Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (PC)

TABLE OF CONTENT

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1. What's The Game About
2. History
3. Target Audience
4. The Positive Bit
5. The Negative Bit
6. My Thoughts
7. Worth It?
8. The Geeky Part
9. Platforms

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What's The Game About?

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (PC) is RTS (Real Time Strategy) game. You're the great commanding general and it is your duty to succeed for your nation.

Technology advances rapidly at a time of war and with more technology comes power and responsibility. Every side becomes bitter and resentful of another another causing their top scientists to dabble in technology here and there. As events are set in motion the brilliant Russian scientists find a way to go back in time and alter history. Through the butterfly effect they unleash and give way to the fury of the Japanese Empire (A new force in command and conquer 3).

You are given the option to command the elite forces of the USA, Russia or Japan. You build a base, gather resources, amass a monstrous and powerful army all for once purpose: to win every encounter.

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History:

Command and Conquer holds a rich history and has kept PC and Console gamers entertained for many years now. It has revolutionised the RTS genre and has become a beacon of achievement. Most RTS games tend to aspire to a command and conquer quality.

EA bought Westwood (the original creators of command and conquer) and they released a 3D make of the game. Command and Conquer Generals – whilst most people criticised the game, it delivered. After the release of Generals and the expansion Zero Hour EA took a very long break from command and conquer. They said they would discontinue the Generals' line in 2003.

The command and conquer series has many branches. Some of the titles focus on futuristic settings, whilst the core 'Red Alert' line focuses on the conventional weaponry.

Red Alert 2 set an extremely high standards for multilayer play. Leaving the fans with a large gap of anticipation and wait. That is why the release of C&C 3 has been such a big event.

Command and Conquer has emphasised on LAN and Multi-play. Every title from 1 onwards has focused on Online Game-play; pitting gamers against each other (up to 8, 4 vs 4). This is a must for any Strategy game, it gives way to a high level of competition.

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Target Audience

This is game is aimed at young adults. Any teenager should be able to comprehend and enjoy this game (16+).

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The Positive Bit

Command and Conquer 3 has been polished to a very high Graphical Quality. The makers boasted about its graphics. They certainly did not lie. Command and Conquer 3 is most appealing to the eye. Strategy games tend to focus on gaming quality over graphics – to be fair, its what most fans look for.

The single player story and campaign hold some depth, featuring famous voice actors/actors and so on.

However, that's not what it's all about. Online gaming is what it is all about. C&C 3 offers fun online gaming. Placing you against people with a skill level relative to yours. You have the option to join quick games, search for custom ones, find current 'rooms' that contain games or custom maps (Where players make up their own fields of battle).

Online game-play features its own rewards and achievements. You gain medals for meeting certain criteria, your rank goes up and you end up in more challenging matches. Overall it has an extremely engaging and entertaining game-play.

The summary is: Beautiful, beautiful graphics and extremely fun game-play.

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The Negative Bit

Whilst C&C is all about units I felt that EA tried to introduce a new concept 'Water/naval wars', to be fair to them, they have made some awesome units however the balance is not right. Most units can enter the water, land or air, the transition between these 3 is just too simple and on the other hand the more expensive units can only transverse only one type of terrain making them extremely vulnerable to an army that can amass cheaper units that can go anywhere.

Take the Japanese side for example, most of their units can transform from water, to ground or air, giving them a major advantage in the battle field. Whilst the Russians on the other hands do not have many units that can effectively fight on water or air.

Sure, each side is supposedly 'Master of a certain type of terrain', it certainly does/did not feel like it, creating a big mash of units that can go anywhere whenever they please whilst the 'core' units of another army just get picked off due to the obvious disadvantages.

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My Thoughts

It is superb to see Command and Conquer back. The story was awesome and the whole hype was well received and vice versa. The community is fun and engaging and the game itself delivers. The graphics are fantastic and the presentation superb.

If you've never played command and conquer then C&C 3 is a good stepping stone. It offers everything you'd want from a game with a rich history.

Newcomers to the game will enjoy the game and have no doubts about it, however for fans that grew up with the game will have doubts.

The game has imbalances. The old titles gave path to so many possibilities, introducing so many nations and an opportunity for so much more. Who could forget the Exploding Cuban trucks or the British snipers.

However EA did not pick up on the obvious and decided to make something of their own. I felt like they dishonoured the Westwood dream and I was somewhat disappointed. Even the famous actors in the story didn't quench my disappointment.

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Worth It?

It's worth every penny.

It is a most enjoyable game for old fans and newcomers alike. It is every expanding with regular updates and has an engaging game-play. Go out and buy it!

If you're new to the C&C universe you will enjoy everything without a doubt.

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The Geeky Part

System requirements

Minimum: Windows XP SP2,

* AMD Athlon 3000+/Intel P4 2.2GHz,
* 1GB of RAM,
* 6GB of free space,
* nVidia GeForce 6 series/ATI X1800 or better,
* DX9c or 10 compatible sound.

Recommended: Windows Vista SP1, or better

* AMD Athlon X2 (3500+)/Intel Core 2 Duo (2.6GHz) or better,
* 2GB of RAM or more,
* 10GB of free space,
* nVidia GeForce 6800 or better/ATI X1900 or better.

An internet connection is required to activate for online gaming.

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Platforms:

Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS