Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

The game isn't great but the controls are a bit wierd

I just thought to post a review in light of what's going on in the world right now. As tragically perceptive as this game was, it was just a supreme piece of film. The soundtrack and humour blended with drama were fantastic.

The problem I found with this game was the fact that yet another "alternative universe" had to be created to introduce the Empire of the rising sun and this new alternative universe was created when the Soviets travel back in time to get rid of "Einstien" who was responsible for the Allies high tech weaponry such as the Chronosphere, It would've been better if they found a better storyline to do that instead of copying what was already done in the 1st Red Alert, in the 1st Alert it was a great idea to have an alternative universe but why do it again? The original alternative timeline that was introduced in the 1st Red Alert was fine as it was, getting rid of Hitler to allow the Soviets to rise made perfect sense in the original since without Hitler Germany wouldn't have started World War 2 and thus never attacked Russia (See World war 2 History for details :D) This game has some plot holes for instance, with Einstien gone the Soviets no longer have Nuclear weapons which makes sense but wait who made the Chronosphere with Einstien gone? I know someone else did but it never is explained. Onto the gameplay; the fact that most units have more than one ability is very interesting but one major critcism is the way ore is collected; I know it's a lot easier and reduces the focus on resources but it just doesn't feel the same as the classic resource gathering in previous installations which is a pity even so the game is very fun to play and it's nice to see Naval Combat once again because none of us have seen that in Command and Conquer since Yuri's Revenge but I think naval combat was a bit overrused this time though since almost every mission has it as well as the ability to build bases on water which departs from the fun of a classic Land Battle most of the time (I know the U.S.A in C&C Generals had Ships in some missions but they were really only providing firing support and had no other roles aside from that and the enemy couldn't really counterrattack). The missions in the game can be a challenge which is great to see once again as personally I felt Red Alert 2 was too easy. Music is great to listen to as well. I just wish this had the classic feel of it's predecessors, it comes close but something is still missing, I really would've preferred a good old battle between the Allies and the Soviets without a third faction because now the Empire Of The Rising Sun is the ultimate threat all of a sudden which spoils the effect of how fearsome the Soviets were in previous games except for Yuri's Revenge since Yuri was the main threat in that case. I really would've liked to see the Soviets as the main threat once again in this game. This game would have been a lot better if it felt like a true sequel to Yuri's Revenge because with the new time line taking place in RA3 I don't know whether to call it a Sequel or a Prequel to Yuri's Revenge since it clearly erases the events of Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge and is bound to have changed the 1st Red Alert as well since Nuclear weapons no longer exist. This game is apparently an alternative war to Red Alert 2 since it happens around the same time but it would have been nice if it felt like it continued on directly from Yuri's Revenge instead of making a new time line but then again by Yuri's Revenge a storyline that made sense went out the window and I guess this game took it one step further but even so Yuri's Revenge felt like a sequel whereas this felt like something entirelly different, though Yuri's Revenge messed around with time travel at least what was occurring felt like the classic timeline we all know and love that was established in the original with some slight changes. I'm not saying the storyline had to be built on common sense but it should have really been written to continue on in the same timeline at the end of Yuri's Revenge or at least planned out better without creating an entirelly new timeline. Personally I think it would have been nice to have a classic Allies vs Soviets battle again without any interference from other factions.

Overall: Good Gameplay and well worth getting but the storyline could have been better but that doesn't mean you won't enjoy it but should there be a sequel to this let's hope the storyline is better :)Sadly the storyline in this leaves a lot to be desired.

After the success of command & conquer 3: Tiberium wars, EA (who took over the command & conquer franchise from the defunct Westwood studios back in 2003) decided to make a third red alert game this time adding a new powerful faction called 'the empire of the rising sun' a militarized and futuristic version of japan. the game isn't a direct sequel to red alert 2 released in 2000 instead it focuses on its own time line. The Soviet Union is falling apart and in one last ditch effort colonel Anatoly Cherdenko (played by Tim curry) and general Nicolai Krukov (played by Andrew Divoff) goes back in time with the aid of Dr. Gregory Zelinsky's time machine. Zelinsky (played by Peter Stormare) tells the men not to touch anything fearing that it may disrupt the space time continuum but anatoly Cherdenko disregards his orders and shakes hands with Albert Einstein which disintegrate him — thus giving the soviet union an advantage over the allied forces in his time line. They leave 1927's Brussels and head back to their time line which they discover that the soviet union and the world is significantly different from theirs. Anatoly Cherdenko is premier that makes Krakov jealous the soviets are far superior in this time line marching across western Europe from the weaker allied forces, all seems well until a message from Emperor Yoshiro (played by 'oh my!' George Takei) threatens the sovereignty of the Soviet Union and masses an army to invade it. Now the USSR has two mortal enemies and without nuclear or atomic weapons their dreams of a socialist utopia is in vain.

The problem that i had with this game isn't so much the game itself (although I would prefer it if they didn't shrink the infantry units to just one rather than what they did in the Tiberium wars where you had 20 or so soldiers in one unit.) No, it's more the storyline which is littered with plot holes, I don't understand why they didn't just continue on from red alert 2 acknowledging the fact that the events of the second game had devastated and exhausted both the allied forces as well as the soviet union, the empire of the rising sun would of come to power anyway due to their counterparts weaknesses and would of taken over the whole of Asia with little response from the allied forces whom are already at war with Soviet Russia. Adding the time travel story done better in the First Red Alert Game (First Game was getting rid of Hitler before his rise of power) so they) can have the empire of the rising sun is really pointless.

The other problem I had was the Characters, they are just so goofy and silly so much so they are irritating. Granted this is a tongue in cheek series from the command and conquer games but when you have badly over acting from otherwise well respected actors like J.K. Simmons (who plays the president of the United States) and Jonathan Pryce (playing as an Allied field Marshall) it's not a good thing. The females characters especially the military advisers are over sexualized to the max, I keep half expecting that one of them is going to bring me a cup of coffee mid game wearing a bikini and high heels. The military advisers for both the soviets and the allies have shirts and outfits that reveals their cleavage as with most of the women characters in the game, Speaking of the costume design, they look fake as hell. The second red alert game the outfits look real convincing and didn't look overdone. Yet in this game the outfits all look like they got them from a fancy dress shop. Examples: The Allies generals and commanders wear bright navy blue sometimes blue camouflage clothing – the Soviets wear an awful black leather outfits with red stripes on it and Japanese wear mostly samurai like outfits with plastic looking armour on them.

I probably sound like I really hated this game but in honesty I actually enjoyed it. there's nothing wrong with the game itself, the quality is good and the military in all three factions are interesting from unit types to technological advancements and disadvantages, but the story acting and even the dialogue is just cringe worthy. Still it is nowhere near as bad as Tiberian twilight which pretty much destroyed the Command and Conquer series.

I discovered I missed out on C&C 3 and 4. I go online and WOW! Every game and expansion for $10!! The third was good but the fourth was a BIG disappointment! I found myself going back to the older games I remembered and I am stuck between RA2 and RA3. These games still got me playing all day unintentionally because they are so fun. I'm my top 10 games for sure :)