Seven years after the successful second title Command & Conquer Red Alert from the even more successful franchise Command & Conquer saw the light of day, Electronic Arts Los Angeles studios, a division of EA where many of the old school Westwood Studios developers can still be found, proudly presents a new twist in World War II history and why not - a new twist in the RTS history, with their latest tile: Red Alert 3.

Much has changed since the early days of Red Alert, and while C&C has taken more and more the path of sci-fi and future, this universe plunges deeper into the alternate timeline, parallel universe of World War II, with a lemon twist to everything that happens.

That twist just happens to be the silliness and humor that EA LA has added to the game. Not only Red Alert 3 is the goofiest game of the series, but it's also the most jolly colored and with the wackiest units of them all.

Every change is welcomed, and every innovation is well appreciated here, but sometimes I can't help myself thinking a bit at that old fashioned Red Alert 1, and how RA 3 could have been if they kept the serious tone to the game. Both you and me know that's just nostalgia talking, and I'm not saying that would of made a better or worse game - just different.

But that's the path the devs chose, so without further a due, let's have a look of what Red Alert 3 brings us today and now.

The first thing to notice right from the beginning is the annoying patch notice... I'm kiddind; I'll get to that a bit later. First thing you will notice is the impressive Hollywood cast that stars throughout the 27 mission long singleplayer campaign. Yes, this time no one can blame EA for the gameplay time, because the missions are ling and varied, and you can play Red Alert 3 in many modes.

Famous actors like Tim Curry, Jonathan Pryce and Kelly Hu will brief you on many of your missions. Add to that George Takei of Star Trek fame, Jenny McCarthy staring as the wild secret commando agent Tanya, Gemma Atkinson as Lt. Eva McKenna, Autumn Reeser who assists yon the battlefield as a fellow commander, fighter Gina Carano who plays Russian sniper Natasha, and a few more important names who make the cinematics of the game a must see.

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CG also plays an important part of the videos, and the game intro is so good that it's ready to make history. Again.

Which brings me to the second point on my agenda. The fantastic music that includes the remixed Hellmarch 3, a trademark song for Red Alert. EA managed to get this song and 2 more out of returning composer Frank Klepacki, James Hannigan did the soon to be famous "Soviet March" track along with tons of other songs, and finally Timothy Michael Wynn helped as well.

Not only do the movies look good, the music is awesome and the actors are famous. The game is not that bad either.

In singleplayer mode you can choose one out of the three campaigns, although the Soviet campaign is recommended at first to get familiar with the gameplay. Three? You ask...

The Empire of the Rising Sun is now the third playable race in Red Alert. Due to the imminent destruction of Mother Russia, Premier Anatoly Cherdenko goes back in time and blasts Einstein out of existence, guaranteeing that the Capitalist Pigs don't get their hands on the destructive nuclear weapons.

With the Allies running with their tails between their legs, Soviet Power appears to have won the war. Yet out of nowhere, George Takei and his Japanese army appears to conquer the world. The theatre is set for a conflict of epic proportions!

The game was designed from the ground-up with Co-op play in mind. And even if you play solo, an AI commander will play alongside with you. I won't encourage you to play just Co-op, because you might miss out some cinematic scenes from the solo missions. Instead you should try playing with a friend and with the AI.

The battlefield has been extended and now includes water, a new aspect from C&C 3 but classic to Red Alert, because every game in the series had it. The huge number of air, water, and ground units is distinct for each faction as each faction has its advantages and disadvantages.

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Russians are the same strong faction, with slow moving but deadly units such as Tesla Troopers or the infamous Apocalypse Tank. Even their buildings are placed first and they start to build over a long time.

Allies are a jack of all trades, and they rely on combination of units to work properly on most occasions. Some good water units make decent rush material as they can switch to land mode and easily overrun an enemy base before they can call the army back to defense. Allies structures can be first constructed and then they are almost instantly placed, similar to previous C&C titles.

Finally, the Empire of the Rising sun is the most versatile side, with almost all troops being able to fight in two of the three environments: either water and land or air and land. Empire builds a hi-tech vehicle that unpacks into the building you constructed. They have interesting abilities for every unit as well. I forgot to mention every unit has a special ability that can be either passively activated or you can use it in combat at the push of a button.

This combined with the fast paced action that no other RTS can offer makes Red Alert 3 a great game for everyone - easy to learn, fun to play and hard to master.

A lot of multiplayer maps are available right out of the box, so if you feel your competitive edge shines you must try out the online or LAN capabilities of Red Alert 3.

Without atom bombs, the fighting factions had other superweapon development plans to keep them occupied, like the Vacuum Imploder. Of course the Iron Curtain and Cronsophere had no reason to disappear *wink* and even if some old school fans are disappointed they won't be able to trigger that A-Bomb, I'm sure they'll be satisfied with the new weapons of mass destruction obtained either via buildings or commander abilities.

The Commander Abilities menu is based on an experience and level up system, and as long as you destroy enemy troops you will get more fancy stuff to throw at them and aid your struggle. This system is similar the ones found in some of the more recent C&C titles.

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Conclusion

Yet again a cinematic experience with big Hollywood stars, yet again a fast paced, dynamic RTS in the C&C spirit, but with a twist. From serious, World War II conflict in RA 1, to a whacky parallel universe in RA 2 to almost complete madness in RA 3, every game has become more and more funny. It's a matter of taste, yeah, and I know it may not have Nuclear Weapons either, but despite all that you should still give it a try.

It's time to conquer this life! With David Hasselhoff. 

Gameplay: 87

Brings out that fast competitive side in you and encourages you to play online and with a buddy right from the start. The new Co-op mode is fun and funny, campaigns are long and missions diverse. And FMVs are a joy to watch.

Graphics: 88

The game looks good, but by far the thing that stands out is the water. I assure you that you've never seen anything like it before. It even reflects units and projectiles as they pass above it. There are plenty of different environments too, and the only downside is that to some players the game may seem too colorful and cluttered at times.

Multiplayer: 89

Many multiplayer maps varying from 1vs1 to 8 players, and a game balance around many complementary units as opposed to one universal unit should make things interesting and should probably save a spot for RA3 in WCG. The resource gathering system has been revamped as well, so it's harder to gather stuff later in the game and easier in the beginning.

Sound: 96

The game sounds fantastic and both music and sound effects are great. There's not a thing to complain about in this area, so move along.

Hardware: 87

Some day 1 launch problem shadowed the game and many players were unable to connect to online services. Things were fixed real fast however in patch 1.01. Patch 1.02 fixed another annoying problem: a patch check that would freeze the game for several minutes sometimes.

With those fixed, the game seems to be fine right now, it runs on a wide variety of configurations, and even if its framerate is capped at 30 fps, it doesn't became choppy when big battles occur, which is a sign of smart programing.