Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (0)

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
First release date
2008-10-28
Platform
Mac Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 PC
Developer
EA Los Angeles
Publisher
EA Games
Theme
Command & Conquer: Red Alert Command & Conquer
Franchise
Command & Conquer: Red Alert Command & Conquer
Aliases
RA3

Overview

EA's alternate-history real-time strategy series, , has been dormant since the release of in 2001. In early 2008, Red Alert 3 was formally announced for a "Red October" release on PC. The Xbox 360 version was released a month later and the PS3 version was on hold until March of 2009.

Story

On the verge of being defeated by the Allies, Soviet leadership executes a desperate plan. The Soviets have secretly build a time machine underneath the Kremlin. Using this time machine, Soviet leaders travel back in time and kill , thus removing all the technology that he would have built to help the Allies. Returning to the present, the Soviets are on the verge of conquering all of Europe. However, this time alteration has unwittingly created a new superpower, the Empire of the Rising Sun. Thus the world is plunged into a three way war.

The game features a roughly 10 mission campaign for each faction. The Empire campaign is locked until the player finishes the Soviet and Allied campaigns. There are three possible endings, each putting their respective faction as the victor of the war. The Allies' ending is the canonical one.

Gameplay

The colorful, campy feel of the Red Alert series will returns in Red Alert 3, ranging from mission briefings and story sequences, as well as outlandish units. New to Command & Conquer is the option for cooperative campaign play. Players can play online with their friend, or choose to play alone, in which case an AI controlled Commander helps out. When playing alone, you can give some generic orders to your co-commander, such as attack specific target. Naval battles play an important role in Red Alert 3, with almost all multiplayer maps featuring large bodies of water for naval units. The game does away with the traditional fields of ore for resources and instead features finite ore mines that only require a single harvester.

The game features three factions, each with differences that dictate how they play. The Allies have unique technologies such as Prism beams and cloaking fields as well as being the air power faction. Soviets focus on brute strength with powerful tanks. The Empire has a strong navy and transforming units. Each faction builds and techs up differently.

The Allies build in the typical CnC style, but buildings will not expand the buildable zone of the base. Tech is upgraded via the MCV or the outpost and all buildings within the build zone will gain the benefits of tech making the Allies very versatile. However teching as the Allies is also the most expensive and time consuming.

Soviets have to immediately place their buildings and let them be constructed in the field. Buildings will increase the build zone however. Tech is upgraded via each production structure and is carried by future structures.

The Empire does away with the tradition CnC build method entirely. Instead the MCV produces mobile building cores which can be moved anywhere on the map before being deployed into buildings, which then take some time to construct. This allows the Empire to build anywhere although the farther away from the MCV, the longer the build time. Tech is cheaper than the other factions but it only applies to that specific production structure. This makes losing a Tier 3 factory very damaging because the Empire must not only rebuild the factory but also re-tech twice, during which time it cannot be used to produce units, to fully replace the loss.

Console editions of Red Alert 3 use a control wheel scheme from the console edition of with some slight improvements. Online Co-op matchmaking however is not implemented.

Special Editions

The Premier's Edition

The Premier's Edition comes in a tin box, along with five exclusive MP/skirmish maps, a making of DVD feature, a feature entitled "Women of Red Alert 3", a soundtrack, a beta key for Command and Conquer 4 and the "Kossar's Helm" item for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

Complete list of items:

  • Collector's tin case
  • Five exclusive multiplayer/skirmish maps
  • Bonus DVD featuring the following:
  • Full-length Raising the Iron Curtain making-of movie with exclusive interviews from the star-studded cast
  • Concept art montage video "From Pens to Pixels"
  • Bloopers and outtakes from the cinematics sessions
  • Women of Red Alert 3 montage video
  • An inside look into the future of Command & Conquer and Red Alert
  • Tips on how to unlock the secrets of each side, directly from the developers
  • Complete video walk-thru on one of the game's most difficult missions
  • Game Soundtrack including exclusive remixes of Hell March and Hell March 2 by From First to Last, plus the all-new Hell March 3
  • Women of Red Alert 3 Poster
  • Exclusive Beta Key to
  • An exclusive in-game item for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning - Korssar’s Helm [ This magical Kislevite helm is imbued with the spirit of the wild North and will magically transform the wearer into a ferocious bear. ]

PS3 Ultimate Edition

EA announced that its Playstation 3 edition of Command & Conquer : Red Alert 3 will contain bonus content due to PLAYSTATION 3’s Blu-ray disc capacity. Offering exclusive maps, complete Red Alert 3 soundtrack , and a bonus episode of Command School which gives players tips, tricks, and strategies directly from the develop team.

