Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

The Good

• Fast paced, intense action
• Universe is filled with weird science and equally weird characters, adding a layer of humour and charm
• Fun multiplayer with balanced sides and unique units for unique countries
• 2 great, lengthy campaigns to play
• Lots of multiplayer modes, including Co-op missions
• Good sound effects
• What other game has Udo Kier!? :D
• Cool soundtrack. Also Hell March still rocks.

The Bad

• Shallow, arcade style gameplay compared to other RTS games
• Co-op missions often require specific settings to work right
• Outdated visual effects (even for the time)
• Sometimes bum rush strategies can be annoying
• Naval battles are often uneven
• No ability to rotate or change building placement, limiting your bases layout
• Various annoying compatibility issues

The Bottom Line
I hate admitting it but after playing recent games like the incredibly deep and nuanced Company of Heroes and other modern RTS games it is hard to look back on Command & Conquer and call it the deep, nuanced strategy game that I called it back in 1995. Yet despite that does it mean that C&C isn't fun? Hell no! It still is a joy to play as long as you don't expect something up to modern standards.

What makes C&C so fun is that while being "arcade style," it is extremely fast paced and while it may not have you pondering your every move and setting up complex strategical maneuvers, it will always have you on your toes and you will still have to use the thinker to get yourself out of any predicament your foe imposes upon you. If you want an RTS that cuts to the chase and gives you plenty of action, C&C still holds up gameplay wise.

Red Alert 2 doesn't change the core gameplay much - but the cosmetic changes are massive. If you are unfamiliar with the universe created in the original Red Alert, let me catch you up. During World War II as Europe is being crushed by the Nazi armies, a desperate Albert Einstein creates a powerful machine in a desperate attempt to spare the world from the horrors that lie ahead. This machine happens to be able to go back in time, and he uses it to go back before the war and wipe Hitler from history entirely.

Yet as we all know messing with the past isn't such a hot idea. Since Nazi Germany would not be there to oppress them and force them to join the Allied nations, The Soviets instead rise to the power under the name of Stalin. The war that ensues is even fiercer as futuristic technology comes into the fray, harnessed from masters such as Edison and Tesla. Red Alert 2 takes place in the 50s, I'm guessing about 5 or 6 years after the events of the original. The Allies and the Soviets are at peace and a new Russian Prime Minister is in charge who is on good terms with the US government.

Yet the alliance doesn't last long, and the soviets prepare an attack straight into the American homeland itself. Aided by his mysterious advisor, Yuri (PLAYED BY UDO FREAKIN' KIER :D) Romanov has his eyes set on crushing the heart of the Allied nations.

What makes Red Alert 2's universe so great is that it is stupid. Really, really, really stupid. The game does not bend to the laws of physics let alone the laws of science, and the amount of weird science is mind blowing. Half the stuff you'll see seems like the sort of thing a 6 year old on a sugar high would come up with. There are giant squids, dolphins with lasers attached, psychic warheads, soldiers with electrified cannons strapped to them, trained war monkeys, saboteurs dressed in leather an eye patch and carrying a whip, and so forth. Yet being so epicly stupid, the game is absolutely hilarious. The cut-scenes are filled with tongue in cheek humour and as the game gets stranger, the characters get stranger and they are extremely fun and entertaining to watch. If this game doesn't put a giddy smile on your face there is something wrong with you.

As I said, the gameplay relies largely unchanged. The campaign has two campaigns on two discs, in which you can play as the Soviets or the Allies. Both campaigns are lengthy and carry lots of variety, meaning you will have a lot to see and do. You often command a small handful of units, build a base, make more units and try to crush your enemy. Yet as I said, the campaign mode tries to shake this up as often as possible. You will have missions where you must command a single unit to infiltrate a base, missions where you must defend or attack a specific area and fight of waves, there are missions where you must escort and keep convoys safe, and a good chunk of other objective based styles.

The game is extremely fast paced and furious. As I said, it's about the action more than it is the actual 'strategy.' You will see plenty of action and as you progress, the game will become very cruel and if you do not react with a cunning counter-measure you will be crushed by an iron fist. Yet as frustrating as it may be once you find a way out of your predicament and crush your foe beforehand, it is ever so satisfying. These are the "deeper" moments of the game, when something happens that you are unprepared for. You will either be given a chance to prepare, or you will have to make do and find a way to use what you are given to find a clever way out of a situation.

