Command & Conquer: Red Alert

This article covers the computer game from 1996. For other games, see Command & Conquer: Red Alert (disambiguation) .

Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Studio	Westwood Studios
Publisher	Virgin Interactive
Erstveröffent- lichung	October 31, 1996
platform	MS-DOS , Windows , PlayStation , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation Portable
genre	Real-time strategy
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer (Internet & LAN )
control	Mouse & keyboard , gamepad
system advantages preconditions	MS-DOS 5.0 CPU: 486/66 MHz, 8 MB RAM VGA graphics card (320 × 200 pixels, 256 colors) 40 MB  HDD storage space 2 × CD-ROM drive
medium	CD-ROM , DVD-ROM , download
language	English German
Current version	3.03
Age rating	USK PEGI

Command & Conquer: Red Alert (original title: Command & Conquer: Red Alert ) is a real-time strategy game developed by Westwood Studios and the temporal (in terms of the release date), but not story-related successor to Command & Conquer: The Tiberium Conflict . Although it was originally published in Germany as Command & Conquer - Part 2: Red Alert , different from the original title, together with Red Alert 2 , Red Alert 3 and their expansions, it forms an independent Red Alert game universe within the series .

action

1946 decide scientist in New Mexico under the direction of Professor Albert Einstein , the Second World War to prevent by Adolf Hitler off before he in Germany can take power. To this end, Einstein travels back to 1924, when Hitler has just been released from prison. Einstein throws Hitler out of time and puts him in a parallel universe , so that the danger of the National Socialists seems to have been averted. But the Second World War begins differently. Since the National Socialist German Reich never existed, the Soviet Union had no one to keep it in check. This leads to the fact that the warring parties correspond to those of the Cold War : The Soviet Union and the Allies (a kind of NATO ; together with Germany) fight against each other. When the Soviet Union launches an invasion of Europe, the European nations are forced to form an alliance to push back the Soviet Union. At the end there is one of two closing sequences in which either the Allies defeat the Soviets in Moscow and kill Stalin in the process, or the Soviets and England take over the last Allied bastion in Europe.

At the end of the Soviet campaign, reference is made to The Tiberium Conflict : Kane, the later leader of the Brotherhood of Nod, takes control of the Soviet Union. Westwood later regretted this circularity and wished he had never built Kane into the game, as it proved difficult to make further realistic connections with subsequent releases. In addition, after an allied mission, a news anchor tells that the UN is planning to found a multinational organization called GDI . Therefore, Westwood refrained from such allusions on Red Alert 2 .

indexing

In Germany, Red Alert only appeared in a defused version, in which all soldiers were changed to androids (incorrectly called cyborgs in the game ). A scene in which Adolf Hitler is approached by Einstein and removed from the timeline has been removed from the game. A cutscene in which Stalin explains his worldview and the end sequence in which Stalin is buried have been cut. In addition, some bloody scenes were cut out.

Gameplay

The gameplay is identical to that of its predecessor. As in the previous one, a raw material (here ore ) has to be collected and power plants built to provide electricity. The two parties have very different technology trees . The Allies have weak but fast vehicles, weak positions, a strong navy , many special forces and are able to heal infantry (free of charge), which favors tactics that amount to frequent attacks with rapid retreat ( hit and run ) ( similar to the Nod). The USSR has slow but strong vehicles and infantry, a strong air force and strong positions, which favors tactics that amount to a slow build-up of a large army with a single strong attack ( rush ) (similar to the GDI). Due to the Allied sea superiority, especially the battlecruisers (a ship with high damage potential and very long range), the proximity of the base to the water has great tactical advantages or disadvantages depending on the side. The engine differentiates between different warheads of weapons and different types of armor, which have different effects on each other, creating a rock-paper-scissors characteristic . So acts z. B. MP salvo strong against infantry and weak against tanks, grenades with shaped charges on the other hand strong against tanks, but hardly against infantry (which in reality would be difficult to hit with cannons). The chronosphere ( teleporter ) and shadow generators are used as special weapons on the Allied side , the Iron Curtain (invulnerability screen) and nuclear missiles on the Soviet side .

development

concept

Red alert was originally planned as an extension, but then converted into a full price title. It does not continue the story of The Tiberium Conflict , but rather forms its own parallel universe. Although there are allusions to the predecessor, for example through the appearance of the character "Kane", these were omitted again in the following titles. In addition to the identical engine and landscape graphics as well as the unchanged sprites for infantrymen , some almost unchanged units and buildings, such as the "Mammut" tank, are evidence of the original expansion character .

Fundamental new features were run under Windows 95 in a higher resolution of 640 × 400 or 640 × 480 pixels ( SVGA ) and the "skirmish" mode (English: Skirmish ), in which the player to the multiplayer mode provided cards against computer opponents. Naval units and aircraft were introduced as new game elements, and the desert landscape used in some missions in the predecessor was replaced by a winter scenario.

