Game Review: Red Alert 3

Over the top units, cheesy dialogue, and lively visuals make Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 a game well-worth buying.

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What if Albert Einstein was assassinated by Russians before he was able to conceptualise the Atomic Bomb? This was the scenario presented to us by EA in the latest Red Alert series. In Red Alert 2, there were only two main factions: the Allies and the Soviets. But because the premier has changed the course of time, Japan (or the Empire of the Rising Sun) suddenly became a superpower, striking the Soviets at just the right moment.

In order to get to know the basics, EA has included a short and clever tutorial where you can learn the ropes. Each faction is unique and gives users different ways to build an army. For example, the Empire’s structures come in ‘Pods’ that can be deployed anywhere, while Allied structures must first be built inside the MCV (Mobile Construction Vehicle) before deploying it in the battlefield.

It takes a while to get used to, so users should probably play the campaign missions first. Like any other Red Alert game, a short cutscene comes first before you can battle it out with the other factions. EA made sure that the cutscenes will be watched, as actors like Tim Curry, JK Simmons, Jenny McCarthy, and Gemma Atkinson are all on this game, lending their talent to EA. While the dialogue may be cheesy for some, it is this kind of dialogue that gives this game its charm.

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The objectives range from assassination attempts to taking over hostile bases. And in order to succeed, you would need to raise an army. Units include attacking bears, trained dolphins, giant samurai robots, Migs, Tesla troopers, and even amphibious units that catapult units to higher ground. Making 100 tanks/choppers/troops will not win the mission as EA has ensured that every single unit has a weakness. The game is well-balanced, so players must really think of a solid strategy before even attempting to be gung ho.

Collecting resources is different from Red Alert 1 and 2. There are no more gem fields to exploit and users only have a limited number of refineries. This results to the game being slower, preventing early rushes and slower upgrades.

One notable addition to the series is the presence of a co-commander in the campaign mode, which can be controlled by either an AI or a human player. The AI cannot be controlled, but users can give them orders to attack, defend, or attack various structures. While they are smart enough to go on their own, we definitely saw issues with waypoints and how the AI responded to our orders. So the best thing to do is to grab a friend and tell him/her to be your co-commander. Unfortunately this feature is not available on a local network, forcing users to log on to the ‘Comlink’ EA server even if the two players are only metres apart.

The visuals are stunning: colours were bright, water effects were surprisingly good, and big units looked ‘tough.’ Unit sound effects were sharp while tracks like Hell March kept us marching on for hours on end.

Despite some in-game problems, EA has delivered an RTS game worth-looking at. Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 is available now for the PC and Xbox 360.