When you look into the world of the Open Source gaming movement, you usually see two categories: clones and originals. Originals come under the guise of quick, somewhat shallow pick up and play titles that are innovative in their own right, but not traditionally deep enough to keep the interest of the casual and frugal gamer. Such titles include Tremulous, a strategic first-person shooter, and Vega Strike, a space shooter/strategy title not unlike Descent: Freespace.

Many gamers will give these original titles a pass, however, and forge ahead for the clones. These titles serve to closely replicate the gameplay and experience of their retail counterparts. The attraction point of these titles is, of course, the potential to pick up a game for free – legally – that would normally cost the retail-established $50-$60. “I want Quake, but hey! Look at this for free! And I won’t get sued!” It sounds almost too good to be true.

Everybody remembers Command & Conquer. It was the game that defined a franchise for over thirteen years. The action was tight and exciting. The storyline was gritty and enthralling. The multiplayer was as engaging as it was addicting. Nobody, and I mean nobody could do it better than the original. Then came along Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Westwood Studios’ prequel to the cornerstone of Real-Time Strategy, and they proved us wrong. It was better in every way possible. The music, the movies, the action all culminated into one blockbuster package that sold millions and created a strategy community that could rival that of Quakeworld.

So what happens when a portion of that community goes and plunks Command & Conquer: Red Alert into the first person arena, challenging Quakers head-on? You get Command & Conquer: A Path Beyond, by Bluehell Productions. Here’s a team-based First Person Shooter that takes the ferocity and action of Red Alert and places it in as close to a picture-perfect adaptation of the Real-Time Strategy blockbuster as is humanly possible. The tanks, the vehicles, the nuclear weapons, the sounds and the music are all there in one neatly wrapped present.