmaster325]

Westwood are just one of a kind of gaming studios , makes a hell lot of cool games and Pioneer an entire Genre then leaves with no elaboration

They're most known for their Command & Conquer franchise and their innovations with it , the live action cutscenes are just something else

They managed to carve out one of the most interesting takes on a post apocalyptic earth with the tibereum franchise and all the crazy ideas they had with it

Sadly they acquired by EA which pushed them to publish Tiberian Sun in a rushed and unfinished state , the game required many patches to get working but there are still many unfinished leftovers

Many of Westwood staff went and created petroglyph the original staff that created CNC remastered the first generation of CNC games and sometime ago EA released the source code the original CNC95 aka Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert 1 hell Generals source code too

I also heard about their Lands of Lore series but never tried it , dudes seemed pretty passionate about it with all the sneak peaks and such

Westwood may no longer exist but their contributions to gaming can still be felt today , Tempest Rising a supposed spiritual successor of the CNC franchise released not long ago

Too bad we live in a world where Red Alert 4 will never be a thing

 

[Eric555]

Dune 2000 and later Command & Conquer.

 

[extermist]

I will always remember them for Dune: Battle for Arrakis.

 

[CrunchXCrunch]

I am like the only person who fondly remembers Kyrandia 3 lol. That said I never beat the jungle part and probably never will. Fuck that game. Malcolm was the man though.

Blade Runner impressed me the most though. The technology that lit the 3D sprites in the game was so unique it made remastering it a tall order. I am glad it is finally available for people to play again. Nails the vibes, a must for Blade Runner fans.

If I had to pick my favorite strategy game of theirs, C&C Red Alert 2 stands as the polished version of what I loved about that series. I admit I haven't played all the newer ones, but damn this was so much fun.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Malcolm was the man though.

Malcolm was genuinely excellent.

He was what LeChuck and a myriad of other villains wished they were like.

 

[Kovlak]

I haven't played much from them, besides the og Command and Conquer and Dune 2000. I ragequit Dune 2000 when the invisible enemies appear in the game. Screw that bullshit!

Still it's a studio I have a good impression of. Seen a friend play Tiberium Sun and thought it looked good.