The sound design is the highlight of the otherwise mediocre production values. You'll hear shrieks and cackles, guns and explosives, and it sounds like a battlefield just as it should. While it can be grating to hear your units response voice over and over, the game as a whole sounds terrific. It is aided by a great soundtrack from series mainstay Frank Klepacki. One of the common complaints about the score from Tiberian Sun was that the music was mostly ambiance and somewhat depressing in tone. Thankfully Klepacki had his ear out and listened to the fans, because the soundtrack in RA2 returns to the fast paced and catchy industrial tunes that highlighted the original C&C and the original Red Alert. We get a new version of the Hell March, and while not as lengthy as its original counterpart it is just as awesome as ever.

Multiplayer is a blast to play and there are still tons of players online even today; though I honestly have the most fun playing with my wife or friends mostly because its easier to establish and enforce no "Bum rushing with tanks" house rules. The multiplayer suite is surprisingly varied, carrying more than just your traditional "Destroy the other base" modes. There is even a mode where you can join a friend and play objective based co-op missions. One of my favourite modes for a long play session is the "Unholy Alliance" mode where you are given both a Russian MCV and an Allied MCV. This means you get both techtrees, and if you can get your friend to agree to at least 30 minutes of no rush this can lead to massive and epic battles with all units of all kinds fighting.

The biggest problem with multiplayer, ignoring gameplay, is that setting up a game can be tedious and some players will DEMAND specific settings out of you, and the settings aren't always clear in instruction. This is especially a pain in co-op missions, because while you can adjust the settings of a regular MP match and play it fine a co-op match requires a specific setting. More often then not, if you choose a faster speed the co-op mode is unplayable because it will go by too fast, and some missions will require you to toggle other settings individually.

The problem with multiplayer in actual gameplay stems from crap like tank rushes and super-weapons. While super-weapons can add some spice and a rush to preserve yourself, it can be annoying to have a super-weapon pop up before you've even finished telling your soldiers which way to point their gun. Yet if you can find a way around these issues, there is no denying that multiplayer is a blast to play with a group of friends.

Overall Red Alert 2 isn't the deepest strategy game out there and it never has been, but it more than makes up by being packed to the brim with entertaining action and having a bucketload of style. Red Alert 2 might turn off 'hardcore' strategy fiends, but if you just want to take control of some nasty toys to blow the ever living hell out of your best friend with, Red Alert 2 is one of the most entertaining action games ever made.

The Good
The graphics, although still 2D, are well designed, and highly detailed. The gameplay is basically the same as the rest of the series, although new additions to this version make it all worthwhile. Multiplayer is the same frenzy, which isn’t a bad thing. And the acting isn't all that bad, either.

The Bad
Not much to say here, although if you have played the previous titles before to death, you may not find much here that you might enjoy. The graphics are still in 2D, and a little dated, but they do the job adequately. Multiplayer may get boring if you don't have enough players.

The Bottom Line
The best in the long running series since the original C&C. Definitely a huge improvement over Tiberian. Still, I get the feeling that this series is coming to an end, and a 3D version may not be far off.

The Good
Unlike the original Red Alert, I was much more able to get into the campaign missions in Red Alert 2. Somehow they just seem to be structured much better. Plus, they take place in a lot of realistic locations. Even the cutscenes that precede each mission are much more believable and entertaining than average. As in any C&C game, Red Alert 2 features an excellent soundtrack, cool units, and there is now a whole slew of internet play modes that are quite a lot of fun. The updates to the game's interface are also much appreciated.

The Bad
There aren't really too many significant gameplay differences from the original Red Alert.

The Bottom Line
A simple, fun, and addictive, "just blow your enemies away" type of strategy game.

The Good
The colors are bright and keep it from looking dull and boring.

The cinematics during the missions are a blast, with obvious over-the-top acting and vibrant colors. The single player missions are all fun and also help to introduce the player to the units and basic strategies needed to survive in the multi-player world. My favorite moment was using the chronosphere to move a group of prism and mirage tanks to the back of a base and obliterating it! Who could ask for more?

As for the multi-player, there are tons of ways to play besides the normal straight up fight. A favorite alternate way of mine is the unholy alliance, where you start with a soviet and allied MCV, allowing you to get both tech trees, and some interesting hybrid units as well...I'll let you discover what they are.

Doesn't have that annoying health bar problem.

The Bad
RA2 isn't without its flaws. There is no way to actually set a formation; you can tell a group to travel together, but they won't stay in any pattern. The pathfinding isn't always the best, and units don't always respond to being fired upon.