Complete list of items

  • Five exciting new multiplayer maps
  • Behind the scenes videos and trailers, including Raising the Iron Curtain Documentary, From Pens to Pixels, the Girls of Red Alert 3, Bloopers & Outtakes, the Red Alert 3 Remix and many more!
  • In-depth profiles on all the Red Alert 3 Units
  • The official Red Alert 3 soundtrack

Beta Test

The beta ran from late July 2008 to September 29, 2008. Original end date was set to September 26, 2008, but EA extended the beta over the weekend. The beta was open for everyone who had registered their beta key acquired from either the Command & Conquer 3 Limited Collection or the Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath expansion pack by September 15, 2008. The multiplayer beta comprised of four maps, two 2-player maps and two 4-player maps.

DRM

Released right after , Red Alert 3 also uses the controversial . Users must authenticate online are only able to install the game five times. Any additional installs require contact with EA support. Uninstalling the game does not give back an install. Since release, patches have eased the stringent DRM, allowing uninstalls to give back an install and allow players to de-authorize the game. The Red Alert development team has stated that once the popularity of the game wanes and the servers go down, a patch will likely come out to remove the online authentication. The Steam version initially had SecuRom but is now protected through Steam.

Expansion Pack

Red Alert 3's first expansion pack: was released on March 13th, 2009. A stand-alone expansion pack, Uprising features no online multiplayer. It adds powerful new units to each faction, four new "mini-campaigns", an all-new Commander's Challenge mode, 30 new Skirmish maps, all-new FMV cutscenes with new actors, and new music tracks.

Soundtrack

C&C veteran composer, , returned for Red Alert 3 to compose 3 songs, Hell March 3, Grinder 2 and The Red Menace aka Nuclear Death aka Soviet Up Yours theme. British composer composed the music of the "Empire of the Rising Sun" faction and the game's Soviet March theme. composed music for the Allied faction and some tracks for the Soviet faction.

The Units

ALLIES

INFANTRY

  • Attack Dog:

    The Attack Dog acts as an early game scout, it’s fast and can take out enemy infantry in one hit. Their senses allow dogs to detect disguised Spies and Sudden Transports. Its secondary ability allows the dog to roar via an amplifier which stuns enemies.
  • Peacekeeper:

    The Peacekeeper is the main infantry unit, it carries a combat shotgun which is devastating to infantry at close range. Its secondary ability swaps to a shield, this shield greatly reduces damage but also slows the unit down.
  • Engineer:

    The Engineer, like in past games can capture neutral or hostile buildings and repair allied buildings. The Engineer can deploy itself into a medical tent to heal allied infantry. Engineers are amphibious.
  • Javelin Soldier:

    The Javelin soldier is a powerful anti-tank and building unit but it has a long reload time. Its secondary ability locks onto an enemy building or vehicle allowing it to fire faster and deal more damage, although it takes time to lock on.
  • Spy:

    The Spy has the ability to infiltrate any enemy building. This can give unit information, money, power down their base or other things depending on what building it infiltrates. The Spy can cloak itself to look like an enemy infantry, and also buy off enemy units that are within range for $1000.
  • Tanya:

    Tanya is the allied commando, she is deadly to infantry. Tanya can also destroy vehicles and buildings by planting a bomb on them. Tanya has a time belt which allows her, when activated, to revert back in time a few seconds to escape danger. Like all commando units, she is amphibious.

VEHICLES

  • Multigunner IFV:

    The IFV is one of the most versatile units in the game. It can load a single infantry, at which point the IFV's main rocket launcher will convert to an upsized version of the infantry's weapon. Loading a peacekeeper equips the IFV with a powerful shotgun for anti-infantry. Loading engineers allows the IFV to repair allied vehicles and loading dogs will turn allow the IFV to stun infantry. In team games, a teammate's infantry from other factions can be loaded into the IFV creating even more possibilities.
  • Guardian Tank:

    The Guardian tank is the main battle tank for the Allies. It has a good balance of speed, armor, firepower, and range. Its secondary ability toggles a targeting laser that allows allied units to deal 50% more damage to the designated target.
  • Prospector:

    The Prospector is the ore collector. Its secondary ability is unpacking into an outpost allowing the Allies more build space.
  • Athena Cannon:

    The Athena is the Allies' artillery unit that fires a powerful orbital laser on its targets. Its secondary ability is the Athena Shield which projects a large forcefield to soak up damage.
  • Mirage Tank:

    A combination of Red Alert 2's Mirage and Prism Tanks, the Red Alert 3 Mirage Tank is the most advance tank the Allies can field. The Mirage Tank can camouflage with the environment while stationary to become invisible to enemies and is equipped with a Spectrum-Dispersion Cannon that can bounce off multiple nearby targets. Its secondary ability allows it to cloak other allied units within a short range around it.

