Red Alert 3: First Look

Saturday, 24 May 2008

I thought, maybe, for my second article whilst the boss is away, I should actually make a critical analysis of an upcoming game, rather than ranting about ones already released. Further to this, I'm taking a look at EAs RTS monster, Red Alert 3. This has been announced for release in 'red October' of this year (I know that doesn't mean anything, but it might give you a slight idea of how long it'll be delayed). Now, I have to say I love the Command and Conquer series, and with it, the Red Alert series (not so much Generals). I've been a fan of the franchise since the original Red Alert, and I'm probably going to buy this one too. And given the game's track record, I'll have to buy another new computer to play it. However, looking at various previews of the game, I'm slightly dubious as to some of the little details in the game. Are EA losing their strategic nerve?





It's a pretty straightforward trailer really (from Gamespot). It's good to see they haven't decimated the traditional industrial metal soundtrack that fits in with Red Alert games so well. Then, there are a few things that aren't quite so obvious, but are still shown in the trailer. Firstly, there appears to be a lot more focus on sea-combat. This is good, it takes me back to the days of battleships and subs on the original Red Alert. But, more than just this, water bases as well, so, I believe, power plants and construction yards built on the water. I think, the more options you have in an RTS, the better quality the gameplay is. And water is just another of those options. The lack of water combat in C&C3 was always a big problem for me. It didn't make it a bad game, and maybe water units would have cluttered it too much, but it just bottlenecked your strategies just that little bit more.

Next point, is the new physics engine that EA have brought in. The only real example of this in the trailer is of how the bullfrog units jump down on those soldiers and devour them. It's a pretty cool little scene, but it shows that, at last, you can really take advantage of the terrain (incidentally, those soldiers, using this new engine, wouldn't be able to see the bullfrogs, even if they had been looking directly at the cliff; another interesting feature). However, in missions, cliffs have always been a really useful way for the designer to block parts off, or to force you to take a certain path through the map, it'll be interesting to see how EA compensate that, now that some units can jump off cliffs.

Now, the graphics on that trailer aren't particularly impressive, a bit grainy. But I think you can see from the screenshots, that that won't be true of the game itself. The graphics look typically computer and soul destroying. And that's what we hope for in a Red Alert game. I mean, atom bomb graphics that didn't set your computer on fire? Who would go for that?

Another important addition to the gameplay is a third faction. This third faction is an attempt at not changing the Allies and Soviets too much, but still mix the gaming up a little. I'm not sure how original this is with Tiberium Wars just introducing a third faction. But, change is good, right? The third faction is set to be Japan, so we can expect Ninjas, Samurai, crazy robots and Hentai. I've got reserved judgement on a third faction. The idea worked on Tiberium Wars, but didn't on Generals. But then, for me, nothing worked on Generals.

Also, there is an increased area of strategy. That is what RTS was meant to be, but sort of turned into a couple of dozen simultaneous Shoot-em-ups going on. For instance, there will be less of an emphasis on building up, building up, building up, SUPERWEAPON, as there has been in the last few games. Instead, the emphasis is set to be a lot more on scouting the enemy's base, checking them out, and seeing what their weaknesses are. If that's done well, it will be great, if it's not, it will be boring. That's something we'll just have to wait for more details on. But certainly, as far as combat strategy is concerned, we can certainly be expecting a lot more of the 'bite and hold' tactics that won the Allies WWI. We have artillery that can shoot so far that your enemy can't see you and the base you're destroying in the same camera. This will certainly give you a chance to use a more strategic approach to the game.

All good so far: a nice mix of new innovation and die hard classicism. However, I haven't got to what bothers me yet. Chris Corry (executive producer of the EA branch responsible for developing RA3) has said that Red Alert is very much their 'fun' project, whilst C&C remains their 'dark' serious series. At first, this didn't really make much sense to me: I know the C&C maps tend to be dark, but I just thought they were fighting at night. But then, I read about some of the new units they are bringing in, and this brought back memories from previous RAs of 'fun' innovations. To go back to the original Red Alert, the Chronosphere, Tanya and Burglars. Red Alert 2: Weather Machines, cloning facilities and Zephyrs with heads painted on them. Of course, these were just things that made you sigh in pity slightly at the inability to think up genuine hardcore units. I didn't realise they had done this on purpose, in the name of 'fun'. But these innovations are nothing compared to a select few of the new units in RA3. Intelligent dolphins will roam the seas, presumably strapping C4 to aircraft carriers and then swimming like hell. I mean, what can they possibly do next? I guess they could stick bears into cannons and parachute them into the enemy base... Yes, they've done that too.

This game looks set to be just another great one in the long list of C&C and RA RTSs. It also looks set to be the first RTS that fully integrates water combat and bases into the game. With RA games it's important to keep a certain amount of tradition, whilst still making the gameplay fresh and invigorating. It's a tricky task, but the developers are up to it. I just hope they don't make it fresh to the point of slapstick comedy: Kane getting hit with a custard pie, that kinda thing.

Labels: Red Alert 3, RTS

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Article Posted: Saturday, 24 May 2008 at 01:47.
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