For the most part, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 delivers the same sort of campy, alternate-universe take on real-time strategic warfare that the series' fans have grown to love. But this latest skirmish in the perennial war between the Allies and the Soviet forces lets you bring a friend to the battle.
The ability to engage in a cooperative campaign gives the game's hectic combat a welcome twist. For the first time in any strategy game, two players will have a chance to tackle a campaign side by side. This means constructing complementary armies, coordinating tactical strikes and fighting difficult computer enemies while working their way through the game's three campaigns and 27 missions.
And it works – provided you have friends. Playing the game's campaign mode solo can be an exercise in frustration for all but the savviest armchair generals.
(Red Alert 3 is available this week for PC, the version we reviewed. An Xbox 360 version is scheduled for release next month.)
During my recent hands-on with Red Alert 3's campaign, I got a good feel for how the whole co-op idea is supposed to work. When you're teamed up with a human partner, there's a far greater level of strategic freedom – plan pincer attacks, beg for help or get advice on what troops to build next.
If you don't have any friends to play with (or don't want to be matched up with a stranger), you'll be paired up with a computer-controlled buddy who is fairly competent at keeping himself alive ... but not really much of a team player.
There is no way to directly control how your computerized co-commander governs his army or builds his base. What you can do is assign commands that will guide his behavior. Issue a command to attack a particular target, and he'll send forces until the enemy unit or building has fallen. Tell him to take a particular position, and he'll send some forces, clear out any opposition and stand guard till the area is clear, or you cancel the command. My personal favorite is the Plan Attack option: Pick a spot, and your teammate will begin constructing troops to clear out any opposition along the way, before finally plowing through and taking over the targeted location.
These functions work well, but the Red Alert series isn't exactly renowned for its strategic depth. Combat often consists of swarming your enemy with the right mix of troops. And when you're playing with an AI partner, you lose a lot of flexibility.
When playing with another person, for example, I could choose to focus on constructing ranged support units, while my partner swarmed with tanks and infantry. But when you have no direct control over what your computer-controlled partner is doing, or how they're balancing their forces, your best bet is often letting them head the assault, and sending in your own calculated attack once they've charged in.
The problem seems to lie with the game's scale. You can build bases on the open sea, in addition to land, and you'll encounter many amphibious units that will cross both with ease. Toss in some air units, and units that can only attack ground or air units but not both, and that means you've got three theaters of war to keep an eye on at all times. While the game provides plenty of auditory and visual cues, a good partner will make all the difference.
That said, the campaign mode is a fun, lengthy, well-polished experience. But the reason most people pick up a strategy game in the first place is to meet new and interesting people and crush them mercilessly.
Red Alert 3 also features the series' bread and butter: A competitive multiplayer mode in which players square off. The focus on naval combat adds a new layer of strategy, and developing strategies to counter the new units is a blast, but things haven't really changed much from previous versions.
Every unit has a secondary firing mode that you can toggle, a feature that micromanagement junkies will adore. Beyond that, or garrisoning the occasional building, victory has more to do with memorizing hotkeys and cranking out more troops than the other guy.
There's a lot to love in Red Alert 3. The campy videos and eclectic story that made the series so popular are alive and well – this time, the Soviets have built a time machine to kill Einstein, which leads to the rise of the Japanese Empire of the Rising Sun, an Emperor-worshiping technological superpower.
Red Alert fans are sure to love it – but if you've passed on the series before, and aren't enamored by the idea of cooperative combat, there really isn't anything new to see here.
Images courtesy Electronic Arts
WIRED Fun campaign, brilliant co-op mechanic, attack dolphins
TIRED Lackluster co-op AI, gameplay hasn't changed much
$50, Electronic Arts
Rating: 
Read Game|Life's game ratings guide.
See Also:
