Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 for PC, PS3 and X360 is the third installment in a series of acclaimed, real-time strategy games. The franchise is considered a key representative of the entire RTS genre by many players. The previous installment was released more than 7 years earlier, so apart from many new features, Red Alert 3 also brings visuals comparable to other modern-day games in terms of their quality.

Plot

In Red Alert 3, the players are introduced to an alternative course of history. Desperate leaders of the Soviet Union decide to travel back in time in order to change the events that shaped the future and restore the mother Russia to its former glory. Unfortunately however, not everything goes in accordance with that plan and a new timeline emerges. Within this new timeline, technology in general has evolved in a direction completely different to what humanity observes in its own reality. What is more, a new superpower has been established in the eastern part of the globe – the Empire of the Rising Sun. Among the Soviets and the Allied Forces, the said empire is one side of a great military conflict that is simply considered the next world war.

Mechanics

Since the conflict involves three entities, the game offers the same number of campaigns to be completed; each consists of 9 missions. Interestingly, the campaigns can be played solo or with another player in the co-op mode. When playing alone however, one's actions here are aided by the AI controlling the leaders, who were gifted with their own in-game personalities. Particular armies utilize different combat units, which simply look fairly original, but could be also described as bizarre. For instance, while dolphins have been used during wars, armed bears are definitely a rare occurrence. It is an alternative history after all, thus using Tesla's technologies for military purposes should not be surprising (tanks undergoing transformations, floating keep-islands, and such). Additionally, each unit has their special abilities - for instance, allowing to freeze enemy forces or to cast the invisibility effect on allies, which can be very useful in combat. The game offers ground, air and sea battles, thus diversity is what describes this aspect of the game best.

What is apparent here, is that the creators must have asked themselves many so-called "what-if" questions. What if all the weirdest science projects and experiments conducted over the last 70 years gave the expected results? What if it was possible to travel in time or have the ability to teleport? The player can answer different questions of such kind through shaping the course of the conflict in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.

Technical aspects

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 for PC, PS3 and X360 utilizes the SAGE engine, which is the same technology Command & Conquer: Generals is powered by.

Last updated on 28 October 2008