Plot

Imagine a world where World War II didn’t happen… Imagine a world where the soviets and the allies have battled it out in all out nuclear powered war.. Imagine if the soviets where loosing that war, and took drastic action..

That drastic action is using a time machine to travel back in time to kill Albert Einstein, who gave the allies their super weapons..  On returning back to the present however,  the soviets find they have altered the space time continuum, and  although they are not loosing the war now, the death of Albert Einstein has allowed another unseen power to rise up and smite them AND the Allies…

This third super power is the Empire of the Rising Sun, and it is also set on total world domination.

This is the B-Movie style setting for Red Alert 3 - which see all three super powers fighting each other for control of ore and land in the world of Command and Conquer, a style that is reinforced by the live action over CGI background cut scenes which are acted very tongue in cheek.

So charge up your sonic dolphins, ready the Tesla powered Stingrays and prepare for WAR!!

  
Game play

The game play will instantly be familiar to fans of the series, it’s a  Real Time Strategy game played in a  3d top down view of the battle field with you as the over all commander in charge of the troops, issuing orders to try and defeat the enemy troops and destroy their base. In this game however you also get a co-commander, which can either be a  friend over Xbox live, so co op play in the single player campaign or a computer controlled Co-Commander, which you can order to help with a few limited commands, or allow to do their own thing.

I would suggest playing the tutorials, if not only to become similar with the control scheme, which can be a little tricky at first, but also to hear some very funny banter between the three fractions as they fight over who’s army is the best.

When you start the main campaign, you first pick your side, either the Soviets - which is the suggested starting fraction, the Allies, complete with some cracking accents  or the Empire of the Rising Sun, which if you like high tech and mecha - should be for you.

You then also have the chance to invite a friend for co op play - or allow the computer to act as your co-commander, which if your playing offline, does a fairly decent job - and can save your skin, should the need arise.

When you finally start on a map the basic principle of the game, is fairly straight forward on paper but very deep in game.

You mine ore, which is a fully automatic process, you just need to protect it and then use the money to make bases, structures for either power or defence, manufacturing and barracks with in turn can make troops, along with just about every type of vehicle that either drive on land flies or floats, or does a combination, since there’s also navel battles in this remade version of the classic PC game, you have to fight on land sea and air.

What do you do with all these things? You  send your troops out to totally destroy the enemy targets. And win the war!

The units [troops and vehicles] you control are as equally bizarre as they are deadly, ranging from pretty standard looking soldiers to war bears, sonic weapon firing dolphins to giant robot samurai. Some units are also amphibious so a boat can suddenly sprout legs and walk on land, or a sub take to the air or vice versa - this adds to the role of the vehicle, since some are ok on water - but of greater use on land, or in the air so careful use of the different types is key to winning.

Each unit is well animated, considering the amount of them that can be onscreen at a time, and are also able to protect themselves quite well - but each unit has it’s own strengths and weaknesses against certain other units - so using the right unit for the job is key to success.. As is protecting your own base, structures and ore mine, which is key to victory - since without ore, there is no money and without money - no units or structures.

Power is also a key to success - since you need power to make units and structures, so make sure you have plenty on tap, just in case you need to make a sudden push.

The main objectives in the game are given before and during the game, via either full screen cut scenes or a small video window featuring great full motion video with some very well known actors hamming it up, from Tim Curry to Jenny McCarthy some well know faces pop up to either commend your actions or to ridicule your failures.

To help there be as few failures as possible - as well as fairly ‘normal’ weapons of war - you also have some top secret protocols - which range from a fairly standard radar fly by, highlighting enemy troops to full on weapons of mass destruction - which can be upgraded to truly epic in size, a few of these used at the right time can change the course of a battle, but use wisely, since the enemy can and will retaliate.

The controls can seem a little bit over whelming at first, with the manual making quite a read, but after playing the tutorials you quickly learn the use of the ‘Command Wheel’ which makes a return from C&C Kane’s wraith along with some new features, such as the radar mode - which enlarges the radar screen and allows you to quickly move about the map with both speed and ease.

There are times though, in the heat of battle when every thing seems to happen at once, so at these times you may well need concentrate and remember just what button does what.