Publications

The game was released on October 31, 1996, about a year after The Tiberium Conflict , for MS-DOS . Unlike the predecessor and the successor Tiberian Sun , no playable demo version has been released by Red Alert . Instead, Westwood presented a self-running trailer in advance , which mainly consisted of material from the video sequences and was underlaid with Dies Irae from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem . A conversion for the PlayStation console was released in November 1997.

While the game was only published as Command & Conquer: Red Alert in the US , it was released in Germany as Command & Conquer - Part 2: Red Alert . This numbering in the German-speaking area was retained for the subsequent Operation Tiberian Sun , then referred to as Part 3. Only with the successor Red Alert 2 was the numbering abandoned and with the release of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars , the Tiberium series also switched to the counting method specified by the developer.

In early September 2008, Electronic Arts made the full English version of Red Alert available for free download in order to promote the third part of the series at low cost. With a community patch , the game also runs on modern Windows systems. In addition, a smaller download is offered as a pure multiplayer version without videos. With the open source project CnCNet it is possible to play in the network, although the Westwood online servers have long been switched off.

Since the unofficial patch to version 3.03p, the game, including the extensions, has been fully compatible with today's Windows versions and can also be played in higher resolutions than the original 600x480 resolution. In addition, numerous bugs have been fixed and the AI has been improved. Likewise, the game is now portable; H. the original CDs are no longer needed during the game.

Parts of the source code were published on GitHub under the GNU GPL as part of the remastering .

Extensions

To Red Alert , there are two extensions. Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Counterattack (English: Counter Strike ) and Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Aftermath (English: The Aftermath ). These contain several new missions in which you take orders from a General Topolov on the Soviet side.

In the case of a counterattack , the additional CD was only used to install the new missions; the main game CDs then had to be inserted to play. Only the video sequences from the main game were used for the counterattack . As an Easter egg , the first expansion offers the so-called ant missions , in which the player has to compete against mutated giant ants in England. The title of these missions, It came from Red Alert , is a reference to the Cinemaware game It came from the Desert , in which the player also had to fight giant ants.

In addition to the new missions, Retaliation Strike offers a number of new units such as the Tesla soldiers or the teleportable Chronopanzer, whereby overall the science fiction component was emphasized more strongly. However, no more videos were used. In the event of retaliation , the additional CD must be inserted to play all additional missions and also for the multiplayer mode.

For the publication on the PlayStation in the summer of 1998 Westwood combined both expansions under the name Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Counter Strike (English: Retaliation ), which also contained completely new video sequences compared to the original PC version.

reception

Like its predecessor, Command & Conquer: Red Alert was highly praised by the trade press.

The Power Play rated the game in issue 12/1997 of 87% and recorded it with the Power Play hit out. Knut Gollert found the game to be better than Warcraft 2 , which he mainly attributed to the detailed missions. His colleague Sascha Gliss was of the opinion that the new units - especially those like the spy or the thief - would "open up completely new possibilities in mission design and [...] the level noticeably increase." that many missions can still be won by tank rush .

The PC Player (issue 12/1997) rated red alert with 5/5 stars. Michael Schnelle emphasized that Westwood met with the game "pretty much all expectations that were placed on the Command & Conquer successor," and also praised the sophisticated missions. Jörg Langer called Red Alert "the best real-time strategy game there is at the moment" and described the selection of units and the mission design as "unique", but threw in that the real strength of the game lies in the multiplayer mode.

The PC Games rated the game in issue 12/1997 of 90%, giving it the PC Games Award . Thomas Borovskis commented, Command & Conquer: Red alert brings "the fun you are used to from the predecessor" and concluded that the detail improvements made instead of real innovations "made the decision for declared C&C freaks all the easier".

OpenRA

Logo of the project

OpenRA is a free re-implementation of the game engine for Windows and Unixoid systems (such as macOS , GNU / Linux and FreeBSD ). The project has been developed by a community since 2007 and is available on GitHub . It complements the game with a modern multiplayer mode via the Internet and modern game mechanics. Here, the eponymous be Red Alert ( English Red Alert ) and The Tiberiumkonflikt and Dune 2000 as so-called mods supported. There is also a Red Alert: Global League for competitive e-sports . For the future, the developers have also planned, the successor to the Tiberium conflict , so Operation Tiberian Sun to support. Furthermore, the implementation of an engine with a “2.5D” perspective - as in later parts of the Command & Conquer series - is planned.

Important persons

Adolf Hitler

The story of Red Alert begins with Adolf Hitler's “elimination” by Albert Einstein . The Second World War never happened, the Soviets and Allies (comparable to today's NATO) are hostile to each other.

Allies

General Günther von Essling

General von Essling (played by Arthur Roberts ) is the German Commander-in-Chief of the European Allied Forces and the leader of the military junta of Europe. Essling's behavior is very pragmatic and reserved.

