2008, for the most part it's been known as a year with some pretty mediocre games. Every genre in the industry has been suspect except one so far and that's the Third Person shooter. Grand Theft Auto 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4 have kept gamer from going stir crazy. But the avid Strategy Gamer has had nothing to shout about in terms of gaming excellence. Indeed it has been a dire year for the RTS. Some would ague that Spore has bucked that trend, but alas, it hasn't. A bunch of editors and 5 weak mini-games don't cut the mustard in this industry.
So what better at this seemingly boring time, to finally see a franchise heavyweight march over the hill. Boasting a strong marketing campaign, some seriously interesting virals and a Beta that screamed quality from the start. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 may just be the answer to all the woes and pain that gamers have been feeling. So will this game hold strong and put itself amongst the elite titles of the Franchise... or will Amazon members be giving it 1 star ratings because..... ok let's not go there.
Red Alert 3 starts off seemingly, during the end conflict in Red Alert 2 with the Soviets close to defeat. The Soviet Premier has fled the Kremlin, All seems lost, but two of the biggest Soviet Generals are not going to go down without one final trick up their sleeves.
So the story starts with General Cherdenko (Tim Curry) and his closest colleague General Krukov (Andrew Divoff) heading down a lift to an underground facility where an untested time machine lies in wait. After a seemingly successful transportation back through time they arrive in 1927 in Brussels, where Albert Einstein is giving a speech at an International Physics Conference. After the public speaking is over, Cherdenko wipes Einstein from the timeline with a simple handshake. They are then quickly transported back to their original point in time. When they arrive back, General Cherdenko has suddenly become Premier, and the Soviets are about to win the war against the Allies. That is, until a new opponent arrives... The Empire of the Rising Sun!
The FMV
Before you hit the ground running into the first Soviet mission. It becomes clear that Red Alert 3 isn't just another C&C game chucked out into the market to keep the franchise's fans happy. The FMV's themselves feel different, but there's also a real sense of Deja Vu. It's not a bad Deja Vu in fact, because you soon realise you haven't seen or heard FMV's like this since 2001. Yes, I am glad to say that EA have finally nailed the Westwood feel of Live Cinematics! But that's not all, they've taken it a stage further. We're not just talking High Definition quality here. We're talking about quality of the content through and through, and it becomes even more apparent as the game carries on!
The scenes in RA3 have been researched, applied, and carefully positioned for a real authentic feel. Gone are the odd desk and prop in front of a blue screen environment... we've got tonnes of backdrops, tonnes of props, and most importantly, we have an atmosphere that arguably hasn't been present in any Command & Conquer to date! Now that alone feels impressive!
Carrying on from that the Script and story, while still not Blockbuster Oscar winning material, is actually not too bad. However there are a few holes and a slight few things still lacking. Nevertheless, there's sub-plots, pre-mission hooks, and some surprises along the way. I found this to be a particularly important aspect when playing the game. Since from a gamers perspective this is what makes you want to complete the game rather than just go play Multiplayer, or chuck the game on a shelf.
The acting is unashamedly corny, but in a good way. There's a great professional quality with the acting however. Lines are delivered with great timing, and do not at any stage feel rushed. Expression both facially and through body language are also given proper treatment. Even once the actors are speaking to camera, nothing changes, everything is still strongly upheld with great conviction. However the Russian and Japanese accents in this game are consistently American flavoured. So it's lucky really that the few British actors in this game are the ones to address this almost upsetting balance. They allow the Allies to feel fresh, and the really deep British accents really do make things feel more like a European War rather than just another RA2 Yank Fest. So really, as a package, the experience almost couldn't be better! Maybe it's because I'm British too, but anyway.....
I say almost, because this is Red Alert. Now Red Alert wouldn't be the game it is without a twist. This twist is actually so big, it complements the game like bread and butter. Once the seemingly serious tones are out the way with, and you have been drawn into the game's storyline, you will find cheese. Cheese of every type, the acting, tone, and atmosphere takes a knock back to allow in some impressively subtle humour. What's most important here though is that it's done with great taste. The numerous digs at George Bush are amusing highlights with J.K. Simmons role as the American President Ackerman. There are many others which will raise a smile, make you laugh at times. Before even digging into the game itself, this is one of Red Alert 3's strongest points.
The Game
So what about the game itself. Critics would call this game Red Alert 2 3D, and leave it at that, but Red Alert 3 is so much more. The game's selling point is the co-operative play feature. The History of this feature has been around since Red Alert 2, but has never been implemented fully until now. You can either play alongside the game's AI or go online with a friend and take the game on together.
