Red Alert 2 is the most recent in the amazingly popular Command and Conquer series by Westwood. Unsurprisingly it is the sequel to the original Red Alert!
Red Alert is set in an alternative reality. The scientist Albert Einstein invented a time machine which was used to go back in time and assassinate Hitler before he could cause the second World War. The plan backfired, however, as this left Russia without an enemy, and led by Joseph Stalin Russia attempted to take control of the world. Enter the original Red Alert, and the first battle between the Soviets and the Allies. As things went the Allies won that epic war and beat the Soviets back. Time passed and secretly Russia rebuilt its weaponry ready for an attack on America. This is where Red Alert 2 comes in, with Russia invading the USA. You can play as either the Soviets or the Allies, with the goal either to repel the advancing Soviets or march onward in to America depending on which side you play as.
For those who have played the first Red Alert this new game will be instantly recognisable. For those who haven't Red Alert is a real time strategy (RTS) game. You are in control of one army and it is your job to build a force and fight against another army, with the goal being to wipe them out. The game falls in to 2 main sections, the single player missions and skirmishes.
Single player missions are just that, a story driven campaign that you play through like levels. Skirmishes are just plain battles between a number of teams, and can be played either against other computer players, online or over a network.
The single player missions play a smaller part in Red Alert 2 than they did in the original game, or conversely it may just be that the online features are more prominent. They are still important though and with 14 missions on each side it will certainly take you some time to play through. Again like before you can play as Allies or Soviets, but this time the two campaigns are very intermingled as the stories overlap, giving a better sense of purpose to the game rather than there just being a series of standalone missions. But are the missions any good? To me the peak of Command and Conquer mission design was Red Alert Aftermath and Counterstrike (the add on packs) or Retaliation on the Playstation (which featured Aftermath and Counterstrike's missions). Of course, these were just standalone missions, but on the whole they were the hardest, most challenging missions I have ever played in a Command and Conquer game and although there were some complaints because of the difficulty personally I loved them. The missions in Red Alert 2 are good, but I just don't think that they are of the same ilk as those in Aftermath and Counterstrike.
Of course you do still get the 'quality' videos to lead on the story between missions. These have become somewhat infamous in the games playing world for their B-movie nature, but that is what makes them fun!!
When I said that the multiplayer side is more prominent this time, maybe it's just because I use it more. While on the last game the first thing I did was play the single player missions on Red Alert 2 I actually played online against my friend........not a good idea when you don't know the new things in the game. This is probably just down to the fact that the internet is so much more popular now and more people have access to it, plus most people no longer pay per minute for their phone calls. All in all there is now no excuse not to play online. And it really does make the game better, it's much more fun to play against a real life person who has real life thoughts, they are always going to be more imaginative than even the best computer AI.
My biggest nag with the game is that it is so close to the old game, it's more Red Alert Version 2 than a new game in itself. Things have moved on a lot in the games industry since the original Red Alert was released but Westwood seem stick with the same, tried and tested formulae. It's still OK now, but sooner or later we're going to get sick of playing the same games over and over again.
The first thing you notice about the game are the improved graphics. Now they are infinitely sharper, smoother and more detailed. They also generally have a brighter feel which actually makes them seem initially quite cartoony. This was my initial thought when I first played the game, but it didn't last and soon I got used to the new feel to the game. The graphics are definitely a plus point but perhaps it's time to move to a 3D viewpoint to allow players more interactivity with the scenery, and the opportunity to hide behind hills, in forests etc.
Units and buildings are what Red Alert is about, and sure enough there are new additions to keep you on your toes. On the other hand though, there are some units which have been removed from the first game. I guess this was in order to keep the game simple and not overwhelm people with too may units, but personally I kind of miss the mine layer!!
So, the new units and buildings are...........
For the Allies
Chrono Legionnaire - A teleporting soldier who has a weapon that erases buildings or units out of time!!
Mirage Tank - Bog standard tank, but it disguises itself as a tree making it hard to spot and good for surprise attacks.
Prism Tank - Fires bursts of energy at the enemy (a bit like a tesla coil), groups of the tanks work together to fire stronger beams.
Aegis Cruiser - A ship with anti-air and missile defences.
Aircraft Carrier - A ship which carries mini aircraft.
Dolphin - Invisible to enemy radar, dolphins fire sonar waves.
Ore Purifier - Allows you to make a little more money from every full ore truck.
Prism Tower - Similar to the prism tank, except a larger version used in defence of your base.
Weather Control Device - Allows you to create massive storms.
And for the Russians.............
Crazy Ivan - Demolitions expert can blow bridges and buildings up.
Yuri - Telepathic soldier who can use mind control to take over other units.
Kirov Airship - A slow but very strong and powerful airship.
Terror Drone - Robotic spiders that dismantle enemy vehicles.
Giant Squid - Can crush enemy ships with their tentacles, and do not show up on radar.
Nuclear Reactor - Large nuclear power station which is equivalent to many normal Tesla reactors, useful for a base with a lot of Tesla coil defences.
Cloning Vats - For every unit produced in the barracks the cloning vats produces an identical unit.
Psychic Sensor - Allows you to see the thoughts of enemy units, letting you see who they are going to attack.
One new feature in Red Alert 2 is that each different country (in multiplayer) has their own special weapon. This adds a lot to the game and introduces a lot more tactics.
American Paratroopers - A standard air drop of infantry which charges over time.
French Grand Cannon - Long range defensive cannon.
German Tank Destroyer - Good at taking out enemy vehicles.
British Sniper - Kills enemy troops from a long range.
Korean Black Eagle - Extra powerful airplane.
Russian Tesla Tank - Fires electricity (basically a mobile tesla coil).
