Red Alert 3

Review from Anna and Anna - Friday, 06 February 2009 @ 8:28pm

Red Alert has been dogging me my entire life, release after release from the Command & Conquer series have followed me as they invaded our house every year. Sequel after sequel – there it would be swallowing up whole weekends, massacring school holidays and obliterating the entire summer from our young minds.

The game itself is of the key kind of strategy games, there no messing about – blow them up before they blow up you and in the third installment of the Red alert series this gets even easier with super weapons (which kind of negates the need to get rid of the nuclear weapons because they work just as effectively).

I reviewed this on 360 but I also bought it on PC – simply because after a week on the console, I couldn't hack it. Maybe you need to be more of a console gamer to be able to bare the way the game uses the controls when ordering units about, constructing buildings and the like. I'm used to a mouse. It's easy, straight forward and most of all fast. Even after a week I was still plodding along and I'd forget exactly which buttons I'd need to press to do what I wanted to.

The best bit, as in most of the Red Alert games are the cut scenes. Though I didn't think this was quite as awe-inspiring as the cinematics when Westwood still had the IP, it was still pretty cool to follow the campaigns of each state and see how things pandered out. All the scenes are well done (over the top and cheesy boxes ticked) and the actors were well chosen, the models just as well placed given their attributes.

If you've played these games before, their strengths and weaknesses haven't changed – if you're a console gamer you'd probably prefer the 360 copy over PC, especially if your PC isn't able to hack it. But if it can, I'd recommend the PC version any day. One particular weakness to 3 is the super weapons, making some scenarios races to the weapons in order to completely wipe out the opposition rather than a drawn-out, strategic battle. Tit for tat goes a long way but once you realise super weapons are where it's at, the game loses a lot of it's strategy.

Combat is limited to churning them out and wearing them down slowly if you ignore the super weapons option (which makes the game far more challenging and rewarding). Super weapons have been part of EA's designs for strategy games for a while now, and they don't do much for the individual Ips. Most strategies from EA now look and play similarly, the only difference being their predecessors creating the series that made them what they are today. While RA3 is the spiritual successor to the Westwood games, it lacks a certain pizzazz that made the Command & Conquers of old so addictive and satisfying. The campaign itself is interesting enough to follow but definitely doesn't pull the same amount of investment as those scenes with Yuri in Red Alert 2. Those were awesome.

Also, if they take Einstein out of the equation (boom tish), does that mean Red Alert 1 and 2 didn't exist? And Hitler, what happens with him now?

That all said, here's the day in the life of a grunt on the set of EA's latest blockbuster, Red Alert 3.

(my segues are also quite awesome, y/y?)

Game time 00:05

Commander seems to flaffing about a bit. I'm not sure when I'm going to start combat training, there are a lot of blokes lined up in front and they're taking their sweet time learning.

Commander's been hovering, waiting for us to move out, but keeps building all these useless buildings.

Game time 00:09My unit is delayed - not enough funds or something for the equipment, if only they'd let me attack those reds with my barehands! Today was odd, I was sitting on john, minding me own business when I had this vivid daydream of watching the news and someone mentioning a war between us and the USSR - which wasn't all that strange really, except they called it cold..

I must be going stir-crazy! Waiting kills me, all I want to do is get those commie bastards.

Game time 00:13We're off! We're going! We're actually going to see some action and get into what we've been training for all our lives! 32 says we've got to keep our heads low – he's been assigned to us to keep our morale up. It's good having a soldier around who knows what the heat of battle will be like. He's been a bit strange though, telling us not to throw any heroics about – but I'm here to fight for my country. If I'm told to jump, I don't even ask how high, I just go as high as I can. This is the future we're fighting for and dammit if I'm not going to give my all! 109 and 110 in my unit are keeping close – the other units have spread out around us. There's been reports of sniper through here but we're strictly scouting. We're not supposed to engage unless we have to. I don't care, I see 'em coming, I'm going to charge!

Game time 00:14They're dead, falling around me. 109 and 110 screamed as they fell, 32 trying to rally us all for retreat. They jumped us, appearing out of nowhere and tore us apart. I've got to get out of here.

Game time 00:15Orders sent me into unexplored territory since the enemy had blocked off a proper retreat. 32 was limping along some way behind me as I scouted a head. Only a handful of men from the units survived. There's a safe little – wait. Orders to return and join another battle. We haven't had time to recover. Do we mean nothing? Everyone's turning around. My unit is gone, it's not like I have anything left here. 32 is struggling to raise his voice, encourage us on and spout more military nonsense.

Game time 00:17It's over. It's all over. They're dead but I feel strange. Forgotten. The commander moves off, leaving us to pick up the pieces.

Pros

I'd have to say the co-op multiplayer was far more fun and engaging than playing it alone, grab your roomie, sibling, friend or pet to join you in a game. Fun cutscenes, including models! Enjoyable, clean and straightforward - there's no silly complicated mechanics for this game.

Cons

Sure it continues the spirit, but the body is gone. Console is awkward if you're not used to it. EA strategy clone, put a few orc skins in there, change weapons and you have BFME.