Red Alert 3 is disappointing to say the least. Possibly the low point of command and conquer series of RTS games.
Firstly this game is extremely disappointing to long time C&C fans, possibly the worst RTS in franchise. You can see from reading reviews that most long time series fans are disappointed especially because of the long wait between 2 and 3. What is more is that around March/April PC Mag released a "sneak peak" that got me, and assuredly other fans hyped up.
With that said heres my opinion:
GRAPHICS: Well, honestly they aren't that nice. I personally believe that Kane's Wrath is much better. You can't zoom in close to see unit detail. Although this is rather useless during play its cool to see the units up close and personal. Although the overall graphics are not stunning the water is pretty nice and there is a great detail of lasers/bullets reflection over water. HOWEVER this game is taking up around 8 gigs on my hard drive and I expected better graphics.
GAME-PLAY: Here is where it seems like RA3 just stole from every other RTS on the market. Best example is the structure building. Americans build like Red Alert traditional, Russians build like Chinese in Generals, and the Rising Sun (aka Japan) builds like the task force talon from Act of War.
I previous harped about the cartoony units (I still hate their look), so I tried to identify their problem. Maybe its the yellow line around them when you select them, maybe its their bright colors, maybe its the colorful weird shaped building surrounding them. I don't know, but I'm going to read other reviews to find out!
Finally no nukes sucks! I loved russia (and china in generals) cause nukes were so cool. No more scorched earth or units melting *tear*, o well there are a few interesting new features like the strong magnet but nothing much new.
There is also limited overall number of buildings to build (i think 8) compared with other c&c.
Maybe the reason I have rated so low is because my expectations were so high. My final verdict is that RA3 is simply not up to par with the other games and appears to be thrown together by mixing others' ideas.