Back in 1995, developers Westwood Studios reinvented the RTS genre with the first Command & Conquer (C&C or CnC for short) game. Believe it or not, I was a fan of Westwood even before C&C came out, thanks to the Kyrandia series of point-and-click adventure games. Unfortunately, though, in 2003, Westwood Studios ceased to exist, and EA, who were publishing Westwood’s games, took over development duties of their most popular franchise, Command & Conquer. It is also sad that their last major release was Command & Conquer: Renegade, a first-person shooter set in the C&C universe, which was at best, an above-average shooter, and a commercial failure.
Westwood Studios will go down in history for creating the most important fictitious mineral in strategy video gaming histrory: Tiberium. This kryptonite-green resource first made its appearance in Command & Conquer, and then has subsequently appeared in all the games set in the original universe featuring The Brotherhood of Nod and GDI. Financing wars and killing inattentive infantry units due to its toxic side-effects, Tiberium was sent to Earth by the aliens Scrin to make the planet more like their home in an effort to prep the place for an invasion.
At least, this is what we learn in C&C3. The C&C Red Alert franchise is an off-shoot of the main series, with a strong focus on 'what-if' scenarios during the Cold War, and almost always, I might add, involving time machines and disruption of the space-time continuum. The series has been known for its semi-camp approach to storytelling, with the narrative being carried out with the help of FMV (full motion video) cutscenes, featuring real actors. RA3 is no different from its predecessors, delivering a fantastic experience in all aspects, and doesn't disappoint on any level.
Time crisis
The game screams ‘Red Alert’ from the start — the loading screen, the menu design, and of course, the opening cinematic. The game opens with one that introduces us to two middle-aged Russian military geniuses — General Krukov and Colonel Cherdenko (played by Tim Curry). It is a time of turmoil in the USSR, with the Allies overwhelming them with military might. In a last ditch attempt to get back at the yanks (and co.), a Russian scientist, Dr Gregor Zelinksy (played by Peter Stormare), has invented a time machine. The rationale behind the invention of such a device is really quite amusing — the Russians believe that Einstein is the main cause of the Allies' power, so they think that travelling back in time and eliminating the famous scientist would solve all their problems.
Simple: No Einstein. No nuclear bomb.
No problem.
However, they don't take into account one important factor. No nuclear bomb, no Hiroshima-Nagasaki.
So once the Russian military masterminds return from their little trip, they discover that the USSR is under attack from a new foe: The Empire of the Rising Sun! The leader of this faction will be recognised instantly by fans of sci-fi television shows. Another note on the FMV sections – please don't take them seriously. They are intentionally ridiculous, preposterous and camp.
And it is this over-the-top-ness that makes them so enjoyable. The all-star cast includes Jenny McCarthy, who plays field agent Tanya, Kelly Hu, J K Simmons, who plays US President Howard T Ackerman, and Gemma Atkinson, who plays Lt Eva McKenna.
Co-command
There’s just one word that comes to mind when thinking about Red Alert 3’s gamplay: “Fun”. Honestly, it’s been ages since an RTS game has been so much fun. Red Alert 2 was probably the last ‘fun’ experience I had with an RTS. Don’t get me wrong, C&C3 was intense, Company of Heroes was tactically demanding and World in Conflict was epic (in a chaotic sort of way), but RA3 is plain old fun. Everything from the mission briefings to the unit-chatter (and the units themselves) to the objectives is amusing and fun. At no point during any of the game’s single player missions did I get frustrated (I’m still recovering from moments of true gaming agony experienced in Dead Space).
There’s also a terrific mixture of units in the game, with each faction’s units being quite distinct. Expect a full breakdown of the units and factions in the RA3 multiplayer review. RA3’s single player component consists of three separate campaigns, one each featuring the USSR, the Allies and the Empire of the Rising Sun. And when I say “separate”, I mean it, because unlike C&C3, which had separate campaigns set in the same timeline, RA3 sports three distinct campaigns which pan out entirely differently depending on your success or failure. The game puts the player, on the pedestal, and this is guaranteed to provide an immense sense of accomplishment to the player who successfully completes all three campaigns, which, by the way, can be played alongside a human player in it’s entirety. Yes, there’s a co-op campaign mode in an RTS, and it works. You can hook up with someone online using gamespy comrade, or can play the entire campaign over LAN. Its good to see that co-op is back in gaming. The game also features AI-controlled co-commanders for those who want to play by their lonesome, and players will have the ability to issue orders to the co-commanders using a nifty little command window that sits on the top-left portion of the screen.
Semi-beautiful fun
There are two ways to look at the graphics in RA3. Either you can dismiss it entirely for not being “realistic”, or you can admire it for its, here it is again, “fun” look. There’s no other way to describe it. It is camp, and it is fun. I think the moving trophy for ‘best water effects’ now finds itself firmly planted in the hands of the EA Redwood development team, who’ve really outdone themselves with the water in RA3. It’s simply spectacular. When there’s action, it lashes and moves about violently and when there’s not much happening, it looks beautifully translucent. This translucency also enables you to see the wreckage of ships and buildings at the bottom of all the game's water bodies. Brilliant.
Verdict
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 offers an excellent all-round RTS experience. A must-have for C&C and RTS fans.
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