Red Alert 3

[Peter McCoy]

Just wondering what other people think of EA's latest installment in the C&C series.

Visually I think it looks great. The water effects are very nice indeed. And so far I've found the gameplay to be really fun, especially with the unit special abilities. I'm loving the Akula Sub's fire-and-forget straight line ultra-powerful torpedo special ability! IIRC they don't even need to surface to fire them. Very cool.

Up to now I've only played as the Soviets. I love the Bullfrog's troop cannon - launches the occupants a decent distance before they parachute down, allowing you to avoid perimeter defences or launch your troops to safety if the convoy comes under attack.

And I'm especially fond of the explanation for the current situation - Russia has no nuclear capabilities (nor do the other sides) and Japan are now a major player in the war. This is all due to the events of the opening video in which the Russians - led by Tim Curry - travel back in time to the 1920's and erase Einstein from existence. As a result there is no development of nuclear weapons/power - subsequently Japan are not knocked out of the war and become a superpower in their own right. George Takei as the Emperor of the Rising Sun is just quite simply a bitta nosh.

The Soviet 'nuke' is now in the form of an 'Orbital Drop' in which - in the blink of an eye - a satellite is decommissioned and falls from orbit onto the target. There are three ranks of varying power. They also have the Magnetic Satellite which, when activated, sucks up certain units (presumably anything made from magnetic metal) into orbit, removing them from the battle. Whats even cooler was I used the satellite on a trio of large Allied battleships. Not long after I targeted the enemy base with a Orbital Drop. As well as the uual satellite striking the target, the three battleships also fell from orbit, obliterating the target. Cool as Hell!!!!!

I absolutely adore Red Alert 2 and its expansion so this game always had a lot to live up to. While the glossy new 3D engine is a joy to see on my monitor, I'm still undecided on whether or not it's a worthy successor. Just playing and watching it makes me long for Starcraft 2 (my Number 1 RTS in front of RA2).If you've played the other games and enjoyed them, give it ago. I can't really say if a RA fan would like it because I'm a fan and I've yet to give a verdict. Up to now it's a lot of fun but there's two more sides to play yet.

For the Motherland!

[Crusader]

I loike the RA series. Especially RA2 for the cheesy dialog and acting. I really look forward to play RA3 but I think I will get my chance later in the year.

[Khendon Sevon]

I still have to buy it.

It was in its final stages of production when I was at EA and I got to play it a few times (closed beta). Later, my roommates and I all got into the online beta (yay connections).

I also got to see a lot of the videos, etc. during some cool meetings.

That cool water you're talking about? That was coded by one of the interns I worked with :)

Good stuff.

I will be buying it in the future.

[Park Kraken]

I've buyed it and played it. It's a very good game, but it doesn't have the draw on me to keep playing it like RA2 does for example for some reason.

Maybe it's because of how long the skirmish battles last. I love doing big battles against computer opponents set on brutal, but each match is either won or lost in under twenty minutes, typically around 15 minutes a match.

That, and there aren't a lot in the way of larger maps (although now that I've gotten water making on the map editor figured out, I'm working on a 6 player water land map).

Right now, in so far as naval wars go, I love the Japanese Naginata cruiser and it's torpedo salvo ability. Being able to engage two land targets at once and it's ramming ability also ranks in the Shogun as a cool captial ship.