Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

Amazon.com Product Description
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 from EA brings back the fan-favorite real-time strategy game in its latest incarnation with new features, powers, technologies, and a different world. Now, you can play not just by yourself but also cooperatively with a friend as you take on the enemy in this glorious, over-the-top romp.

Co-operative mode lets you and a friend play together in campaign mode. View larger.

Wage battle on sea as well as on land and in air. View larger.

There is over an hour of in-game video. View larger.

Red Alert 3 introduces new units and a brand new faction. View larger.

Intriguing Plot Twists
In previous games, the war between the Allies and Soviets was coming to a close with the Allies nearing victory. In desperation, the Soviets created a time-travel device that they've used to assassinate Albert Einstein before he is able to develop the weapon technology the Allies later use to defeat the Soviets. Upon returning, they notice a new world, and there is a world war taking place between three groups for control of the world.

Play As Three Different Factions for Varied game play
In Red Alert 3, you have the choice to play as the Allies, the Soviets, or the Empire of the Rising Sun. Each faction has its own story-line and distinct units with advantages and disadvantages that you have to master in order to win. The new faction to the series is the Empire of the Rising Sun, derived from Imperial Japan, with an all-new cast of units and characters.

The three factions have many differences, exemplified by their wildly different types of units. The Soviets, for example, have armored attack bears, Allies have the Dolphin ship which can high jump and use a sonic attack, and the Empire of the Rising Sun features such quirky units as a giant transforming mecha and ninjas. As they've done with the series, EA injects humor into the game when possible, keeping a smile on your face as you wage war.

Fight on Land, in the Air, and on Sea
Red Alert 3 has land units, air units, and naval units, all integral parts of the game. Unlike most strategy games that don't bother with naval warfare, Red Alert 3 makes controlling the seas an essential part of the game. Controlling resources in the seas and mounting attacks from all directions are strategies that must be employed to achieve victory.

Cooperative Mode Lets You Team Up with Your Friends
Red Alert 3 has a fully co-operative campaign mode where you and a friend can play together to achieve victory. This means that you have to develop a strategy together, as well as execute it in synch in order to win. If your friends aren't online, you can also choose one of several AI commanders as your teammate.

Play Against Your Friends in Multiplayer
With the different units and play mechanics of each faction, you and your friends will have a great time playing against each other, perfecting different strategies to best suit the units you have and the maps you play on. And thanks to the balanced game play, no one will have an unfair advantage.

For previous fans of Command and Conquer, Red Alert 3 will provide the same light-hearted game play, but with more units, more strategies, and more fun. Newcomers to the game will soon see what all the fuss and laughter is about.

Minimum System Requirements
Operating System	Microsoft Windows XP / Vista (32-bit)
CPU	XP: 2.0 GHz (Intel Pentium 4; AMD Athlon 2000+; Multiple Cores) / Vista: 2.2 GHz (Intel Pentium 4/AMD Athlon 2200+/Multiple Cores)
Memory	512 MB for Windows XP; 1 GB for Vista
Hard Drive Space	6 GB / 12GB for EA Link
DVD Drive	8x Speed
Graphics Hardware	NVIDIA GeForce 6800, ATI Radeon X1800 or higher end DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card
Sound	DirectX 9.0c compatible (Creative Sound Blaster Audigy cards require a Intel P4 2.6 GHz or similar under Vista, Yamaha Xwave-512 not supported)
Online Multiplayer	512Kbps or faster Internet connection
Input	Keyboard, mouse

Mediocre, No More, No Less
I didn't really expect the oodles of cleavage and absurdity that RA3 offers. I'd heard the game didn't take itself seriously and I can enjoy satire or comedy. Sexism and poor story don't really do much for me.
If you're familiar with the Red Alert Series RA3 does not have an extremely original story. Someone (Einstein in RA, both sides in Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge) travels to the past to change the future. This time the Soviets try their luck. Then you proceed to pick up the pieces of an alternate history and put the story right for whichever side you choose.
The graphics are very nice. The gameplay is not satisfying. There is less strategy and more "argh! Go kill the other guy with this really cool stuff!" There seems to be a distinct preference towards the new faction. In the future don't let anime fan-boys take over something. Once mutated to their conception of what entertainment should be, the game lost a large part of its soul. And I lost a couple of bucks.
If you have low standards and want to see a few seconds of flesh; knock yourself out. Otherwise skip this title in favor of something, anything else.

Surprisingly good considering EA's track record
After having played tiberium wars i was a bit skeptical about trying red alert 3, but i have no regrets now. The campaign has the same feel as any of the older two red alerts and the acting is also up to par. The gameplays runs and feels smooth, and the online matches experience little to no lag (subjective i know). some of the balance still needs to be worked out, and some glitches are rather breaking, but they appear to be worked on and looked into in timely matters, so i wouldn't be pverly worried about that.

Bottom line, if you enjoyed the series so far, or enjoy the genre this is definitely a game worth looking into.

Wait, just wait
This game is fun, but so not finished.
Poorly balanced, still laden with bugs and errors.
Also, it is infested with Gestapo-Software.
One can only hope, that the sales are so abysmal, that this will be fixed.
Once the Gestapo crap is removed and the bugs are fixed, I will GLADLY give EA fifty of my dollars for the work they did.
Until then, there is just no way I would and neither should you...

Stay Away
No matter how well the game is designed, stay away from the DRM protected game. It is nothing but a hassle to deal with and will make a good computer crappy in a short time.

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