Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Description official descriptions
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 takes place approximately two decades since the first Red Alert and, unlike the original, has no relation at all to the Tiberium universe. It is a conventional real-time strategy game which, in terms of gameplay, still faithfully continues the Dune/Command & Conquer lineage.
Although the Western Allies have installed a lackey as the Premier of the Soviet Union, their spies and relevant contacts suddenly go silent with the appearance of a powerful Soviet psychic named Yuri, who turns out to be Premier Romanov's advisor. Soon afterwards, the Soviet Union launches an overwhelming invasion on North America and Europe on land, air, and sea. As is usual, the player joins the Allied or Soviet side in the singleplayer campaign (with 12 missions for each faction) as of that point in the storyline. Whereas the technology level in the original Red Alert had World War II and Cold War-era weapons mixed with a few technologies inspired by failed real-world experiments, the arsenals of both sides in Red Alert 2 predominantly include technologically advanced units and structures such as teleporting Chrono Legionnaires, chain-connecting Prism towers, cloning vats, weather control devices, etc. However, the storyline's tone is considerably more light-hearted than that in previous Command & Conquer games, and following in the footsteps of Tiberian Sun, more known actors were brought to act in the full-motion video cutscenes.
The game uses a modified and optimized engine from Tiberian Sun and expands the gameplay in multiple ways. Both factions are completely distinct both functionally and visually, civilian structures can be garrisoned by each faction's basic infantry unit for increased firepower and rate of fire, the Allied IFV is included as the first customizable unit in the series (which can change its weapon and function based on the carried infantry unit), and there are neutral "tech" structures which bring bonuses to the players who capture them (e.g. oil derricks bring a small but frequent flow of income, airports allow deployment of paratroopers...). Like in the original Red Alert, factions are split into countries (5 Allied countries, 4 Soviet ones) in skirmish and multiplayer, but instead of having hidden production bonuses, each country has a unique unit, structure or support power that the others do not have access to. Aside from the aforementioned main singleplayer campaign, there is a vast number of skirmish/multiplayer maps, short co-op campaigns, and the return of the World Domination Tour multiplayer mode (unavailable in LAN) which was adapted from the Firestorm expansion for Tiberian Sun.
Groups +
- Animals: Cephalopods
- Command & Conquer franchise
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert universe
- EA Classics releases
- EA Value Games releases
- Famous person: Albert Einstein
- Game feature: BGM / music player
- Game feature: FMV / cutscene player
- Game feature: In-game screenshot capture
- Games with downloadable official map/level editors
- Games with game-altering copy protection
- Games with randomly generated environments
- Live action cut-scenes
- Middleware: Bink Video
- PC Gamer Presents games
- Setting: Alaskan
- Setting: Alternate history
- Setting: City - Chicago
- Setting: City - Moscow
- Setting: City - New York
- Setting: City - Paris
- Setting: City - Vladivostok
- Setting: City - Washington, D.C.
- Setting: Country - France
- Setting: Country - Poland
- Setting: Hawaiian
- Software Pyramide releases
- Theme: Psychic powers / Psionics
- Visual technique / style: Voxel graphics
Screenshots
Promos
Videos
See any errors or missing info for this game?
You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.
Credits (Windows version)
349 People (266 developers, 83 thanks) · View all
Original Concept | |
Executive Producer | |
Producer | |
Associate Producer | |
Design Leads | |
Designers | |
Additional Design | |
Story | |
Lead Artist | |
Artists | |
[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 84% (based on 48 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 121 ratings with 14 reviews)
BAAH!! Not a good game for its time, but better than original RA... Both Tiberian games are better!
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)
Windows · by Jay Gand (4) · 2003
A worthy sequel to a classic strategy game!
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.
Windows · by Brian Jordan (19) · 2001
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.
Windows · by Tomer Gabel (4538) · 2000
Trivia
Best Buy release
When first released, Best Buy had a special offer: the Command and Conquer Soundtrack Collection (soundtrack from ALL C&C games) on CD for the first 100 buyers of RA2 in every store.
Cover
To avoid sensitivity issues after the real-world terrorist attacks on the WTC, EA offered distributors and retailers new boxes in October 2001 which removed the "The Invasion Has Begun" motto and the pictures depicting NY under attack (basically removing the box's flap and background in the front), as well as changing the eyepiece reflection from the American flag to a nuclear detonation.
Editor
FinalAlert was released alongside the patch 1.005, and it allows creating both multiplayer (skirmish, LAN, on-line) and solo (campaign) missions. It was created by a fan, Matthias "Matze" Wagner, instead of Westwood Pacific themselves, but was distributed through Westwood's official FTP server.
German version
This is the first Command & Conquer title not to be censored in Germany.
Installation
Instead of the regular installation like InstallShield or DemoShield, the custom installer of the game explains the events between first Red Alert and this game, which are otherwise barely referenced in the campaign.
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 6 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.
The World Domination Tour mode's code was not preserved, however.
Sales
In 2000, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 won the Gold-Award from the German VUD (Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland - Entertainment Software Association Germany) for selling more then 100,000 (but less then 200,000) units in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Soundtrack
The in-game track list is below.
- Grinder (02:27)
- Power (03:56)
- Fortification (04:02)
- In Deep (03:24)
- Tension (04:05)
- Eagle Hunter (04:16)
- Industrofunk (03:12)
- 200 Meters (04:12)
- Blow It Up (03:11)
- Destroy (04:38)
- Burn (04:38)
- Motorized (04:02)
- Hell March 2 (03:44)
Installer track: In Deep (03:24)
Main menu track: Grinder (02:27)
Loading screen track: Jank (03:46)
Post-game track: Militant Force 2 (01:09)
Credits track: Optical (02:55)
Three tracks were left unused:
- C&C In The House (04:25)
- Probing (04:19)
- Ready The Army (04:57)
The game also had a limited soundtrack release physically and which was included in the Collector's Edition, then as of 2005 digitally on Apple iTunes, followed by other streaming services as they arrived. Note that the list is reordered and the Tension track was cut out, while unused tracks took its place:
- Hell March 2 (03:46)
- Industrofunk (03:14)
- Ready the Army (04:59)
- Grinder (02:29)
- In Deep (03:26)
- Motorized (04:04)
- Power (03:58)
- 200 Meters (04:14)
- Destroy (04:40)
- Burn (04:39)
- Probing (04:21)
- Blow It Up (03:13)
- Eagle Hunter (04:18)
- Fortification (04:04)
- Jank (03:48)
- C&C in the House (04:06)
Awards
- PC Player (Germany)
- Issue 01/2001 - Best Strategy Game in 2000
- Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland
- 2000 - Gold Award (more details in the "Sales" section)
Information also contributed by MAT, Kasey Chang, paul cairey, Xoleras and Zovni
Analytics
Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!
Related Sites +
-
Command & Conquer
Official series website
Identifiers +
Contribute
Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.
Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Kartanym.
Additional contributors: MAT, Rebound Boy, Erwin Bergervoet, Corn Popper, paul cairey, Patrick Bregger, Plok, TaxOwlbear.
Game added October 25, 2000. Last modified March 21, 2024.