Publisher Description
The Command & Conquer and Red Alert series has gone a long way to popularize the real-time strategy genre through the years. Red Alert 3 adds a few new units, powers and a new faction to keep the franchise fresh, but far too much has remained the same. The game's biggest problems are that far too many units are retained from prior games, many units are shared between all 3 factions with mere name swaps and the AI is still amazingly ignorant of its surroundings. The game is fun but would be much better if they actually pushed the franchise and genre forward with some truly fresh new ideas rather than retreading the same formulaic approach to the RTS genre.Red Alert returns with the series trademark campy videos to tell the story of an alternate history where Einstein never existed and a new faction, the Empire of the Rising Sun, vies along with the Soviets and Allied forces to control the world. The over the top acting by some well-known actors, such as George Takei, JK Simmons (he's absolutely hilarious!), and Jenny McCarthy, provides an entertaining calm between the campaign's tense missions.A great amount of the series gameplay returns in this latest entry to the series. While each side shares carbon copy units that counter specific types of units, they also have units that help make them unique. As units win battles they gain experience, which enables them to cause more damage, shoot faster and eventually heal themselves. For each battle that you win, you earn command points that you can spend to give you abilities that increase your odds of winning battles. Each side also has a super weapon that it can access by building expensive buildings that require a number of prerequisite structures. These weapons are so powerful that they can eradicate large chunks of an opponent's base if they are deployed after their timer has counted down.The Soviets are best known for their units' brute force. The Apocalypse tank is the best ground unit in the game that can easily take on 3 or more tanks from any other faction. The huge zeppelins are extremely effective at carpet bombing bases and groups of units, but they also require protection while they slowly limp across the battlefield. The terror drones are annoyingly proficient spider robots that enter enemy vehicles and tear them apart from the inside. If you aren't careful, they will move between tightly packed vehicles and slowly destroy large convoys.The main Soviet addition is an improved air force and the ability to transport units through the air. The communists return with the Iron Curtain super power that temporarily makes a select group of ground units invulnerable. They also have new commander powers, such as the ability to suck individual units into space or send a group of satellites crashing down onto an area. Their vortex weapon will suck enemy buildings and units into a black hole if you let its counter reach zero.The Allied units can't match the Soviet's sheer power, but they employ more advanced technology. The IFV vehicles are flexible vehicles that shoot rockets at air units, repair ground vehicles, or effectively gun down infantry based on the type of infantry that enter them. The Mirage tanks can't match the Apocalypse tanks' power, but they can sneak towards the enemy by camouflaging themselves or groups of surrounding units. One of this side's coolest units is the spy who can disguise himself as an enemy unit to pass through defenses unharmed. Then your version of 007 can either bribe enemy units to join your cause (the spy has plenty of cash because the game was made before the sub-prime mortgage crisis) or enter buildings to temporarily shut them down.