Out of curiosity I actually decided to hold off on the AI, and go online first. My real life co-commander wasn't a n00b, in fact he appeared to be one of the many people from the Beta test. (I recognised him so it seemed worth chucking him an invite) It was an easy conclusion to come to since despite the fact we needed to work together, my co-commander became my worst enemy. He would quickly wipe out the enemy AI leaving me lagging behind somewhat to mop up, while I was somewhat demanded to hurry up. A little later, a mission down the line was a little more of a chance to take the game at my own pace. I continued to play the campaign with him. My rather impatient colleague needed me to knock out some Airbase installations and aircraft for him to do his job on the sea. I had a fun time watching his base get torn to shreds, it felt like revenge!!.... Unfortunately, he promptly gave up with waiting, so disconnected from the game and left me to fight on my own. After laughing myself silly at his lack of team spirit, I cancelled out, and focussed on having a more casual game against an emotionless AI co-commander.
So, I was back at the start. No matter. I felt the opportunity to tell the computer what I wanted, and do it at my own pace. This will be what most of the RA3 campaign players will be doing anyway, so let's have a look.
For this game to work at the campaign “offline” level, the AI has to be strong. The bad news is that it's not perfect by a long shot, the AI is just about “borderline” capable. You'll find early on in the campaigns, the AI will follow you about like a little lost dog. Failing to be independent... It helps, but makes the early part of the game too easy. In the later missions, it finally starts to realise (like most dogs) that sniffing your backside isn't a great strategy, and thus becomes more independent. But the cheer for joy for its new found independence is short lived. Instead your AI co-commander seems to have had too many Vodkas/Whiskey/Sake (dependant on your side) and can't really fend for itself.
In true AI fashion, it will often act like a Skirmish AI and send out a few units, and get slaughtered a few times. Soon after, it will be counter attacked into oblivion and you're soon left to fight for yourself, just like my real life counterpart did earlier. So in order to counter this problem, you have to continually babysit and manage your AI team mate as well. This is usually the case when you are getting slaughtered and typically, your computer friend is having some financial troubles that would make this years credit crunch pail in comparison. So in fact, if he's dead, then you'll most likely soon be dead yourself, and you have to start again.
Why is this? Unfortunately the AI command interface is a little basic, with just a few buttons to attack a target, move and hold, plan attack, or let it get on with it's own devices (Bad idea!!!). Personally I would have preferred if there were a few extra micromanagement options to include waypoints, triggers and such. This would have made the game a lot easier and fun for those who aren't going to ask for help of real flesh and blood., But alas, if you wish to play solo, be prepared for a tough fight, because you will literally be going solo most of the time! So, for the love of god, you must dare to venture online towards the end if you wish to complete this game! Unless of course, you're very good.
It's once you're faced with this rather painful scenario that you begin to realise what a god-send online co-op really is. Despite my earlier (almost off-putting) encounter with a bossy co-commander, I began to enjoy the tougher missions in a whole new way. The experience of finally smashing through an enemy line which once seemed impossible, was a liberating feeling. It became clear at every stage where the AI was just bloody useless, there was always someone in a similar position ready to take the fight when it mattered most. Simply put, this means co-op works, and it works damn well!
That said. While a couple of missions are deserving of some strategical thought, most are by and large the same “spam-a-tank” and “overrun the enemy” style missions that this franchise has been serving up since the mid 90's. It's a bit of luck because that AI... (mumble....) anyway, moving on!
What can make things worse at times is the realisation that each of the game's 3 campaign's only contains 9 missions a piece. In many ways this limited amount of missions sounds too short, but unlike C&C 3, you don't just destroy building X to complete the mission and move on. Instead, all missions are broken up, eventually expanding into bigger arenas. This time you can destroy building X. But you'll also have to destroy all production structures as well. This prevents the enemy from making a comeback. It also bulks out these 9 missions to a reasonable campaign length.
I've moaned about AI, and now pathfinding is an issue. It's not as bad as the AI but it's still annoying. In most cases the pathfinding can do the job if it's in short bursts across a short distance. But if you wish to have your forces do a trek to the final frontier, half of them will camp out, cook some marshmallows and set up camp for the night. Then if they're really lazy, they'll often consider settling down and starting a new family! Metaphors aside though, forces will be left behind, and you will be required on many occasions to go back and guide the stragglers to join your force.
So, let's pop in a bit about the music. Afterall, what's a C&C without great music? Luckily, C&C is back with a great musical score. This is not Klepacki's finest hour though. While Hell March 3 is indeed the best version to date,Grinder 2 is a nothing more than average. Harsh statement maybe, but I wasn't (and I'm still not) keen on it.