AIRCRAFT

  • Apollo Fighter:

    The Apollo is the Allies air superiority fighter, it is more powerful than its Soviet and Empire equivalents. Its secondary ability allows it to fly at great speed straight back to the airbase via the most direct route. Apollos must land in airbases to resupply ammo.
  • Century Bomber:

    The Century Bomber; the Allies main bomber aircraft can carpet bomb large areas and can also be loaded with infantry to be parachuted down anywhere. Centuries must land in an airbase to resupply.
  • Cryocopter:

    The Cryocopter can freeze any unit or building with its main gun--the more health the target has, the longer it takes to freeze. Frozen units and structures will die in one hit from any source. The Cryocopter's secondary ability is the Shrink Ray, which will reduce one target--friendly or enemy--to miniscule proportions for 15 seconds. Shrunken units do significantly less damage while also taking more damage; however, they move much faster.
  • Vindicator:

    The Vindicator essentially replaces the Harrier Jet from Red Alert 2 as a strike-and-return, pinpoint bomber. Its secondary ability orders it to fly back to base at increased speed along the most direct route. Vindicators must land in an airbase to resupply.

NAVAL

  • Riptide ACV

    The Riptide ACV is an early Allied amphibious transport unit that can carry 5 infantry units. On water it fires torpedoes while on land it uses a machine gun.
  • Dolphin:

    The Dolphin is the Allies' fast, water-based scout unit. It attacks via amplified sonar pulses that do linear splash damage. Its secondary ability allows it to briefly jump out of the water to avoid attack or leap over obstacles, but leaves it temporarily vulnerable to anti-air attacks.
  • Hydrofoil:

    The Hydrofoil is the main Allied anti-air naval unit. It is a very fast unit with dual rapid-firing chainguns that shred aircraft in seconds. Its secondary ability allows it to selectively target and disable the weapons of any nearby enemy non-infantry unit.
  • Assault Destroyer:

    The Assault Destroyer is the most powerful amphibious unit in the game. In addition to its beefy main cannon, it can activate a blackhole shield draws all nearby enemy fire to it, protecting enveloped allied units from attacks.
  • Aircraft Carrier:

    The Aircraft Carrier is the main naval siege unit for the Allies. It deploys five powerful drones that bomb ground targets at great distance. While in flight to or from their target, the drones are susceptible to anti-air attacks, and any destroyed drones are automatically replenished by the aircraft carrier after a short time for free. The carrier's secondary ability fires a Blackout Missile that powers down all enemy units and structures within the area of the point of impact.

SOVIETS

INFANTRY

  • War Bear:

    The War Bear acts as an early game scout with the same abilities as the Allied Attack Dog. Though not as fast as the Allied Attack Dog, the Bear has more health.
  • Conscript:

    The Conscript is the basic Soviet infantry unit. He is lightly effective against all other infantry, and not much else. His secondary ability is to throw a stream of Molotov cocktails which deals small splash damage and can clear out enemy garrisoned buildings.
  • Flak Trooper:

    The Flak Trooper is the main anti-air and armor unit. Its secondary ability is to throw down a magnetic mine that latches onto enemy vehicles or structures and deals significant damage.
  • Combat Engineer:

    The Combat Engineer can capture enemy or neutral tech buildings. It is the only engineer to have a weapon - a pistol. Combat Engineers can deploy mini bunkers fit for two infantry. Also can deploy a one-man inflatable raft to allow him to cross water.
  • Tesla Trooper:

    The Tesla Trooper is a powerful anti-infantry and armor unit with a short charge-up time to its attacks. Its secondary ability emits an area discharge that disables nearby enemy vehicles. It can also charge up friendly Tesla Coils by firing at them and cannot be crushed by enemy vehicles.
  • Natasha:

    Natasha is the Soviet commando. She has a high powered sniper rifle that can pierce multiple infantry. She can call down paint non-infantry targets with a laser designator to call in airstrikes to destroy vehicles and structures. Her secondary ability is to snipe the pilot from a ground vehicle which can then be commandeered by any friendly infantry, effectively trading that infantry unit for permanent control of the captured vehicle.

