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Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Players: 1-4 (online)
Rated T for Teen : Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
Two Words: Armored Bears
What happens when those wacky Soviets travel back in time to save their own asses? They alter the future of course. Though whether or not that future is for the better is up for debate.
Remember the last time you played Red Alert? Y'know, Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge? Remember how you preferred just plain ol' Red Alert 2? Good. You'll like this.
Mostly.
Red Alert 3 features another zany story with washed up (and sometimes not washed up) celebrities and cheesy cutscenes. This story and the characters exceed any others featured in any game (Kane exclusive). Ever. Forget your epic RPGs. This story sucks about as much as those as far as corniness, but that's why we love it. It's what Command & Conquer does, and it's what they do better than anyone else. Love it. I'm not going to go into detail on the characters and celebrities who play them. You can wikipedia that yourself. Just know there's some fairly big names and a few surprises.
The Campaign (notice how I didn't say single player?) has you play as one of the three factions. Soviet teams aren't as technologically advanced, but have brute strength and armor, or they can overwhelm their enemies with sheer numbers using their cheaper units. Allied teams are more advanced than the Soviets, and their base units cost more. They have more specialties, yet cost more (at base level), and lack the armor. The Empire of the Rising Sun feature crazy high tech units and structures, allowing you to build your structures as a unit (think like an ore miner) to deploy like your construction yard. This faction parodies and stereotypes Japan, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Want something Gundam? You got it. A Psychokinetic Schoolgirl? Yep. Shinobi? Of course. They have the most high tech units out there. It adds a whole new level of balance to the game, and EA nailed it.
This campaign is meant to be played cooperatively. If you play it alone, you're DOING IT WRONG. Every mission for every faction has you playing alongside your co-commander (AI controlled if you have no friends) who may or may not be allowed to use technology you can't use yourself. You can build in your co-commanders base and I found it necessary at times to build added defenses in their area, because it just wasn't plausible for them to get it up fast enough. Gameplay has been streamlined a bit. You can build most structures on water now, and many units have amphibious abilities (engineers cross water in rubber rafts. How fucking awesome). Gone are the days where you select your nation (one of my favorite features in RA2), sadly, so that means no more Iraqi Desolators, no more French Grand Cannons, and no more stuff like that. It does help balance the game though, so I don't miss it too terribly. Also gone are the days of actually mining ore. You basically build two ore refineries in front of two ore mines. Whoopdefuckindoo~ I preferred having the miners go get all the gold and gems from the ground. Now it's harder to cripple your opponent financially since the ore mines are in their base. Win some, lose some, I s'pose. The balance has been reworked and is fantastic. Love it.
Play the tutorial (since the odds are you don't know the 360 control scheme). You won't regret it.
The graphics in this game aren't going to win any awards. I believe that C&C3/Kane's Wrath were better looking games texture-wise, but the Red Alert series is supposed to be colorful, and this iteration is no exception. The animations are fluid, and slowdown hasn't been an issue (a few cases of online lag [note: I don't play with many people online. Everyone I do play with has good connections {so I don't know if lag is an issue}]).
Classic Red Alert sound. Units all have their own unique phrases, and even say some very funny things in the campaign during certain situations. Music is AWESOME like all Red Alert games. Hell March, bitches. It's standard C&C fare. Cutscenes are fantastic.
The controls are fantastic for a console RTS. Without going too in-depth, they've made a system that allows you to easily reach your build queues, and quick select units/groups. I love it, but it still isn't quite as nice as a mouse/keyboard. Try the demo if you're really worried you can't handle it. Units have secondary abilities such as EMP pulses or cloaking devices. You can use Bears (as a Soviet team) to brutally maul any infantry. What more could you want?
3 Campaigns consisting of 9 missions each and 3 difficulty levels. Co-op, Skirmish, and Online Wars are available. Replay value is damn near infinite with the maps/opponent combinations you can create. I'll be playing this game for most of the 360's life cycle, I'm sure.
If you like C&C, and you want an RTS for your 360 (or don't have a gaming PC). Buy this game. The boxart alone justifies the purchase.
Graphics : B- -- Colorful, great animations, but not that detailed. They could have done more.
Sound : A- -- Great music, great sound effects, great unit voices. Cheesy sometimes? Of course, but it's supposed to be.
Gameplay : A- -- RTS' can work on a standard control pad, but if you need a mouse and keyboard you'll be upset. Co-op focused campaign is a plus.
Replayability : A+ -- Playing online skirmishes gives this game near infinite replayability.
Overall : A- -- Not necessarily the best C&C game ever, but my personal fav. that's available for the 360.
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『ようこそ！ワタシの音楽工場へへへへへへへへへへへへへへ』
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『絶対逃ガサナイカラ』
Last edited by HGW XX/7 on Sat May 02, 2009 4:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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