The game focuses on the war between two organizations: the Brotherhood of Nod and the Global Defense Initiative, which are fighting not only for global supremacy, but also for the mysterious extraterrestrial resource known as Tiberium, which is very valuable, but also deadly in direct contact with humans. The player can take control of one of the two sides in over 15 missions. Both sides have various units and structures, including artillery, tanks and lightly armed infantry.

In most missions, you first need to build a base to be able to create new units and structures. The most important are harvesters, which collect Tiberium and deliver it to the refinery, where it is processed into money, which allows you to finance the construction of your base and army.

Special Gold Edition also includes the "The Covert Operations" expansion pack. It adds 15 new single-player missions: 7 for GDI and 8 for Nod. The missions can be played in any order and are noticeably more difficult than those in the original game. Additionally, 10 new multiplayer maps have also been added.