VEHICLES

  • Terror Drone:

    The Terror Drone is a fast, but fragile early harassment unit. It jumps into vehicles and slowly dismantles them from the inside. An infested vehicle can only be purged by being repaired (from any source). The Terror Drone's secondary ability is the Stasis Ray which prevents the targeted vehicle from moving, which can be handy to allow another terror drone to catch up to a fleeing vehicle, for example.
  • Sickle:

    Inspired by the Terror Drone's spider-like design, the Sickle is a multi-legged crawler, with three machine guns around its body that chew through infantry. Its secondary ability allows the Sickle high through the air and land across chasms, atop cliffs, or right into a pack of enemy infantry, stunning and damaging them all.
  • Ore Collector:

    The Ore Collector collects ore. Its secondary ability allows it to deploy a shield that greatly reduces damage at the cost of movement speed and its ore-collecting ability.
  • Bullfrog:

    The Bullfrog is the Soviets' early troop transport; it can only attack air units with its flak cannon, leaving it helpless against enemy ground units. Up to 5 infantry can be loaded into the Bullfrog for transport. The only means of unloading its passengers is for the Bullfrog to launch them into the air with its Mancannon. Each launched infantry unit will then parachute to the ground, all the while being vulnerable to anti-air attacks.
  • Sputnik:

    This is a Soviet base expansion unit. It can be unpacked into an outpost that gives a build radius.
  • Hammer Tank:

    The Hammer Tank is the main Soviet battle tank. It is more powerful than the Allies' Guardian with more armor at the expense of speed. Its secondary ability is a Leech Beam allowing it to steadily leach health from enemy vehicles. If the leech beam kills the vehicle, the Hammer Tank gains the weapon of that vehicle. A clever tactic is to use the leech beam on allied vehicles that are about to die. This not only prevents the enemy unit from gaining promotion bonuses, but the Hammer Tank also gains a new weapon.
  • V4 Rocket Launcher:

    The V4 is the Soviet's artillery unit. The V4 fires long range missiles at targets and is quite effective against most units, assuming they stay still long enough for the slow-moving missiles to connect. Its secondary ability allows it to fire cluster missiles that exchange pinpoint damage for reduced area splash damage.
  • Apocalypse Tank:

The Apocalypse Tank is RA3's equivalent to the Mammoth Tank. It is effective against all other armored vehicles. Though slow, the Apocalypse can crush smaller tanks. The Apocalypse's secondary is a Magnetic Harpoon that draws enemy vehicles towards grinders in the tank's front, instantly killing the enemy unit on contact.

AIRCRAFT

  • Twinblade:

    The Soviets attack helicopter can fire a intermittent barrage of rockets to complement its continuous stream of machine gun fire and can transport up to five infantry units or one vehicle.
  • MiG:

    The Mig is the Soviet's air superiority fighter. While not as powerful as the Allied Apollo, the MiG deals splash damage, allowing the MiG to come out victorious in large engagements. The secondary ability allows it to fly at a faster rate straight back to the airfield via the most direct route.
  • Kirov Airship:

    The Kirov's only weakness is its speed. As the slowest unit in the game, it is particularly vulnerable to every form of anti-air. However, should it manage to arrive over a target, that target is all but destroyed as house-sized bombs rain down upon it. The secondary ability allows it to continuously exchange health for movement speed.

NAVAL

  • Stingray:

    The Stingray is a basic amphibious unit that has a pair of Tesla Coils mounted to its front. It is effective against infantry and lightly armored ships and vehicles. Its secondary ability emits an electrical discharge in the water, damaging every unit around the Stingray and instantly killing biological units like dolphins.
  • Akula Sub:

    The Akula is the Soviet submersible unit. It is relatively slow, but deals considerable damage. While submerged, the sub can only be attacked by torpedos and advance base defenses. The Akula must surface to attack with its own torpedoes. Its secondary ability fires two unguided Ultra-Torpedoes that deal major damage to anything that fails to get out of their path.
  • Dreadnaught:

    The Dreadnaught is the Soviet naval siege weapon. It fires three very powerful missles that cannot be shot down and have excellent range. The Dreadnaught's secondary ability increases firing rate but also slowly damages the ship.

EMPIRE

INFANTRY

  • Imperial Warrior:

The main infantry unit of the Empire, the Imperial Warrior is equipped with a laser carbine. Its secondary switches the carbine for a , increasing the Imperial Warrior's speed and lethality to other infantry.

