Others say...

"DRM Destroys another one of my childhood memories"
DRM, though more lenient than on Spore, still exists on this game. Unfortunately, I will not pay more than 5 dollars to rent a game. If you want to take away the ability for your customers to legally own a game, then I will value this game no higher than that of a rental game. I look forward to playing this when it hits the 5 dollar shelves.

"Unacceptable DRM."
Same ridiculous DRM different game.

Limited installs, installing software without my consent and not functioning without it(SecuROM), conflicts with system hardware and not removing SecuROM after uninstalling the game.

All are unacceptable.

Also, mediocre game at best. Wait for the $20 bin.

""Someone's always gotta clean up the mess!" - Tanya"
I'd like to start with this; you boycott a game because you say it's spyware and that EA might grow some brains and eliminate it, but that still doesn't affect the actual PRODUCT. I see more than 30 reviews based on the SecuROM alone. It's almost like seeing more than 91% of new-gen computers be ripped for running Vista; it's ridiculous. Buy the game, THEN say how it plays with a side bit about the SecuROM, but don't just base a review on a whole game based on one add-on. It hasn't messed up my PC at all, and the install feature actually tracks ONLY your installs. I've actually checked the InstallShield kernel entry, and the SecuROM code is read-only; inert when within the install limit, and even outside of it. The only time SecuROM even activates is ON the CD itself. It tracks your installs using a program that implements the coding with every new computer install and scans the InstallShield entry for the number of installs on computers. Each new install changes something in the entry, until you hit five, when the RA3 disc has an automatic kill-program that prevents use of the install program until you get a new code.

Regarding the game itself, it is, for sure, the most over-the-top game that could be imagined for Red Alert. Allied forces are now on the defensive from the Soviets, who have taken every European country except the U.K (sound familar?). Professor Einstein has been erased from existance with a Soviet counterpart (wait. If Einstein was erased, how could Hitler be erased...? Agh.); the only good(?) thing that came of the whole fiasco is that nuclear weapons were not developed, and thus the Soviets are open to convential warfare (or not so convential).

As the Soviets press on to crush the U.K and the Americas, Japan strikes the Union's asian territories with samurais wielding beam rifles and katanas, ninjas, hyper-violent Japanese women warriors clad in super-high tech rocket suits and missile pods, and robots that transform from submarines into fast ground-pounding aircraft. Hmm?

A lot of the gameplay is based around your units' special abilities. Tanya now gets a time belt that warps her ten feet back in time and fully heals, while the Soviets get Natasha, a hardened sniper who can shoot THROUGH whole infantry divisions and call down MiG strikes onto buildings. With the new gameplay, there is a significant lack of specialized infantry that blow up things with ease, excluding Hero units (such as the Chrono Legionnaire, Ivans, etc.); however, you get some really strong units left over. I particularly like the Allied Peacekeepers, who wield riot shotguns and bullet-proof shields that get actually bear Natasha's fire (well, one shot, but I managed to eliminate her with five of the nine Peacekeepers I sent after her; they just walked right up and blew her away).

Much of the gameplay I cannot describe in one review, but note this: it will be similar to a Tiberium Wars/Generals hybrid, with the special ability icon in the right corner used the most. Five stars.



"Tries too hard to be funny"
Unlike many of the reviews that blasted EA on its rights management, I am going to blast this game on its game play.

Maybe it's just my memeory but the previous Red Alerts have a curious mix of grimmness and camp. Einstein goes back in time to prevent WWII and instead sets off a series of events that causes another WWII between the Allies and Soviets who both have far more sophisticated weapons. In Red Alert 3 the grimmness is gone, leaving just the camp. The really bad thing is that in terms of actors EA did not skimp on getting talent (no I am not refering to Jenny McCarthy). I don't know if by dissatifaction stems from the story line being so short, or that the script relies on very tired Clichés. If you read any of my previous reviews my mantra is that a great story line is what makes a good game great. Red Alert 3 misses that mark by a mile. The cut scenes should immerse the player in the story and make you want to finish the mission in order to get to the next cut scenes. To be honest I just skipped though the cut scenes because they became irratating.

That said, the game play is not all that great either. The graphics are sort of a manga, cartoonie (is that even a word), bubblegum kind of motif that does not work. If the story were better maybe that visuals would grow on me, but I'm not playing it again in order to find out. The AI is terrible, terrible, terrible. The campaign missions require you to have a human or AI co-captain and the AI was dropped too many times on its head as a baby. Sometimes it all but finishes the mission for you, other times it easily gets it's AI butt kicked, and sometimes just sits there and does nothing. There is a little command that lets you designate a target but effective use of units is not an AI strength. If it were an option I would have truned the co-captain off and gone it alone.

I just relized how long this review is so bottom line, game is terrible. If you haven't already, play Tiberium Wars instead or the entire Dawn of War series. This game is probably destined to become a really expansive coaster.

"Red Alert 3"
I am an advocate for C&C Red Alert and Generals Series. I would play RA2 over and over again, and never ever get sick of it. The expansion was good, but I prefer the chaos of FFA in RA2. I was totally stoked in hearing RA3 was coming forth. The DRM and spyware nonsense got me concerned for the releases of C&C3, BF2142 and other successful games. That turned out to not be that big of a deal (I only run my games off of 1 computer anyway) and no bloating.
The gameplay is absolutely stunning and light-hearted humor behind it as well (CGI and real video). With my computer, it screaming and so fluid.

Frustrations of the game includes:
The loss of individuality of alliance and soviets sub-nations
Got rid of the option of no superweapons
Reliance on support powers to win (made sense for Generals, but it all about the invasion - as was all previous series)