Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Westwood Studios

Real-Time Strategy

Quintin Stone

C&C: Red Alert is the long awaited sequel to Command & Conquer. Actually, to be more accurate, it is a prequel. The events of Red Alert supposedly take place some 40 years before the original C&C, during Stalin's height of power in the USSR. Why, then, is Kane around so long ago, helping to call the shots? That's a very good question. Yes it is.

If you thought that Command & Conquer took place within our own universe, you thought wrong. If you thought it's history was the same as ours, you were also wrong. If you thought that a politician would fulfill his campaign promises, you're just plain dumb. Anyway, in the Red Alert intro, we are shown one of the major nexus points in history that diverges from our own: Albert Einstein, creator of a time travelling machine, journeys back in time and "disposes" of history's worst monster, Adolph Hitler, in a manner unspecified. Without Hitler, Germany is a member of the "good guys", but now Russia seeks to spread its empire across all of Asia and Europe. World War II will never be the same.

The technology of Red Alert's 1940's also differs from our own, and oddly enough, seems very different from the tech of the original Command & Conquer (sometimes more advanced). Russians, not Allieds, have the large and mammoth tanks. Allieds are stuck with small and medium. No laser towers, instead there are powerful tesla coils that destroy with arcs of electricity. No commandos, but we do have Tanya with her pair of .45's (which, oddly enough, seem to have more range than a 5.56mm rifle). In addition to radar, there is the GPS satellite, and the Gap Generator and mobile radar jammer. Both sides get mine-layers, but one gets anti-personnel, the other anti-vehicle (as if an anti-vehicle mine wouldn't shred an infantryman). Instead of mining Tiberium (not yet discovered), you collect precious metals and gemstones for money (uh, okay).

One issue I have with the game is the balance of power. Russia has clear air superiority, with the Yak, Mig, and Hind chopper, but finally C&C has full naval capabilities, something I've been waiting for ever since the original C&C came out. The Allieds have devestating naval units, consisting of gunboats, destroyers, and cruisers (which can shell buildings and units from half-way across the map). More than a match for the Russian's submarines. Russia has the Mammoth Tank, giving it the strongest, most resiliant ground unit in the game, plus they have grenadiers, effective against both infantry and vehicles. Allieds do excel in defense, though, having the anti-aircraft guns, much superior to the slow-moving Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) sites. But the sense of balance between the two sides is gone. In C&C, GDI had general all-purpose units, while Nod had specialized, unique units, each suited to a particular mission. All in all, you got the sense that the two greatly evened out. But in Red Alert, things just seem a little more lopsided. Except in the water, Russian units outclass Allied forces every time. A fleet of many fast-moving MIG's can prove disasterous to an Allied army or base, even with solid defenses. Instead of both sides having powerful units and defenses, in Red Alert, it seems that the Russians have powerful units, while the Allieds have strong defenses. A different kind of balance, perhaps, but I still don't feel that the sides are evenly matched.

Some of the advances to the engine in Red Alert, besides controllable naval units, are the Formation option, Waypoint plotting, and the computers improved base-building ability. These features are nice, but could still stand improvement. Units have trouble staying in formation even when told to, and the waypoint plotting is flaky at best (and good luck finding documentation on it). The computer is still a goofy base builder, but it has improved much from before. It does beat most other games (Warcraft II, and, even though it's not a real-time strategy, Deadlock). Also, if you play in Windows, you can play in Super VGA, which is a real nice touch. To bad you have to spoil it by being in Windows.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a good game. It's an improvement over the original. But it didn't make the impression that its predecessor did. It was fun to play, but so many units and choices and possible routes of attack, it lacked the strategic edge that the original had. I'm not sure how to explain it. In C&C, you had to worry about stealth tanks, so you built your base accordingly. Stagger your units to allow harvesters easy access, while restricting enemy entry. In Red Alert, everything seemed like a clusterfuck. You have land, air, and sea to consider, so things aren't quite as simple anymore. This makes it more realistic, yes. But it loses its chess-like quality (chess being one of the least realistic games I can think of), and moves away from strategic and towards tactical.