  • Tank Buster:

The Tank Buster, as its name suggests, uses its massive industrial plasma cutter to slice right through armored targets and structures. Busters can also burrow into the ground to prevent being run over as well as drastically reduce incoming damage. However they cannot fire while burrowed.

  • Shinobi:

The Shinobi is a ninja! Their primary function is the same as that of the Allied Spy, but they are also armed with shurikens and a katana for instantly killing enemy infantry. Their secondary ability drops a smoke bomb, breaking all enemy units' targeting on them.

  • Yuriko Omega:

Yuriko is the Empire's commando unit. She uses her telekinetic powers to lift enemy units into the air and eviscerate them with the power of her mind. Her secondary ability unleashes a psionic shockwave, to damage and knock back all enemy infantry around her. Like all commando units, Yuriko is amphibious (in her case, by means of levitation).

  • Rocket Angel:

Rocket Angels are female shock troopers equipped with exo-skeletal jetpacks that allow them to fly. They are armed with cluster-missile-firing Photon Rocket Launchers, making them good anti-vehicle and air units. Their secondary ability is a Paralysis Whip that disables a ground unit, preventing it from moving and attacking.

  • Burst Drone:

The Burst Drone is a robotic dragonfly used for scouting. It can attach itself to vehicles and slow them down. It can also self destruct to deal light damage. The Drone's advance sensors allow it to detect disguised Spies and Sudden Transports.

  • Engineer:

The Empire's engineer's primary function is the same as the other factions' engineers'. Its secondary ability allows the gangly engineer to sprint for a short period of time, after which he must stop for a moment to catch his breath.

VEHICLES

  • Striker/Chopper VX:

The VX is a bird-like walking mech that can transform into a helicopter. While on the ground it serves as an anti-air vehicle and as a chopper, it is an effective anti-armor unit.

  • Tsunami Tank:

The Tsunami is the standard tank of the Imperial Army. Though not as well armored as the Allied Guardian or the Soviet Hammer, the Tsunami is amphibious. Its secondary ability activates Nano-Deflective Armor that increases the armor and the speed of the tank in exchange for disabling its weapon.

  • King Oni:

The most advanced ground unit in the Empire's arsenal, the King Oni is a terrifying lumbering mech that shoots laser beams out of its eyes. Its secondary ability causes the Oni to shoulder rush a target, smashing right through lower tier units and dealing significant damage to even tier 3 tanks.

  • Mecha/Jet Tengu:

Mecha Tengu is an amphibious assault mech armed with dual plasma cannons that rip apart enemy infantry. The Mecha Tengu can also transform into the Jet Tengu to be become an air superiority jet fighter.

  • Ore Collector:

The Empire's Ore Collector can flip its cargo bay to reveal an anti-infantry gun turret.

  • Sudden Transport

An unarmed amphibious transport. The Sudden Transport can disguise itself as an enemy vehicle to bypass defenses.

  • Wave-Force Artillery:

The Empire's artillery unit fires a slow-charging, but tremendously powerful particle beam that damages anything in its path. Its secondary fire mode increase the firing rate at the expense of attack power.

NAVAL

  • Shogun Battleship:

The Empire's naval siege unit, the Shogun is equipped with Shirada bombardment cannons. They are very destructive and precise. For their secondary ability Shoguns can ram other vessels, destroying them.

  • Naginata Cruiser:

The Naginata is a fast-moving torpedo boat with rapid fire. The second ability is a spread-shot of torpedos. Naginatas are weak to attack from the air.

  • Sea-Wing/Sky-Wing

The Sea-Wing is a submersible anti-air unit. Like all subs, it must surface to fire and is protected against most attacks when underwater. It can transform into the Sky-Wing and fires an anti-infantry laser gun.

  • Yari Mini Sub:

Cheap miniature submersibles that fire mini torpedoes. The Yari can also kamikaze other ships.

System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements

  • OS: Windows XP/Vista (32-Bit)
  • Processor: Pentium 4 @ 2 GHz/AMD Athlon 2000 (2.2 GHz/AMD Athlon 2200 on Vista)
  • Memory: 1 GB
  • Hard Drive: 6 GB Free (12 GB Free for EA Link Version)
  • Video Memory: nVidia GeForce 6800/ATI Radeon X1800 or later
  • Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
  • DirectX: 9.0c
  • Keyboard & Mouse
  • DVD Rom Drive (8X)