Each fraction has 10 levels of campaign, so 30 or so levels and even though you might think that’s not a lot - each battle can play out very differently each time you play, so there is some replay value.

  
Online

A good selection of maps, 20,  are used in up to 4 player online games either ranked or unranked. You can either team up with a friend and go 2 on 2 or a free for all - the only mode available is skirmish, which may disappoint fans of the older games, which had more modes online - but the balance of the fractions many different units, adds to the game a lot, with not one unit or fraction being overly powerful, infect some of the smaller units can bring about a turn in the tide of war..

  
Graphics

Maps in general are bright and colourful, if lacking in detail there’s the odd texture problem, oddly aligned texture here and there, but it does not detract from the game.

Being seen from above, and with limited amount of zoom, you do feel that your ‘missing out’ on some of the finer details, since some of the units appear to be very well designed, and you want to see the ensuing battles from a slightly closer view.

Animation of the individual units, as mentioned before, is smooth, if a little limited in their actions, even with 20 or 30 units shooting rockets, exploding and running about - the frame rate remains smooth for the most part, with only a hint of screen tearing or slow down when something major explodes..

There’s also some ok water effects, since there’s a slight emphasis on naval combat in this version,  such as ripples and splashes as you send units to Davy Jones locker, but also some nice lapping waves on the beaches of some maps, if you get time to look!

Buildings and other props are also detailed and each has damage animations to go along with the general carnage that happens in the game, such as trees being trampled by the tanks and exploding houses.

Special mention should go to the full screen cut scenes, as well as the smaller pop up videos mid game, these are acted in true holly wood b movie cheese mode, and come across as over the top, and sometimes very, very funny. Use of blue screen allows CGI backgrounds to be blended in with live action actors and set, and effect works very well, in fact you can view all of these scenes from the menu as a continuous movie.

Fans of the game series will have a smile on their faces as soon as the intro movie kicks off.

Even though the Xbox 360 version is not as detailed in the units and maps, over all, as the PC version, it’s still a OK looking game, even with some slow down here and there.

  
Sound

Anyone who has played the C&C series will hear some familiar tunes, remixed and brought up to date, as well as some new themes - which come together in a very b movie sounding score, which adds to the overall feel of the game.

Sound effects in game are mainly well done, ranging from large explosions down to the growls of the war bears with only units vocal reports being repeated a little too much, such as ‘charging coils’ but it can add to the game, since each unit reports it’s intended actions. However if your making a few of the same unit - the ‘reporting for duty’ sound from the units, although different for the many types of unit, is the same, as are the cries for help, warnings or ‘unit lost’ - which when you first start, you may hear a lot!

  
Final thoughts

If you can handle the idea of time travel, killer dolphins and giant samurai robots, you will have a blast, once you get the hang of the control scheme.

The game can be great fun, as long as you understand the need for managing your forces correctly, otherwise you will find battles ending with your defeat very quickly. There’s no point having 30 tanks, if the map is an island based battle, since you will also need some sea based units.

Selecting units is easy, you can group selections with ease, however in the midst of  battle, it can be easy to forget to cancel the order cursor and misguide your troops back to where they started, by selecting the next group or so you think..

You might have a smile on your face though within minutes of starting the game, seeing some of the ingenious ways of transporting troops - you can load them into certain units and either parachute in, or using a soviet unit like the bullfrog, man cannon them in - it shoots out the loaded troops via it’s man cannon, and you see the troops or bears open parachutes and float down safely ready for battle!

Battles can rage on for 40 minute’s plus, depending on your skill, and units used - or can be over very quickly - so there’s some decent length to the game, if you have the skill of managing your units.

Some people may also be disappointed in the limit of 50 units, due to memory restrictions on the 360 - however, at no point does it become a real problem, and some may prefer not having too many units to control and also look after.

The other major disappointment is the lack of detail in the graphics and close up zoom, but considering the amount of units and things going boom! - it is somewhat understandable.

If you’re a fan of the series, Red Alert 3 is a welcome addition to the collection, brought up to date, with new features, and some great strategy action!

And don’t forget to check out the training tutorials for some giggles, great voice acting and accents and some very funny moments especially the ‘training robots’ reference!