Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Original title	Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Studio	EA Los Angeles
Publisher	Electronic Arts
Erstveröffent- lichung	October 30, 2008 March 24, 2009 (Mac OS)
platform	Windows , Mac OS Xbox 360 PlayStation 3
Game engine	Say 2.0
genre	Real-time strategy
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer (Internet & LAN )
control	Mouse , keyboard
system advantages preconditions	Windows XP SP2 (32-bit); Vista (32-bit) XP: 2.2 GHz CPU; Vista: 2.6 GHz CPU XP: 1 GB RAM; Vista: 1.5 GB of RAM 256 MB graphics card: nVidia GeForce 6800 or ATI Radeon X1800 (crash with older cards) 10 GB  HDD space 8 × DVD-ROM drive
medium	DVD
language	German
Current version	1.12
Age rating	USK PEGI

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (Original Title: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 ) is one of EA Los Angeles developed and Electronic Arts posted real-time strategy . The game was released on October 30, 2008, the Mac OS version was released on March 24, 2009. Together with Command & Conquer: Red Alert and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and their expansions, it forms the Red Alert universe.

action

In Red Alert 3 , Yuri is defeated and the Allies are at the gates of Moscow. A time travel experiment with which the Soviets want to restore their former power is creating an alternative timeline. In this parallel reality, the third world war rages on incessantly. A third party emerged, the Empire of the Rising Sun ( Japan ). The campaigns can be played in a "cooperation mode", either with friends over the Internet or with virtual generals.

Unlike the other parts, Red Alert 3 does not mention the time in which the action takes place. True, there are various allusions in the Soviet campaign, for example statues of Soviet tanks in the first mission. The use of flat screens and similar current technologies indicates a timely classification, but these technological advances could also have been achieved earlier due to the ongoing war.

Gameplay

General

Unlike the last predecessors of the Command & Conquer series, this part is again relatively unrealistic. While the first red alert part stuck to reality pretty closely and presented only a few futuristic technologies, the second part already featured very bizarre units such as killer octopuses (Soviets) and flying saucers (Yuri).

Compared to its predecessors, the operations have been made even more complicated. The scenario suddenly changes several times in the middle of a fight, and the player receives new orders. Repeatedly superiors, subordinates and allies appear with their comments, and even the respective opponents speak out with derogatory remarks.

A new play element is the inclusion of water. Although there were already marine units in the previous version, the proportion was increased in this version and all buildings except the arms factory, the barracks and the walls can now be built on the water. The shipyard must be built on the water.

While the extraction of money is the same for everyone (a refinery sends collectors to distributed ore mines), each party has its own construction system. The allies build classically (just as all parties built in Red Alert and Red Alert 2 ): The buildings are ordered and can be placed directly on the battlefield after successful production, whereby they are immediately ready for use. The Soviets order buildings, place them immediately on the battlefield, but have to be slowly pulled up there. For both, this only works in the vicinity of existing buildings. The Japanese, on the other hand, use a completely different concept. They build so-called nano-cores in their yard, which initially move freely across the map and can be "unfolded" to the corresponding building at any location.

In research, too, they all go their separate ways. The Soviets get new units and buildings in the classic way by erecting technology buildings, which then unlock them for all buildings. The Allies, on the other hand, are researching the next level of technology in their building yard. This then applies to all production buildings near the building yard. The Japanese also have a technology building, but they still have to research every single production building individually in two stages to a new tech level.

Although the Japanese also have flight units, they do not have an airfield or the like.

Overall, each party should have a preferred element. The Allies have the strongest air force, the Soviets rule over land and the Japanese have the strongest navy. In practice, however, they are relatively balanced so that, for example, the Allies can hold their own at sea.

There is a technology tree that can be used to change the technical properties of the units on the field and to unlock skills (such as the dropping of Russian space junk). It is modeled on the system in Generals . The prerequisite for using this technology tree is a so-called building yard . This building yard is the main building that encourages the construction of further buildings and is available to every player from the beginning. The technology tree is called up in a submenu in which three expandable strands are displayed. Each party has three strands, each unlocking five different skills, but not mutually exclusive. Provided that you have accumulated enough experience points, you can acquire up to ten of the 15 skills. There are different types of skills. Some are permanent, like the reinforced Japanese navy or the reinforced air force of the Allies, and some can only be used again after a certain recharge time, such as B. Russian space junk falling to Earth. Many skills can be acquired in three different strengths.

units

Several "old" units are celebrating their return, including:

• Allied Dolphin: A dolphin that makes sound attacks to other naval units.
• Allied Mirage Tank: Strong tank that, when not moving, disguises itself as a tree or other.
• Soviet Apocalypse Tank: Powerful tank with a 120mm twin cannon
• Soviet Kirov Zeppelin: Slow but extremely powerful airship that drops bombs
• Soviet Desolator: Infantry unit in an expensive mechanical suit, with a toxic weapon (only in Red Alert 3: The Uprising )
• Soviet dreadnought: A ship armed with multiple rocket launchers

A new feature are many amphibious units or ships that can also operate on land. In addition, each unit has a secondary function, and some units (mainly Japanese) can transform, for example a helicopter becomes an anti-aircraft mech.

development

Soundtrack

A small part of the soundtrack for Red Alert 3 was composed by Frank Klepacki , who had previously composed all or part of the soundtracks for all parts before Generals . Hell March III was explicitly announced in advance by Frank Klepacki in a video . Most of the soundtrack, however, comes from Timothy Michael Wynn and James Hannigan .