The multi-player "chat" is horrible, you can only see six lines at a time, and there is no squelch/mute button in sight. It was obviously put together in a couple of weeks, to make a deadline.

There is no map editor, only the return of the crappy random map maker from Tiberian Sun. What was westwood thinking?

Westwood once again patched a game to death. RA2 has turned into a cross between RA and TS. Most units are no long usable, and its not fast enough to justify only a few strategies.

Most modes of multiplayer aren't used.

May be overly cartoonish for some hardcore or picky people.

The Bottom Line
75% Tiberian Sun and 25% Red Alert. It's gotten slower with each new patch. The only reason it manages to pull out of TS depths is that it is somewhat faster, and the units are cooler.

The Good
It's fast paced. Decent balance between the sides (particularly after the patches.) Graphics were OK, and they had good contrast. The interface is straight forward. There are enough units to be varied and they can form some interesting combinations.

The Bad
Like all Westwood games, it suffers from no fog of war and limited base building. It really sucks to have to cram a new building in between two others because none of the ground around the periphery of your base is suitable. The terrain isn't deformable and the graphics aren't as good as Tiberian Sun, however, the gameplay is much better.

The Bottom Line
I play it all the time. It and Starcraft are my favorite tete-a-tete games.

The Good
Let us start by the most important aspect: gameplay. This is an extremely fast-paced, almost frenetic, RTS - particularly if you go for multiplayer. It follows the classical C&C approach to the genre, sporting a wide variety and types of units: from mind-controlled squids to zeppelin bombers.

The setting and aesthetical style is fantastic, together with a very decent plot which is complemented by great FMV cut-scenes. From the hi-tech retro look of the Allies to the Industrial-Eastern feeling of the Soviets, the graphical team did a great job with this game.

Finally, Frank Klepacki brings another of its masterpieces with the game's soundtrack. Techno-urban pieces which fit perfectly the game's frenzy. The voicework is also remarkable.

The Bad
Albeit pretty, great-looking and detailed, the graphics are far from 2000 standards. As other reviews mention it, Starcraft is an older game with arguably better graphics.

Besides, the game engine proves to be rather clumsy at times. Even modern computers will have some minor problems running the game at higher resolutions.

The Bottom Line
If you are a RTS fan, do not miss this classic. Even more if you enjoy alternate history themes, and would like to see if the USSR decided to invade the USA - everything told with some humour thrown in.

All in all, and in spite of some of its flaws, it can keep up as one of the greatest RTS ever made - the best in the C&C series, in my own opinion.

The Good
The "Command and Conquer" series is frankly getting a little tired, but the basic elements o' fun are here; neat graphics, an easy interface, and some pitched battles. The missions are reasonably imaginative and the cinematics are neat. It's a fun game.

The Bad
You can get the same fun out of any one of three dozen games, and there are much, much better RTS games out there. Red Alert 2 offers nothing interesting in the way of multiplayer games; it's really not suited for it. If you want truly outstanding RTS gameplay, "Total Annihilation" and "Dark Reign" are so far up and beyond the norm that there's really no reason to have Red Alert 2 on your hard drive.

The Bottom Line
It's okay, but not worth the effort.

The Good
The movies really rocked especially the actrices like Tanya maybe it's because they used supermodels. The missions were great. The music really made you feel like kicking some ass. The ingame graphics were great, like when you dropped a nuke the whole screen turned white.

The game just rocks, I can't wait until another C&C game get's released.

The Bad
When you play online the game runs really really slow.

The Bottom Line
It is a real improvement to Tiberian Sun

The Good
I found the game's details were much better then that of Starcraft and dare I say...Age of Empires 2...arrggg I did...But the overall effect of the game has interested me to a point to where I would actually like the Russians to invade America...

A joke I swear.

The Bad
I did not like the part where the other team would kill one of my men or many of my men at one time...I sure as hell did not like that...

The Bottom Line
More like an ordeal one must face on the road of life...If you are high and totally tripping...

The Good
I liked the naval units as I did in the original game. I liked the singleplayer missions and movies more than Tiberian Sun and and Red Alert. Westwood in my opinion always does a great job on their movies which makes you want to beat the missions. I always liked the tesla coils from the series and there back i guess, can't say much else i liked.