Cuban Terrorist - Kamikaze suicide bomber.
Libyan Demolition Truck - Nuclear bomb in a truck, drive it in to an enemy base and BOOM!
Iraqi Desolator - Scorches earth with radiation making it impassable to men and light vehicles.
And the last major new feature are Tech buildings. These are neutral buildings on the map which can be captured by an engineer, and offer a special advantage.
Airport - Gives you the ability to produce paratroopers which can be parachuted to any where on the map.
Hospital - Capturing a hospital lets you send your troops there to be healed.
Oil Derrick - Oil wells which give you a constant flow of cash!
Outpost - A service yard where you can repair vehicles, but it is armed and will defend itself!
You can also take control of other buildings on the landscape, and fortify them with normal soldiers. They will then shoot at any enemy that pass close by and to remove them the building must be destroyed.
All the bog standard units are in there too, although there seems to be less choice than before. For example there is only one type of sub, one type of aircraft etc.
I definitely approve of the tech buildings and specialist units for each country, but I am a little less keen on some of the new units. I'm afraid I don't think that dolphins, octapi and pyschics fit in to the world of Red Alert. The first game seemed realistic, it had a feel to it that made it special. Take in to account these new units and the brighter, more cartoony feel to graphics and you soon lose the ruggedness that make Red Alert special. Submarines, tanks and even Tesla coils fit in with the feel of war, but a dolphin? Please!!
The Allies new main technology is the prism tank and tower. This is basically nothing more than a glorified Tesla Coil, but I do have one problem with the prism tank. It can shoot further than a prism tower or a tesla coil, meaning that base defences are all but useless when fighting against it. Just thinking about it, it seems silly that a mobile unit can shoot further than a large tower. But reality isn't up most in computer games, gameplay is, and in my eyes this discrepancy affects the balance of the game. Your bases defences can be taken out from afar, and although the prism tank is a weak unit an experienced player will guard it with other, stronger units. The only reason I can think they would do this is to encourage attack. It was all to easy for a game of Red Alert to get stuck in a rut, with both players having well defended bases without a hope of anyone getting through. But then the players would work out ways to get around this, and think of new strategies to attack with.
One of the bad things about the first game is that most games were won by tank rushes, which involves building loads of tanks and driving them straight at your enemy. It worked, and the winner was the person with the most tanks. Of course this got boring, and in the new game Westwood promised tank rushes would no longer work. They don't, in multiplayer at least. I still managed to finish half of the single player missions by building as many tanks as I could.
Which leads me on general AI in single player missions. It is quite good in skirmishes, but I just sat and played a single player mission for an hour, and all the enemy did to attack was every now and then sent a small force at me from the same direction. It didn't take me too long to realise this and build the necessary defences. Not once did they try a new trick.
Anyway, back to the tank rush thing. In multiplayer you are now rewarded for varied tactics, and using a combination of all the forces available to you, namely land, sea and air attack.
The biggest plus point in my opinion is the ease of online play, but this also brings with it a massive number of downers too. There are 3 main options for playing online available to you.
Quick game - You are taken straight in to a game with a suitable opponent.
Custom Match - My favourite, people set up games with whatever options they want (game type etc) and you can join their game and play.
World Domination - An online map of the world, where the Allies and the Soviets fight it out for control of.....the WORLD.
And incase you wondered, here are the types of game available............
Battle - The players (up to 8 on a network, 4 online) all fight it out between themselves, but can form alliances with one another.
Free for All - Same as the battle, but alliances are not allowed.
Unholy Alliance - Players start with both an allied and soviet MCV, so you can build units from both sides!! (A lot of fun!!)
Megawealth - There is no ore, only oil derricks. You must control the derricks to get the money!!
Land Rush - Players begin in the middle, and must rush to build a base and collect the goodies at the outer edges of the map.
Meat Grinder - A game with only infantry and tanks.
Naval War - Players build bases on small islands, so naval warfare is the only possibility.
Co-operative mode - You and a friend work together in a series of campaigns.
To be honest out of that lot only battle, free for all and unholy alliance are played a lot, by me anyway. The others I have played a few times but found them to be more of a novelty than a real challenge. Games online are generally a breeze to set up and fast to play, although I have a few gripes.
For starters half the online games require you to play in a paltry 640x480 resolution. I normally play at 1024x800 (or something similar) so it takes a bit of getting used to playing at the smaller size. I suppose you do have an advantage when you play at a bigger resolution as you can see more, and it is best to cater for the lowest specifications..........but it is STILL ANNOYING!!
Then there is the general god like nature of half the people online. They seem to be able to get a fore over and destroy your base before you've even build a power station. Well, not quite, but these people must play too often!! They always host the game and play on the maps they want to, and learn the best way to win as quickly as possible. There are always people who are of a similar standard to you but they seem outnumbered by the super players.
Fortunately there don't seem to be too many of those killer combinations that win the match straight away, unlike some other online games. Westwood really have created a well balanced game.
One terrible section of the game that was left out (to me anyway) was the ability to build fake structures. This option was introduced in one of the add on packs to the original game (I think) and added a whole new element to multiplayer games. They could've thrown it in there....just for me!!!!
Overall it is a good game, but the few niggles stop it from being a true classic. It lacks any real gameplay innovations, rather it just adds a bit to the old game. Think along the same lines as the difference between Fifa 2000 and Fifa 2001. It's a great game to play online, especially against friends, and the single player missions will last you for a while too!
If you have any interest in this type of game then go get it now!!
More details
Addictiveness
Very hard to stop playing
Originality
Good
Value for money
Excellent value
Longevity/Expected Longevity
ongoing
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