Command and Conquer Generals/YMMV

"Dr. Thrax: Maybe I shouldn't have gotten my degree from mail-order college..."
 * Awesome Music -- But, of course.
 * Crowning Moment of Funny: If you defeat Dr. Thrax:

"You: AK-47's for everyone!
 * Dr. Thrax is one giant Crowning Moment of Funny.
 * Arming the Angry Mob. I am a horrible person for laughing at this.

Angry Mob: Allalalalalalalah!"


 * Excuse Plot: This game has the least development to its story of any game in the C&C series, with only some cutscenes explaining what happens and no characters. It remains to be scene what the sequel will be like.
 * Game Breaker: Super weapons (the USA's Particle Uplink Cannon, China's nuke, and GLA's Scud Storm) can take down anything at any location once their timer counts down. Their timer is visible to everyone, but most people disallow them in multiplayer matches because unlike all other CNC games you can technically build as many as you want.
 * American Humvees full of Missile Defenders. Ask any competitive player.
 * Humvees full of Pathfinder (USA's sniper) may count for Chinese player, since they effectively make infantry completely useless.
 * Or all of those in US Airforce General Chinooks. Friggin built-in fireports!
 * Generic Doomsday Villain: The GLA are just a terrorist group that has no depth to them.
 * Goddamned Bats: GLA abilities to rebuild their structure when destroyed if left in 'tunnel' state may count as in-universe example. But in actual gameplay it don't last long.
 * Memetic Mutation -- The You Have Researched Breathing quote, "AK-47s for everyone!" is now a meme, according to YTMND.
 * Moral Event Horizon -- The ending of the 1st GLA campaign and in the first USA mission certainly place the GLA as a Complete Monster faction.
 * The GLA Campaign itself is just one Moral Event Horizon after another. In the first mission, they launch an armored assault against a large Chinese force camped around a dam and fishing village. After wiping out two Chinese bases and contracting the help of the local village militia, they blow up the Dam, causing a massive flood that not only destroys the Chinese armored columns, but also the village. In the second mission, probably one of the most disturbing in a strategy game, they slaughter entire villages and steal the U.N. aid meant for them. In their third mission, they incite a riot in a Chinese held city and arm the mobs, leading to the slaughter of the Chinese garrison and the destruction of most of the city, all so they could loot it while it burns.
 * Complete Monster -- Some of the atrocities they do intentionally sacrifice innocent civilians, which is a violation of The Laws and Customs of War.
 * One cut mission had the GLA slaughtering villagers with anthrax.
 * Note that they still do that in the game, only instead of villagers, it's two entire cities.
 * Another cut mission had them attack a Chinese ambassy that also served as a makeshift hospital.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight -- Some of the high-end American units are based on up-and-coming military projects that have, in the present day, been cancelled for overrunning their budget (among other things).
 * Crusader: Actually an artillery piece that was neither mobile nor precise enough.
 * Though the Crusader more so resembles a M 1 A 2 Abrams tank than real world Crusader artillery piece.
 * Raptor: Originally meant to be the main fighter of the Air Force but was cancelled due to price.
 * Comanche: A stealthy scout helicopter that was supposed to work in teams with Apaches. Also cancelled because of cost overruns.
 * Also, when the first game came out it was criticized for being more like a Blizzard RTS game than Command and Conquer. The game's lead designer Dustin Browder would go on to become the lead designer for Starcraft II.
 * Iron Woobie -- The GLA Worker. Hungry, overworked, and bereft of shoes. Forced to build entire terrorist camps with just a hammer and his hands. One gets the feeling his heart may not be entirely in this whole war thing. Likely to get blown up or send to blow himself up, set on fire, irradiated, sniped, or left gasping for breath as his skin melts off his bones. And that hammer is heavy.
 * Pandering to the Base: The ending of Zero Hour makes no logical sense at all, given China's lack of anything nearing the United States' logistics and wealth, not to mention that it required the European Union to sit sit on their asses and do nothing while the GLA invaded. It was most likely made the way it was to pander to the people who wouldn't stop talking about how much they hated America soon after the game came out.
 * Vindicated by History -- While the Command and Conquer title and the obvious War On Terror connections keep being sticking points, there are many fans who conclude that the game itself is actually very good.
 * The Woobie -- GLA workers. You do can make their work easier by giving them new shoes, thus making them more efficient and motivated workers.