However, there are other composers in the mix. The Bitter irony her is that they have put some of Frank Klepacki's C&C sequel work to shame! The rest of the soundtrack is actually (for lack of better definition) made of pure awesome! The battle themes stick out well, with the Soviet version being a firm favourite... so much so, it's a ringtone on my phone! Yes, I like it that much.... and this battle march deserves to be the theme track of the game.. Hell March, hand over your crown!
The rest of the soundtrack is an eclectic mix of great ambient sounds, strong electronic grooves, orchestral magnificence and a rather satisfying sprinkle of other genres. Although I wasn't sure about a hip-hop funk track during a skirmish as the allies, but still it wasn't bad. Anyway, another firm favourite is an allied ambient theme which has a real patriotic feel about it. The name escapes me at this time, but you'll know it when you hear it because it usually appears when you're close to victory. Overall this is one of the best soundtracks for a C&C to date!
Multiplayer and Skirmish games are without a doubt, a blast! For those who find the campaign's a little cumbersome, this is where you'll find your fun. The action here (despite the game speed decrease in comparison to C&C 3) is still fast and fluid. The mad rush for tighter resources, and land mass is even more intense than any previous C&C to date.
So far I have neglected to tell about unit secondary abilities, and there's a good reason why. The Multiplayer and Skirmish modes are where these abilities really come into their own. Against an AI opponent in the campaigns they were often redundant and didn't really require much usage. For an easy or medium Skirmish opponent, the same story is true. However if you jack up the AI difficulty or take the fight online against real flesh and blood, you will need every trick up your sleeve to win.
A nice touch in Skirmish mode is worth mentioning. When you do choose a faction to batter over the head with a rather large stick, you'll be offered to select one of that faction's commanders to battle. While it seems pointless, all is made clear on the first AI attack. Videos will come up, and you will be taunted. Then again, once or twice throughout the game when something good happens... and then one final time when you finally crush, or be crushed. It's a nice little touch that adds some great personality to what has become a rather stale mode in RTS games these days. Message to EA, I'd like to see more of this!!!
Despite the symmetrical maps here, most are well designed. The AI will hold itself very well on the harder level skirmishes, and the balanced mix of factors for the real life opponents does make sure that no 2 games are the same. However, as with Single player, there are still some maps which have some critical path-finding issues. Even the bugs that appeared in the Beta which should have been eradicated (even simple one's I myself have reported) remain... a popular one is having max clearance playing as the Allies, and still not having access to units like the Spy and Tanya. They are fewer and further between than before, so the game does still continue to be fun. After all it's something that an upcoming patch can fix, so it's more of an inconvenience right now than a hinderance.
Conclusion
Red Alert 3 has promised to be so much in the run up to launch. The Single player is extremely fun and often amusing at times with its FMV cut scenes, and the end result means there is enough mission content to complete this game entirely. Although each campaign only sports 9 missions per faction, the substance of each mission means you'll pack in some serious game time. The difficulty ramps up with the AI not being perfect, however it makes for an interesting experience that lasts. Quite simply I want more! I do sincerely love this game, and will have to max the game out on Hard for a replay or wait for the already known upcoming expansion that's now in the works. But at least once you're done with the Single Player, there's a good amount of very solid Skirmish and online gaming to be had.
It just seems a shame that the C&C franchise is more of a polished multiplayer game these days, and as a result, this prevents it from being the greatest C&C game of all time. That said, it is better than Generals, and by miles, a more enjoyable game than C&C 3. I will even go as far to say that as far as the C&C franchise goes, it destroys Tiberian Sun (especially on stability and bugs), and even gives Red Alert 2 a kick out the door. Unfortunately, it cannot beat the original C&C, and Red Alert games in their respective universes. You've heard the term “The originals are ultimately the best”.... This bares true when it comes to Red Alert 3. However, minor issues aside, this is a classic C&C game. This review may have pointed towards a lot of the negetive, but most of this can be fixed with a patch, so will not be considered in the final score. So I have to admit, it's the best C&C game in 11 years! Pure and simple, if you do not have Red Alert 3 in your software library already, you need to buy this game!
Pros
- Corny, cheesy, yet very humorous FMV's that pull the story along.
- Excellent Gameplay is Solid as a rock.
- Co-op sets the bar high for the Genre.
- Kick-Ass Music Score!
- The Best C&C game since the original Red Alert!
Cons
- C&C style Spam-a-tank still prevails, especially in Single Player.
- The co-commander AI acts like an idiot at times.
- Single Player Map Design could be better.
- Path-finding and a few bugs are minor annoyances.
- I want more RA3 already!!!
Score: 94%
