Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 2020 Review | Better With Age?

Red Alert 3 is the sequel many people likely thought would never see the light of day. With Red Alert 2 being such an iconic piece of RTS history, it's hard to imagine how a follow up would be able to do it justice. Let's see if Red Alert 3 has aged well in it's 12 years since release, and how it stacks up in the context of 2020.

Intro: 0:00
Presentation: 2:48
Gameplay: 8:55
Mods: 14:42
Modern Capability: 15:21
Conclusion: 16:40

Gameplay recorded on PC | Audio recorded using a Rode NT-USB

#redalert3 #cnc #commandandconquer

[angelofthedead]

“I’m escaping to the one place that hasn’t been corrupted by capitalism!....(Holds

[avatarwarmech]

It's amazing how a 12-year-old game graphics still holds up to almost today's standard

[rakuzalupus]

One thing that this game got right is them music.

[ThomasMurch]

In terms of tone, Red Alert 2 struck my perfect tone in terms of silly and serious (damn you, Crazy Ivan...); Red Alert 3 was still fun, but it went so far over-the-top that it's basically in ... SPACE!

[ChenAnPin]

How the Red Alert 3 pitch meeting went:
EA: So, how are you going to make Red Alert 3 special?
EA LA: We'll use the upgraded SAGE 2.0 engine!
EA: And?
EA LA: More emphasis on naval combat!
EA: And?
EA LA: Almost every unit will have multi-role or special abilities!
EA: And?
EA LA: Third faction, The Empire of the Rising Sun!
EA: And?
EA LA: Uh, tits?
EA: And?
EA LA: ...can we get George Takei, Tim Curry, and JK Simmons?
EA: Perfect.

[KiltedCritic]

I quite liked RA3 at the time, its only real downside was it felt like a somewhat rushed game. Combined with the dizzy heights RA2 hit, you could only go downwards with a sequel to that anyway, probably compounded that feeling further with some of those that played it.

I still fire up the single player campaign every once in a while, it’s worth it for the Tim Curry cutscenes alone! :D (Along with the mostly boss OST.)

[RedPhoenix]

I actually liked Red Alert 3 better because of it's mechanics and QoL features. (please don't kill me lol)

[Airdrifting]

Probably one of the most underrated games from 2008, and its graphics still stands up after 12 years.

[dennisswiatkowski]

This game's engine is 13 years old now and still has the best water visuals to this day.

[Laerwaynn]

I disagree with you about the music. First of all, you picked a really poor song for preview in the video. Second of all, I love that the music escalates with the alert level considering how much fighting has been going on. This also increases the xp all units earn up to x3 if I remember correctly. This with the escalating music was a fantastic touch. Too bad you didn't even scratch the surface there

[luunhat]

Men: Red Alert 3
Legends: Red Alert 2: Yuri revenge

[Valshiirs]

That water is so beautiful. I don't really care much for C&C, but that water is just :*

[Proiteus]

1 mod I can think of is Red Alert Corona
That adds the Chinese as a 4th faction.

[Rschont]

The soundtrack of this game is one of the best I’ve ever heard. Especially my favorite European Intrigue, it’s like a James Bond / French theme and it is awesome.

[noxanneballadynasowacka]

Couldn't disagree more about the music. C&C3 music was mostly background movie score, Red Alert 3 has some of the most outstanding music in any RTS period. The way it shifts depending on what's happening during the game is nothing short of amazing (the Soviet choir getting more dramatic in late game is my personal favorite). Every time you play skirmish/multiplayer, there's a separate track that plays before any blows are traded at all, which is a minor touch, but helps in pulling you into the game that much more. Red Rock for Mother Russia, Bring it!, Mecha Storm, just look the OST up, it's kickass as all hell.

By the way, people who are nostalgic towards Generals haven't replayed that game since it came out. It did *not* age as well as you probably think.

[greenth-mac]

13:14 This is what I loved the most about RA3, having an AI doing the mission with us in the campaigns, and even best they all have their own personalities with up to 9 Commanders. Making us not alone in the fight. Shame this co-commander thing never returned in Uprising.

[anonvideo]

I think the change in ore collection was a necessary one. The old system allowed you to just gorge yourself on tiberium/ore and then spam out tanks to try and rush someone down. I remember the early days of C&C3 when it was just spam harvesters into scorpion spam. Or how RA2 is grizzly spam. They had the limited harvest speed with generals (the supply pad could only serve 1 harvester at a time) and that helped a lot. And seeing how many other RTS have some kind of resource income throttling I think they just went back to generals to solve the problem.

I personally really loved the expansion's challenge mode. Its not that much like generals, because you slowly unlock the unit pool of each faction. And you can always switch, this means that for each challenge map you can chose who is best suited for the map, and beat the par time. And if you cant beat a map quickly, do some others and then come back when your unit roster is bigger. And the maps are usually built around a theme or unit, this almost makes them feel like puzzles (like starting against 6 enemies all with a superweapon charging up, and you get your commando right at the start, so you can try and use her to destroy as many superweapons as possible before they are ready). Its a shame the main campaign of the expansion was obviously rushed (with only the russians getting a fair amount of content), probably because of the 2008 crisis made EA rush it.
I like the coop campaign idea, but i wish there was an option for just solo play without the AI.

[RainingMetal]

Not long before the release of Red Alert 3, I went back into Red Alert 2 via The First Decade collection, and paid ever so much attention to its pre-release articles and materials. It was probably my most hyped up game that I can think of. I played Red Alert 2 when I was very young, and the first Red Alert when I was even younger. Red Alert 2 blew the first Red Alert out of the water in practically every way (the Allies' ground units are no longer crap, the Soviets' naval units are no longer crap, there's no need to worry about ore silos, building designs were far more distinct, and there were production queues), so it was easily my favorite of the Westwood-made C&C games. When Red Alert 3 came out, it wasn't as mind blowing as its predecessor as my standards had grown by then, it it's definitely the most balanced and user-friendly in the franchise (I was glad the grid-based base-building system came back; building things in C&C 3 was a bitch. And I really did not miss the resource fields and actually thought the ore node/mine concept was for the better). The co-op compatibility with the campaigns was a really nice touch. All in all, Red Alert 3 is easily my nominee for the best EA-LA developed C&C game by a mile.

[zero_otr]

I played every C&C game on release and love all of them. But RA3 is my favorite because of ocean. Naval, air, land everything works great and there are many ways to play

[bravemiata]

Great review! I would have added the dynamic music mechanics of the game as a big plus to the ost: the combat tracks play as long as the battle continues. For instance, have your peacekeepers fire at that thicc red boi - *guitar intensifies*