Copy protection and criticism

Red Alert 3 used as Mass Effect and Spore the SecuROM copy protection. According to EA, the game must be activated online before the first installation, and only five installations are allowed.

The US version of the game was sometimes delivered with an incomplete serial number. EA customer service advised affected customers to guess the last digit.

reception

It was criticized that there were no new ideas and innovations. GameStar magazine , on the other hand, praised the cooperation campaigns and rated the game with 86%. Simon Fistrich from Games Aktuell came to the conclusion that Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is not reinventing the genre, but is doing a lot of things right and providing good entertainment.

The uprising (expansion)

English logo

Red Alert 3: The uprising (original title: Uprising ) is a stand-alone to Red Alert 3 , whose online publication was originally planned for March 12, 2009, but was then postponed to April 2, 2009. The German version was published on April 2, 2009. The uprising contains new units, playing cards and missions as well as a new "Commander's Challenge" mode. The "Commander's Challenge" mode, which is structured in a similar way to the general challenge in Generals , is about defeating virtual commanders all over the world. Unlike Generals , new units can be unlocked in The Uprising . In Der Aufstand (as in Tiberium Wars and Red Alert 3 ) well-known people such as Ric Flair or Holly Valance played in front of the camera. The uprising contains an additional bonus campaign in which you can play the special unit "Yuriko Omega". The fact that some of the missions in this campaign are partly to be carried out in buildings should, among other things, be a kind of homage to the indoor missions of Red Alert . The game is only available as a download and could be pre-ordered and downloaded relatively early. Only the code required to download the game is delivered in the CD case.

Unlike Red Alert 3 , Insurrection does not include a multiplayer mode.

On the soundtrack to The uprising had Frank Klepacki with again.

Important persons

Allies

President Howard Ackerman

President Ackerman (played by JK Simmons ) is not elected to office until the start of the game. Ackerman is a hardliner anti-communist who is determined to stop and repel the Soviet advance in Europe. When the Allies ally with the Soviets against his will in order to defeat the Empire of the Rising Sun, he plans an attack on Moscow without authorization and therefore has to be eliminated by the player-commander.

Fieldmarshall Robert Bingham

Bingham (played by Jonathan Pryce ) is in command of the Allied forces. He is a prudent but courageous strategist.

Lt. Eva McKenna

Lt. McKenna (played by Gemma Atkinson ) is the command officer who transmits the orders of the superiors to the player and maintains contact during the missions.

Special Agent Tanya

Command unit Tanya (played by Jenny McCarthy ) is armed with double pistols, can place C4 explosive devices on buildings and vehicles and travel a few seconds back in time with her chrono belt.

Commander Lisette Hanley

Commander Hanley (played by Autumn Reeser ) is one of three co-commanders. Their strengths are tanks and vehicles.

Commander Warren Fuller

Commander Fuller (played by Randy Couture ) is one of four sub-commanders of the Allies. A tough as steel and merciless fighter who has already survived a Soviet captivity. His guards, however, did not survive. His specialty is infantry.

Commander Giles Price

Commander Price (played by Greg Ellis ) is one of the three co-commanders. He is responsible for the air force.

Reporter Brenda Snow (only in the expansion)

Reporter Brenda Snow (played by Holly Valance )

Kelly Weaver (only in the extension)

Kelly Weaver (played by Jodi Lyn O'Keefe ) is the head of the Futuretech CPO.

EU President Rupert Thornley (only in the extension)

Rupert Thornley (played by Malcolm McDowell ) becomes President of the European Union in the expansion.

Commander Douglas Hill (only in the expansion)

Commander Hill (played by Ric Flair ) is one of the new Commander. His strength lies in the infantry.

Commander Lydia Winters (only in the expansion)

Commander Winters (played by Louise Griffiths ) is one of the new commanders.

Vice President (nameless, first appearance at the victory celebration)

The Vice President (played by David Hasselhoff ) takes over the office after President Ackerman's end.

Soviets

Premier Chardenko

Prime Minister Chardenko (played by Tim Curry ), actually the interior minister of the doomed Soviet Union, finds himself head of state after the journey through time. Unfortunately, his lust for power goes to his head and turns him from a superior to an opponent, as he wants to get rid of the all-too-successful, player-controlled young general. He fails and the general ends up becoming prime minister himself.