The Bad
The airforce units are simply put terrible and not fun to use unlike Tiberian Sun. This game is really just Red Alert all over again except some improvements. But these improvements are not much and this game for a 2000 release was really a step backwards out the door for Westwood in the RTS world. Most reviewers liked the game and they can have it as I know fun factors in the most and this is more a mindless tankbuilding game (based on building huge armies rather than strategically used units) than their other successful Tiberian series was (Dawn &Sun). The multiplayer setup screen and menus looked like they predated Tiberian Sun's. It was almost like stepping back into Red Alert 1. The multiplayer aspects and strategies are not as complex as Tiberian and Starcraft either.

The Bottom Line
Overall, the game is a decent game. Fans of Command & Conquer all would enjoy it but I don't feel the game is as balanced as other Command & Conquer games. I wouldnt give it that 4.0 rating as this game, for its time, wasn't a great improvement and left something to be desired. I'd say a 3.2 MobyScore is more accurate in my opinion as it can be missed and you arent missing anything great from that time in gaming. (And that is how it should be judged)

The Good
The best thing about this game are the superweapons, and they arn't good. If you've never played a C&C game before, then this is a good start, but otherwise it's worthless.

The Bad
The graphics are horrible. It was released in 2000, and the best they could get was stick figures for people and rolling pieces of concrete for tanks. Also, the voices of the units will start to get on your nerves the first time that you hear them. The missions are okay, but you don't have to know the first thing about strategy to beat them. The sides arn't balanced at all, and tank rushes are about as much stratagey as your going to see.

The Bottom Line
If your a vetran don't even think about buying it, but it is a good starting off game.

The Good
It has a real cool premise and the full motion video sequences are surprisingly good. They had better Aircraft then Empire Earth...

The Bad
The gameplay, graphics and ai suck, horribly. The enemy will send wave after wave of enemies that get killed nearly instantly by your fortified buildings. Super units will demolish your base (or theirs) instantly. Forget strategy. Although there are some of the "tank good against infantry good against anti-tank" kind of thing, you can just build all of the biggest units you can build and attack. Most of the units look like crap and have little detail. Age of empires looks alot better.

The Bottom Line
Don't bother with this game. It is a game from an era that didn't know Age of Empires.

The Good
the graphics are preatty good most of the time, tho sometimes they suck. great music. voic acting for the units rocks sometimes, suck oher times. a good example for it is the great lybian truck vs. most of the lame soviets (if they were sampled from even semi russian people...) another example is the Desolator, he sound kewl, like a Warcraft2 deathknight - but isn't he supposed to be Iraqi???

The Bad
stupid plot. boring campaign. a few superunits can crush a base in seconds. snow levels look like crap. stupid unuseful expansive sea units. stupid ai - your units ignore it when they are being fired upon, plot their own stupid courses and enter enemy fire zones. a few dogs can kill dozens of gis and they just ignore them. units ignore your orders sometimes for no appearent reason - only to get themselves killed.

The Bottom Line
For some unknowen reason this game is fun. maybe it's alien influence. play it, curse the stupid ai and continue to play.

The Good
I won't hide it: I hate Command & Conquer. The lot of them. I don't understand how Westwood went from Dune 2 to this. It's just un-damn-believable.

You want to know what's good about RA2? I'll tell you - music. It's the only good thing about this stupid game. It does indeed rock.

The Bad
What DIDN'T I like? Everything!

First of all, the graphics are bland, uninteresting and certainly not worthy of a year-2000 game. 1997 at the latest. The animations are, for the most part, worse in quality than Starcraft (that did come out in 1997), and there's nothing about this game that suggests it was a few years in the making (which it was).

The artificial intelligence is artificial alright. Your units are impossibly stupid, and so is the computer. Your units will ignore your commands at times, ignore it when enemies shoot them or get into their firing range, plant their own (stupid) courses to get from point A to point B - often entering the range of enemy defenses, and behave not like seasoned troops but rather as though they were G.I. Joes toyed around with by 8 year olds.

The game engine is slow and buggy as hell.

The built in missions suck.

The game is incredibly unbalanced and basically revolves around superunits - seals/Tanyas taking out whole armies of tropps within seconds, three prism tanks can take out a building in two shots, Black Eagles can destroy any building in one assault, Soviet harvesters are just so impossibly tough to kill (and they shoot back - fiercly!) and everything reeks of GODDAMNIT, HOW COULD THEY HAVE POSSIBLY MISSED THIS IN THE BETA?!

The Bottom Line
The worst RTS I ever played, which is amazingly just as good if not better than the rest of the C&C series. In short, an utter piece of crap only worth playing to listen to the great music.