I'll start off simple. This is my first review here so please be gentle. Alright, that being water under the bridge let's begin.
Command and Conquer : Red Alert 3 is the newest addition to the already large family that the Command and Conquer series already was. I picked up this title a little reluctantly at first after reading some initial impressions all over the internet. But then I thought of how much I loved the previous Red Alerts and considered I would be disrespectful to those memories if I didn't give their latest offspring a bit of attention.
First thing I noticed after first starting the game, was the awesome sound track. All throughout the game, the background music changes with what exactly happens on the battlefield. Building your base peacefully, the music is slow and not all that noticeable. A few chimes here and there and that's about it. Start blowing up, shooting, electrocuting or dolphining(?!) enemies then the music gets more alert, seeming to keep you on your toes. In the 2 or so days it took me to blast through 5/6 of the game's campaigns, I never got bored of it. So this test the game passes with flying colors... but come to think of it a bit more... EA has always had a head for music if all the other titles they put out are a reference.
Moving on to the story aspect. I always loved a game which presents the reason as to why I go dolphining my enemies. And in my honest opinion, this game fails hard at this aspect. I know what you're thinking. "But the story is a parody". That is true, but doing something stupid and saying it was intentional does not make it less stupid... and thinking a bit more, I'm feeling a bit sorry for the models posing as the intelligence officers. However, for all its lameness, the story does the job of telling me why there's an Empire of the Rising Sun and why I have to kill a myriad of enemies in the name of the emperor's honor/soviet people/capitalism.
On to the gameplay, there really is not much to say about this game. There have been at least 2 (C&C Tiberium wars, C&C Generals) other EA titles in the last 4 years, not counting expansion packs, that used the same interface and control systems as this one, which made it pretty hard to jump off the beaten track. Why fix something which isn't broken I suppose. The unit balance is relatively adequate, and the little nicks and bumps within it will surely be ironed out with the subsequent patches. The game brings absolutely no innovation to the series, only a "improved" graphics engine. I really haven't informed myself to which that is, but it is really inconsequential.
The final point is graphics, and considering it's EA we are talking about, if they released something this bland and done before with bad graphics the game would be a must buy only for hardened fans of the Command and Conquer series. So it had to be relatively good to today's standards. I am however a fan of proportions and with that in mind I have to say that this game has thrown them out the window. There is no way a "Peacekeeper" would fit in those clown cars they call vehicle, and other things such as that.
In conclusion I will say that this is a game for fans. A simple ploy to make money out of the diehard fans of the old Red Alert games. What this game does was done before, in the time where it still was innovation. There's nothing new. Nothing to differentiate it. There had not been one designer in the team to say "Hey... let's try something new". Well... actually, there is. The possibility to build most your buildings offshore. But that hardly counts. It's Red alert 2 with "better" graphics and a new faction... and more skin-revealing female models. Rent if if you want, buy it if you must.
Command and Conquer : Red Alert 3 is the newest addition to the already large family that the Command and Conquer series already was. I picked up this title a little reluctantly at first after reading some initial impressions all over the internet. But then I thought of how much I loved the previous Red Alerts and considered I would be disrespectful to those memories if I didn't give their latest offspring a bit of attention.
First thing I noticed after first starting the game, was the awesome sound track. All throughout the game, the background music changes with what exactly happens on the battlefield. Building your base peacefully, the music is slow and not all that noticeable. A few chimes here and there and that's about it. Start blowing up, shooting, electrocuting or dolphining(?!) enemies then the music gets more alert, seeming to keep you on your toes. In the 2 or so days it took me to blast through 5/6 of the game's campaigns, I never got bored of it. So this test the game passes with flying colors... but come to think of it a bit more... EA has always had a head for music if all the other titles they put out are a reference.
Moving on to the story aspect. I always loved a game which presents the reason as to why I go dolphining my enemies. And in my honest opinion, this game fails hard at this aspect. I know what you're thinking. "But the story is a parody". That is true, but doing something stupid and saying it was intentional does not make it less stupid... and thinking a bit more, I'm feeling a bit sorry for the models posing as the intelligence officers. However, for all its lameness, the story does the job of telling me why there's an Empire of the Rising Sun and why I have to kill a myriad of enemies in the name of the emperor's honor/soviet people/capitalism.
On to the gameplay, there really is not much to say about this game. There have been at least 2 (C&C Tiberium wars, C&C Generals) other EA titles in the last 4 years, not counting expansion packs, that used the same interface and control systems as this one, which made it pretty hard to jump off the beaten track. Why fix something which isn't broken I suppose. The unit balance is relatively adequate, and the little nicks and bumps within it will surely be ironed out with the subsequent patches. The game brings absolutely no innovation to the series, only a "improved" graphics engine. I really haven't informed myself to which that is, but it is really inconsequential.
The final point is graphics, and considering it's EA we are talking about, if they released something this bland and done before with bad graphics the game would be a must buy only for hardened fans of the Command and Conquer series. So it had to be relatively good to today's standards. I am however a fan of proportions and with that in mind I have to say that this game has thrown them out the window. There is no way a "Peacekeeper" would fit in those clown cars they call vehicle, and other things such as that.
In conclusion I will say that this is a game for fans. A simple ploy to make money out of the diehard fans of the old Red Alert games. What this game does was done before, in the time where it still was innovation. There's nothing new. Nothing to differentiate it. There had not been one designer in the team to say "Hey... let's try something new". Well... actually, there is. The possibility to build most your buildings offshore. But that hardly counts. It's Red alert 2 with "better" graphics and a new faction... and more skin-revealing female models. Rent if if you want, buy it if you must.
