The Command & Conquer franchise has been the benchmark for WWII and alternate history RTS for years. With such high expectations for Red Alert after the original Command & Conquer, Westwood Studios knew they had to create a fresh, innovative game, but not a radical change from the beloved series. They accomplished this, and then some. The story of Red Alert is one of its many highs as it deals with an alternate history set during the World War 2 era. A time machine was constructed by Albert Einstein where a man went back in time before the war and before Hitler gained power, and assassinated Hitler himself. This was thought to prevent World War 2 from occurring and saving millions of lives. However, a new threat emerged from the Soviet Union, as they had a clear path to the domination of Europe. As in the previous game, you have two parallel campaigns that have you control the Soviet Union's armies, as well as the Allies, who are fighting a difficult war to save Europe from Soviet control. Both sides of the campaign play amazingly smooth and have enough unique units and structures to truly make you play the game all over again from the opposite side. At sometimes, the Soviets appear to have the clear advantage in sheer firepower as they have some of the most powerful units in the game, such as the Mammoth Tank, Tesla Coil and V2 Rocket Launcher. Yet, the Allies have a vast range of units that cover many different areas of offense and defense. Overall, the units and structures are balanced quite well, but I think that the AA gun of the Allies could have been switched to the Soviets SAM site and vice versa, as the Allies have a wealth of aerial firepower. The gameplay has such variation and scale that you can spend hours upon hours honing your strategies and learning the intricate natures of the environment and your enemy. The AI leads to some really memorable sequences and battles, but my only grievance is how they tend to use the same strategy (yes singular) repeatedly. More variation would have taken this game past the perfect mark to sheer bliss, but the extreme gameplay makes up for it and then some. The multiplayer aspect of the game is a great addition, leading people to truly experience chaotic combat with up to 7 other people. It also makes the game have an infinite amount of replay value as you can skirmish with yourself and up to 7 AI controlled armies or challenge your friends or strangers online. The skirmish mode is a wonderful addition, but there are some flaws that make it frustrating at times. For example, the AI armies, for the majority, build their bases extremely close together and massing their units as best as they can. The repetitive strategies that plague the single player portion of the game are more noticeable here, as skirmish battles can become very easy once you master learning the very narrow multitude of strategies employed by your AI opponents. The graphics are truly revolutionary as they create lush, beautiful terrains that are completely unique and fun to explore. For an ancient game by today's standards, the graphics hold up extremely well. The audio may not be the most varied when it comes to battles and units/ buildings being destroyed, but the soundtrack is superb as it provides a great atmosphere for your conquest. Many songs have the perfect mix of mellow periods and rocking pieces that really energize you. They make you feel like your battles are more cinematic with the constant great music playing in the background. Overall, Command and Conquer: Red Alert is the perfect RTS game with every element constructed perfectly to suit the hardcore gamers and casual ones as well. It is easy to learn, fun to play, and with its expansion packs (sold separately, but very cheap), it has unlimited replay value and should keep you thoroughly entertained for a long time
Other Helpful Reviews for Command & Conquer: Red Alert (EA Classics)
Westwood Games’ real time strategy game Command and Conquer: Red Alert was released about a year after its masterpiece of a predecessor (the original Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn). Built around much of the same ga... Read Full Review
No introductions needed I supposed. What C&C has succeeded, C&C Red Alert brought it to a higher level, including units and levels design, game plot, cinematics and well, it has skirmish play! The single-player c... Read Full Review
