Command & Conquer: Red Alert

aka: C&C 2, C&C:RA, C&C:RA1, Command & Conquer: Alarmstufe Rot, Command & Conquer: Alerte Rouge, Command & Conquer: Teil 2 - Alarmstufe Rot
Moby ID: 485
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

What if Hitler never existed? Einstein pondered the question and created a time-machine to eliminate Hitler as a young man, thus preventing World War II as history remembers it. However, Einstein stopped one evil only to create another - because Stalin's Soviet Union is now poised to conquer Europe... and Allies must stop them!

Command & Conquer: Red Alert can be considered a prequel to Command & Conquer. Like its predecessor, it is a real-time strategy with an isometric semi-top-down perspective using 2D sprite graphics engine. The player takes control of either the Allies or the Soviets, as he battles for destiny of the planet. Gameplay features are similar to those of the previous game, including building a base with some defenses, massing units, harvesting resources, etc. The game has a variety of environments in its missions, adding some indoor missions that use only infantry units.

Spellings

  • 커맨드 앤 컨커: 적색경보 - Korean spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

93 People (90 developers, 3 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 88% (based on 44 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 258 ratings with 16 reviews)

Red alert-- well, i better get my hands to battle stations!

The Good
It is actually one of the few games around that are made of factions that exist(or have exsisted in the case of the soviet's). It also allows a fair bit of creativity that is well blended in with historical facts, with is cool.

The Bad
Those damn Russian subs cant fire on land targets and the guns on naval cruisers of the Allies are wonkey!! over than that.......i cant think of any other flaws.

The Bottom Line
A decent C&C game, well worth the money and a lovely addition to the C&C family.

Windows · by paul cairey (319) · 2003

A Hollywood blockbuster for the masses.

The Good
Recently I played Red Alert for the first time, almost 5 years after its release. I've always disliked Red Alert (and its sequels), without ever really playing it. It annoyed me that these games sold so well, while there were many games out there that were a lot more innovating. I kind of considered it the Britney Spears of video games. But guess what, after playing it for a couple of weeks I had to admit that it is actually not that bad it all.

The gameplay, although not offering much that we had not seen before, kept me coming back for more until I completed both campaigns. Somehow these RTS games are always addicting. I liked the variety of the missions, not every mission requires you to build a base and destroy the computer's base. The indoor missions were a novelty and I was surprised when the map, with which I started a mission, depended on the way you finished a previous mission. If you complete Allied mission 2 with a well fortified base, Allied mission 4 would be easier to complete. Moreover there are often two or more possible maps available for a mission. The maps and backgrounds generally look good (when you play the game in Windows with SVGA graphics, that is) and there is some interaction with the maps (blowing up bridges and barrels).

Red Alert has some nice units like the attack dog, the spy, the mine-layer and the engineer which allows you to capture an enemy building and produce your opponents units. With the wide range of units available, you can use a wide range of different strategies and often the "Tank Rush" tactic isn't your best option. The Soviets have a lot of very strong tanks and they can use the tank rush tactic, when you're playing with the Allies however, you'll have to pick your targets carefully (their units rely more on stealth and sneaky maneuvers). First use choppers to destroy the power plants or your tanks will be fried by the Soviet Tesla Coils. Generally, every attack strategy has a defensive counter strategy. Too bad the A.I. only uses a couple of them.

Some other things I liked about this game:

  • The music and the soundtrack. The Russian accent might be a bit stupid but the explosions sound impressive.
  • Both sides play really different.
  • You can say what you want about the FMV sequences, I would not want to miss them. They keep the story going and I think the game would be less fun without them.
  • The story line is a very unbelievable piece of nonsense, but I liked it. At least it isn't your usual "stop the alien invasion" or "in a post apocalyptic world two sides fight for the remaining resources" story. It was fun to receive a briefing from Stalin.
  • You can easily add units to an existing group, and you can design a route around dangerous enemy units using way-points.
  • The computer medic will automatically heal enemy soldiers.
  • There's just one resource, which keeps you focused on the battle.
  • It offers you a chance to play with the Soviet and crush the Allied forces.



The Bad
The single player campaign is not very challenging because of bad computer A.I. The A.I. doesn't seem to respond or react to your actions. It never adapts its strategy, it just sits there and waits for you to come. Usually a mission is only difficult because you start out with a couple of units while the computer has a well-fortified base. But as soon as you have managed to defend yourself the battle is virtually over. All you have to do is build a couple of aerial units and take out those unprotected harvesters and you've won the game (unfortunately you usually still have to destroy all enemy units and structures, which takes quite a while). The computer never repairs his units, keeps attacking from a few directions (so dropping mines in front of your base is a cheap remedy against those expensive Mammoth tanks), keeps sending small groups of units which are cannon fodder for your base defenses (you can easily fortify yourself), and enemy units will usually not respond when one of their comrades is attacked (too bad your units suffer from the same problem).