General Nikos Stavros

General Stavros (played by Barry Kramer ) is one of the commanders of the Allies and the second highest general in the Allied forces. Stavros is Greek, which can be seen in his great pain in the face of the Soviet occupation of his homeland. In general he is much more emotional than von Essling. Stavros can also be controlled in a regular and a bonus mission of the “ Counterattack ” expansion . He also played a very important role in Stalin's death.

Special Agent Tanya Adams

Tanya Adams (played by Lynne Litteer in red alert , Kari Wuhrer in red alert 2 and Jenny McCarthy in red alert 3 ) is an elite fighter who, as a hero unit, is one of the few controllable protagonists. With her strong armament, she eliminates all infantry at great distances, which she accompanies with cynical comments. In addition, Tanya (her last name was only mentioned in the first part) is able to blow up buildings and bridges with the help of C4 . In Red Alert 2 - Yuri's Revenge , Tanya is generally able to blow up tanks (and in AR2 from a certain patch). It is therefore comparable to the command robot from its predecessor. As one of the few protagonists, she appears in all three red alert parts.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein (played by John Milford on Red Alert and Larry Gelman on Red Alert 2 ) is a famous physicist who sided with the Allies after a parallel version of him changed the course of time. He is mainly active in the field of armaments and has developed many of the allied technologies, including the chronosphere. He appears in all three Red Alert parts, although in the last one he is killed by Soviet time travelers at the beginning.

Soviets

Joseph Stalin

Josef Stalin (played by Eugene Dynarski ) is the Soviet dictator who leads the troops of the Soviet Union and gives the player his orders to operate. His goal is to rule the whole world. However, he did not survive the attempt in either of the red alert scenarios . He is murdered by Nadia during the Soviet Victory Parade in London, and if the Allies win, General Stavros makes sure that Stalin, buried in ruins, is not saved by Allied troops.

Kane

Kane (played by Joseph D. Kucan ) is Stalin's advisor. After the Allied victory, Kane cannot be tracked. In contrast, when the Soviet Union wins, Stalin is assassinated on Kane's orders and Kane himself takes his place. Kane is the leader of the Brotherhood of Nod .

Kane's quote: “Whoever controls the past has power over the future. Whoever has power over the future conquers the past. "

For more information on Kane, see Command & Conquer: Tiberium Series .

Nadia

Nadia (played by Andrea Robinson ) is Stalin's playmate and head of the Soviet secret service NKVD . However, it is later revealed that she is a leading member of the Brotherhood of Nod . However, she is killed by Kane, to whom she was too greedy for power.

General Gradenko

Gradenko (played by Alan Terry ) is a Soviet general and Nadia's main competitor in the struggle for the leadership of the Communist Party . To test Gradenko's loyalty, Stalin had him sign execution orders from Soviet generals who wanted to assassinate Stalin.

General Georgi Kukov

General Kukov (played by Craig Cavanah ) is the commandant of the Red Army and the adviser to Stalin. Kukov is ultimately strangled by Stalin because his mistake destroys the Allied chronosphere.

Major Vladimir Kosygin

Major Kosygin is a Russian officer who is on a red alert mission to the Allies because he is increasingly disgusted by Stalin's methods. After his betrayal, he gives the Allies vital information about Stalin's nuclear weapon potential.

Volkov

A Soviet cyborg who appears in some of the Red Alert expansion missions . Volkov is accompanied by a "cyborg sheepdog " named Chitzkoi and can even take on Allied battle tanks and battlecruisers in terms of armament and armor.

Web links

• Command & Conquer: Red Alert at MobyGames (English)
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert on the C&C Wiki

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Command & Conquer system requirements : Red alert . In: cnc-inside.de. October 4, 2004, archived from the original on February 2, 2009 ; Retrieved January 23, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Summary of the plot of Command & Conquer: Red Alert. In: cnc-inside.de. Archived from the original on December 28, 2004 ; accessed on February 18, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Censorship report on red alert. In: schnittberichte.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Free download: Command & Conquer - Red Alert. Free first part advertises Red Alert 3. In: netzwelt.de. September 1, 2008, accessed February 19, 2017 . 
5. ↑ Play Red Alert 1 Online Free. In: cncnet.org. Retrieved February 19, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Portable RA. iran.cnc-comm.com, accessed February 19, 2017 . 
7. ↑ EA publishes the source code of the Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection
8. ↑ Command & Conquer: New version of the free implementation OpenRA. In: Heise online . May 10, 2016, accessed March 8, 2017 . 
9. ↑ Christian Huberts: That's why gamers are still obsessed with Command & Conquer after 23 years , Vice Motherboard , July 26th 2018
10. ↑ Interview with Paul Chote from OpenRA. (No longer available online.) In: Strategiespiele.net. March 8, 2017, archived from the original on June 23, 2017 ; accessed on March 8, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.