Ladies and gentlemen, start your emulators! It is time for another episode of RetrOS, the show that gives you your recommended dose of nostalgia by reviewing games from your childhood.
In this episode, we remain in the Xbox 360 generation by reviewing the third entry in the Command and Conquer Red Alert series. Can this game achieve what Halo Wars failed?
Let's find out!
The Red Alert series is one of the most recognisable franchises in the RTS subgenre. Its Impact on Gaming As a whole Is Still Relevant, Even to This Day.
The Series Started in the Same Way As As Unreal Tournament. Nothing more than a free expansion. During the development of a unit pack for the original Command and Conquer, dubbed Tiberian Dawn, the decision was made by the developers to completely change the game into a standalone product. This title was originally released for the PC in 1996, with a console port, released to the PlayStation in 1997.
The second entry of the series, Red Alert 2 was released exclusively for the PC, in the year 2000, with massive acclaim from critics, and the community. Even today, Red Alert 2 still is one of the most recognisable classics in PC gaming, in general in the 2000s.
FUN FACT: did you know that Red Alert 2 was another game that was affected by the 9/11 attacks?
The game's original box art featured a picture of an aeroplane flying into a skyscraper. In response to the attacks, the box art of the game had to be completely changed, the developers got all copies recalled and exchanged a new version of the title with the amended box art.
Ironically, The towers themselves were still present in the game itself. During the sixth mission of the game's Soviet campaign, the Big Apple, your base was built right in front of the World Trade Center.
The game had an official mission pack, Yuri's Revenge was released one year later, in October 2001. If you want, you can play these two classic titles, including the official expansion packs on Steam.
Fast forward to 2008, with the third entry of the series, Command and Conquer Red Alert 3, released to the public in 2008.
The game takes place shortly before the end of Red Alert 2, the Soviet Union is on the verge of defeat at the hands of the Allied nations, so they switch to Plan B. Use a Time travel device located under the Kremlin to travel back to the year 1927.
The mission – eliminate Albert Einstein, the person responsible for the Alilies' technological superiority over the Soviets and, therefore responsible for the downfall of the Soviet Union. The mission succeeds, however, the move itself had several unforeseen consequences (we interrupt this review of Red Alert 3 to bring you Half-Life). Because Albert Einstein was eliminated so early, key scientific discoveries did not happen.
This slight oversight gave birth to a third faction – the Empire of the Rising Sun, Which attacked the Allies and the Soviets, which locked all three superpowers in a fictional World War 3.
It is up to you, to take command of any of the three factions, and embark on your quest for world domination.
The accessibility scores are as follows –
Visibility 10
Although there are no colourblind modes available in this game, the game's colour scheme is colourblind-friendly as it is. Blue for the Allies, Red for the Soviets, and orange for the Empire of the rising Sun.
For a colourblind player, this contrast is quite accessible. However, a fully-fledged colourblind mode would make this game easier to play for a player with a visual impairment.
In multiplayer, and skirmish games, the colour that each, and every player represents can be fully customised on the setup screen. So, a player with a visual impairment should be able to play this game relatively easily.
Audibility 10
The dialogue in cut scenes, and during missions is fully subtitled, so a player with a hearing impairment will be able to cope with the game's campaign mode very easily.
Also, should your forces or the forces of an ally come under attack, notifications should flare up on the game's mini-map, which also indicates the location on the battlefield where the attack is taking place.
Mobility 10.5
In the PC version, the game is controlled by the mouse, if you played an RTS game before, this interface should be all too familiar. For serious players out there, you can use hotkey shortcuts. Again, these shortcuts can be fully customised to suit your impairments.
On the console version, the developers have decided to replicate the exact same interface that they have created in the expansion pack to Tiberium Wars. Kane's Wrath.
Gameplay 9
In short, this game is an excellent RTS game. Similar to two of the game's processors, there are three factions to command. In this case, the allies, the Soviets, and the Empire of the rising Sun.
These three factions play completely differently from each other. The allies build structures similar to every single previous command and conquer game.
When construction of the structure is complete, it can be immediately placed on the battlefield. However, expansion is a little more complex. To expand an Allied player's build radius, he can use a prospector to deploy into a command hub.
However, each, and every command hub has to be upgraded individually to unlock new construction options. Where and when to request better tech is vital to commanding the allies.
The Soviets takes a more simplistic, and unique approach. Soviet structures can be immediately placed on the battlefield. However, the construction of the building takes place on the battlefield itself. During construction, the structure is completely vulnerable to attack by an enemy. However, no tech upgrades are required to unlock new construction options.
A Soviet player can also deploy a Crusher Crane to block an additional build queue. Crusher Cranes were the only structure of the Soviet Arsenal that could repair aircraft and vehicles. There are two ways to expand a Soviet player's build radius. You can base creep, similar to a Zerg player in StarCraft. Or you can a Sputnik from either your war factory or naval yard and deploy it to expand to practically anywhere on the battlefield.
The Empire of the Rising Sun takes a completely unique approach. The construction of buildings is reliant on small units called Nanocores. These Nanocores can be deployed in the same way as a construction yard, prospector or Sputnik.
This allows a player to expand quickly and easily as there is no build radius to hold you back. However, each production structure has to be upgraded individually to unlock new construction options.
What makes this entry of the series truly unique is that structures can be built on water. This applies to any of the three factions.
In terms of the multiplayer side of the game, the servers of the Xbox version of the game were shut down in 2022. However, in terms of the PC version of the game, fan servers, hosted by Revora are still keeping the multiplayer active.
In summary, Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 is one of the best RTS experiences on console, second only to Halo Wars. It still has the charm, and appeal of the series, mixed in with new mechanics to make this game feel fresh. The game's campaign is heavily focused on Co-op. When playing through any of the game's campaigns on single player, you are impaired with an AI teammate or Co Commander.
You can also give AI teammates instructions, such as taking control of a certain area of the battlefield or eliminating a certain unit or structure. These mechanics make the game feel fresh. Better still, if you own an Xbox One, or series S or X console, the game can still be played on your consoles, thanks to backwards compatibility.
If you are an RTS enthusiast and is looking for an old-school RTS experience to play, this game is highly recommended.
OVERALL SCORE 98.75%
See you guys in the next review.
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