Some other things I disliked:

  • The graphics are very small, so it is difficult to find a medic in a group of soldiers. Tank and ship animations are poor, these units can only move in eight directions (East, NE, North etc.).
  • The "formation" option is useless, everything gets messed up when units bump into each other.
  • Units easily lose selection, very annoying.
  • When attacking, guide everything manually or you will probably lose the battle. If you attack with a group, units in the back of the group will not defend/assist the front row.
  • Pathfinding problems, tanks get confused when negotiating a narrow pass or bridge. Units take their own route when they hit an object (usually another unit) and walk straight into enemy fire.
  • You can't build anywhere you want, a new building has to be placed adjacent to an old one.
  • Some units become obsolete as the game progresses. Why would anyone want to build a light tank when you can also build a medium tank?



The Bottom Line
Actually this game is better then I expected and I must admit I enjoyed playing it. I never played a multiplayer game, so I can't judge that part of the game.

Windows · by Roedie (5239) · 2001

Fool me once, shame on you…

The Good
Red Alert (RA) is an undeniably stylish game, just like its predecessor. I kinda like the alternate history approach the designers took in crafting the storyline. It’s still a little too B-movie sci-fi for my taste, but a step in the right direction, nonetheless. After all, you do get to kill Commies. “Better dead than Red!”

The graphics are significantly improved from C&C, at least in the Windows 95 version of RA. The units are still pretty small, and the overall look of the game isn’t as impressive as that of Warcraft 1 & 2, but it was an improvement. The enemy AI is not brilliant by any means, but it’s persistent, and it can throw you for a loop once in a while. Frankly, I’ve seen much worse. Westwood also included a solo skirmish mode this time around, which definitely adds to RA’s replay value. Why didn’t they think of that before?

I liked the slick packaging and the shiny, thorough instruction manual. They both fooled me into thinking RA was going to be a fun game to play.


The Bad
Let’s face it: Red Alert is still a C&C game, which means it’s a big, cheesy, buggy mess. Surely all of the critics who said RA was even better than Warcraft II were joking.

RA is at least as unbalanced as the original C&C, perhaps even more so. While I appreciate the thought behind making the two sides distinct, the game is spoiled by the fact that the Soviets clearly have the better units. The Allies are inferior in ground and air forces, and while they have the superior naval forces, that won’t do you much good unless you are playing on a water-based map. Whichever side you choose, the unit variety is strictly for appearance’s sake. For example, I can’t see why a Soviet player would produce anything but the heaviest tanks. And thus the infamous RTS “tank rush” phenomenon was born, I suppose.

Units continue to be woefully unresponsive to orders. Or else they just respond so stupidly as to be beyond belief. If there is an unnecessarily long and circuitous route for your units to take to get from Point A to Point B, you can rest assured that they will find it! It’s also still a challenge just to select your units and get the selection to stick for very long. Maps and missions continue to be too puzzle-like for an alleged “strategy” game. It’s the same hair-pullingly maddening design as before, just slightly upgraded, tweaked and repackaged as a brand new game. Why didn’t the professional reviewers mention any of this stuff when RA came out?

The Bottom Line
If you liked C&C, you’ll probably like Red Alert even more. If you’re like me, though, you won’t care for either one.

Windows · by PCGamer77 (3158) · 2013

[ View all 16 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Anyone know whether there was multiplayer in PSX version? And Wan Dec 14, 2016

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Command & Conquer: Red Alert appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Freeware release

To celebrate 13 years of Command & Conquer and to promote the then-upcoming release of Red Alert 3, the game was made available for free on 31 August 2008. The link is available in the related web sites section.

German version

The German version removes Hitler from the intro and replaces all the soldiers with cyborgs.

Online servers

The game's online servers were migrated from the official Westwood Online infrastructure to the community-run XWIS (XCC WOL IRC Server), under approval and sponsorship from EA's German office on 20 October 2005. The Westwood Online domains have acted as a redirect to XWIS services since then, requiring no additional steps from the user to access the servers short of registering an account.

Sales

In 1998, the PC version of the game won the Platinum Award from the German VUD (Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland - Entertainment Software Association Germany) for selling more then 200,000 (but less then 500,000) units in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • May 1997 (Issue #154) – Strategy Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • March 1998 (Issue 104) - Strategy Game of the Year
    • March 1998 (Issue 104) - Strategy Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
  • PC Gamer
    • April 2000 - -10 in the "All-Time Top 50 Games" poll
    • April 2005 - #17 in the "50 Best Games of All Time" list
  • Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland
    • 1998 - Platinum Award (more details in the "Sails" section)

Information also contributed by Grant McLellan, Sciere and Xoleras

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Related Games

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Released 2000 on Windows
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Released 2008 on Windows, Xbox 360, 2009 on Macintosh
Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Retaliation
Released 1998 on PlayStation, 2008 on PSP, PlayStation 3
Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Counterstrike
Released 1997 on DOS, Windows
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Commander's Challenge
Released 2009 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, 2019 on Xbox One
Command & Conquer: Red Alert - The Aftermath
Released 1997 on DOS, Windows
Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge
Released 2001 on Windows

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by robotriot.

PSP, PlayStation 3 added by Charly2.0. PlayStation added by Kartanym.

Additional contributors: Cochonou, PCGamer77, Xantheous, Kasey Chang, Jeanne, paul cairey, Sciere, Alaka, Xoleras, Jang Eunsu, —-, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, Plok, MrFlibble, FatherJack.

Game added November 28, 1999. Last modified March 19, 2024.