General Krukov

The Commander in Chief (played by Andrew Divoff ) of the Soviet Forces is a stubborn and ambitious man who reacts with jealousy to the successes of others. After some time he has to be eliminated as an alleged traitor on Chardenko's orders. Still, he's not as bad as you first think, but a victim of Chardenko's lust for power.

Lt. Dasha Fedorovich

Lt. Dasha (played by Ivana Miličević ) is the Russian counterpart to Eva McKenna. She sticks to the player-general even when Chardenko wants to destroy him.

Elite unit Natasha

Natasha (played by Gina Carano ) is equipped with a large sniper rifle with which she can decimate infantry from a great distance and order an air strike on buildings and vehicles from a safe distance.

Dr. Gregor Zelinksy

The scientist (played by Peter Stormare ) who enabled the Soviets to travel to 1927 and take out Einstein. By avoiding Einstein, there are no nuclear weapons in the world after time travel.

Commander Zhana Agonskaya

Commander Agonskaya (played by Vanessa Branch ) is one of three co-commanders. You are subordinate to the entire powerful Soviet air force .

Commander Oleg Vodnik

Commander Vodnik (played by Dimitri Diatchenko ) is one of three co-commanders. He commands all motorized units of the Soviet armed forces, especially the armored divisions.

Commander Nikolai Moskvin

Commander Moskvin (played by Gene Farber ) is one of three co-commanders.

Commander Vera Belova (only in the expansion)

Commander Belova (played by Moran Atias ) is one of the new Commander.

The Empire of the Rising Sun (Japan)

Tennō Yoshiro

The Emperor Yoshiro (played by George Takei ) is firmly convinced of his divine mission. As leader of the kingdom of the rising sun, he has the status of a god for his soldiers. When he learns that Japan's power only came about as a result of a journey through time, he reacts in shock and frustration and almost loses faith in his mission.

Crown Prince Tatsu

General Tatsu (played by Ron Yuan ) is the son of Tennō and a high-ranking commander in the Japanese army. A dreaded gigantic toy, the Shogun hangman, is based on his ideas and absorbs Tesla energy. He is the successor to his father in the expansion, but has not yet ascended the throne.

Letter from Suki Toyama

Letter Suki Toyama (played by Kelly Hu ) is the counterpart to Eva McKenna and Dasha Fedorovich.

Commander Shinzo Nagama

Commander Nagama (played by Bruce Asato Locke ) is one of three co-commanders.

Commander Kenji Tenzai

Commander Tenzai (played by Jack J. Yang ) is one of three co-commanders.

Commander Naomi Shirada

Commander Shirada (played by Lydia Look ) is one of three co-commanders.

Commander Takara Sato (only in the expansion)

Commander Sato (played by Jamie Chung ) is one of the new commanders.

Web links

• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ C&C Red alert 3: System requirement. hqgaming.de, accessed on December 9, 2016 . 
2. ↑ C&C Red Alert 3: Patch 1.12 ready for download. pcgameshardware.de, July 17, 2009, accessed December 9, 2016 (English). 
3. ↑ Video and first pictures of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3. pcgames.de, February 14, 2008, accessed on November 2, 2008 . 
4. ↑ Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 for Mac Now Available. news.softpedia.com, March 24, 2009, accessed December 9, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Just arrived: The Battlecast Primetime Special Report with the first information about Command & Conquer: Red alert 3. electronic-arts.de, archived from the original on February 11, 2009 ; Retrieved December 9, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Red Alert 3 Composer Announced. ign.com, June 20, 2008, accessed December 9, 2016 . 
7. ↑ Alex Van Zelfden: Behind the music of Command & Conquer Red Alert 3. crispygamer.com, November 3, 2008, archived from the original on March 3, 2013 ; Retrieved December 9, 2016 . 
8. ↑ http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/command-conquer-alarmstufe-rot-3/news/cc_alarmstufe_rot_3,44281,1948925.html
9. ↑ C&C: Red alert 3 - with incomplete CD keys (update). gamestar.de, October 30, 2008, accessed December 9, 2016 . 
10. ↑ Copy protection: In some manuals of Red Alert 3 the last digit of the CD key is missing ( Memento from January 24th 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
11. ↑ Daniel Matschijewsky: Grandiose production with small quirks. gamestar.de, October 29, 2008, accessed December 9, 2016 . 
12. ↑ Games Aktuell , issue 11/2008, page 88
13. ↑ C&C: Red alert 3 - The uprising: EA confirms stand-alone add-on. pcgames.de, January 8, 2009, accessed December 9, 2016 . 
14. ↑ Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - The Uprising: Release postponed. pcgames.de, March 3, 2009, accessed December 9, 2016 . 
15. ↑ Information page on The uprising at Amazon
16. ↑ Red Alert 3: Uprising - Standalone add-on announced for March. gamestar.de, January 8, 2009, accessed December 9, 2016 . 
17. ↑ New BattleCast Primetime Episode 15 , at 2:20 am
18. ↑ Information printed on the packaging and the note in product descriptions
19. ↑ New BattleCast Primetime Episode 15 , at 5:45 am