Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Command & Conquer: Red Alert, and its sequels are real-time strategy computer games that comprise another Command & Conquer series by Westwood Studios and EA Los Angeles. The Red Alert games are an alternative history where allied forces defend Europe against an aggressive Soviet Union, followed by another war on the North American continent roughly twenty years later.

Story

Main article: Command & Conquer: Red Alert Series Story

In Red Alert, world-renowned physisist Albert Einstein invents the Chronosphere, a device which he uses to go back in time and assassinate Adolf Hitler. This upsets the entire balance of world power, causing the Soviets led by Joseph Stalin to start a massive invasion of European countries (The actual game involves the player fighting on one side of the resulting battles). Following a European victory, a period of approximately twenty years passes, during which the defeated USSR secretly begins building up high-tech military forces. Around twenty years after the end of the first war, the USSR embarks on a major invasion of the continental United States, but are ultimately defeated by the Allied forces.

The concept of the Chronosphere, used both in the game's premise and during the game as a teleportation device, is based around the conspiracy theories regarding the Philadelphia Experiment – indeed, an ingame cinematic in the original Red Alert shows the USS Eldrige vanish, only to reappear after a few moments.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996)

Command & Conquer: Red Alert was the game that started it all. Designed as a prequel to the Tiberian C&C Tiberian Dawn, the game featured two distinct factions, the Allies and Soviets, who each had unique units and builds, such as cruisers, MiGs, Tesla Coils, Chronospheres and much more. Just like Tiberian Dawn, it had two mission campaigns and the story was told with full-motion videos.

Counterstrike & Aftermath (1997)

In 1997, two expansion packs for Red Alert were released, Command & Conquer: Red Alert: Counterstrike, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert: Aftermath. New units, missions, and music were included in the expansions.

Music

All the music in the Red Alert was composed by Frank Klepacki. Among his most famous songs from the series is the theme of Red Alert, titled "Hell March", which accents the style of the game with adrenalized riffs of electric guitar and synthesizers to the dramatic chant of "We want war, wake up!" It alone has enlisted itself as a staple in the Red Alert series (i.e. a second version of Hell March was even created for Red Alert 2).

Tracklist for Red Alert soundtrack CD:

1. Hell March
2. Radio
3. Crush
4. Roll Out
5. Mud
6. Twin Cannon
7. Face the Enemy
8. Run
9. Terminate
10. Big Foot
11. Workmen
12. Militant Force
13. Dense
14. Vector
15. Smash (hidden track at end)

Gameplay

Red Alert is a real-time strategy series in which the player commands an army and is responsible for gathering resources, building bases, training units, and fighting the enemy's army.

Red Alert was praised for its user interface, which was much more developed than other games at the time. For example, there are no limitations on the number of units one can select. One also can give a unit many orders at once, which it can execute in sequence.

Red Alert battles have 3 domains of fighting: air, land and sea. Each side (Allies or Soviets) can train naval units, aircraft, and land forces. Each side also has its unique capabilities, although in Red Alert II they were balanced so that each unit's ability was countered by a similar one on the other side. For example: in Red Alert 2, the ultimate Soviet Tesla coil defensive towers were matched by the Allies' "Prism tower".

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (2000)

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 was the follow up to Red Alert. The Allies and Soviets returned in the game, and units and some structures from the first Red Alert made a reappearance. The game featured better graphics and multiplayer, and a continuation of the Red Alert story, however, unlike the first Red Alert, it did not feature connections to the Tiberian storyline. See Connections to the Tiberian Series.

Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge (2001)

Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge was the expansion pack for Red Alert 2. It featured a whole new faction: Yuri's psychic army. The side had various "psychic" technologies, such as mind controllers, poison snipers, and genetically mutated soldiers. Although there was a new side, there was still only one Allied campaign and one Soviet campaign, but Yuri could be played in multiplayer.

Units and structures

While Red Alert 1 places emphasis on the Soviet war machine and its strengths, Red Alert 2 tips the balance of power evenly with at least one unit on either side able to effectively counter another enemy unit's weaponry, for example, the Soviets have the Dreadnought ship but the Allies possess the Aircraft Carrier with similar range and firepower, the Allies Aegis Cruiser may also cripple Soviet Kirovs before they could wreak destruction on Allied positions. The game also enables GIs and Soviet conscripts to garrison certain structures to defend vital chokepoints as well as defending a player's base. The veterancy system also shown an improvement over Tiberian Sun's own version where promoted units deal considerably more damage than a regular 'green' unit. Red Alert 2 also enables the player to capture certain tech buildings to perform certain enhancements, such as providing much-needed credits, to repair damaged vehicles and others.

Notable Soviet units:

• Conscript – basic infantry. Effective in large groups. The Conscript has the highest hit points per cost of any infantry, but possesses poor weaponry and is easily squashed.
• Tesla Trooper – strong infantry; shoots short-ranged blasts of electricity and may power up Tesla Coils if base power is down, adding range and firing power to the devastating defensive structure. Tesla Troopers are slightly tougher than Conscripts, have heavier armour (thus more resistance to anti-personnel weapons) and cannot be crushed by tanks.
• Terror Drone – fast mechanical unit that leaps inside an enemy unit and tears it apart from the inside unless it is removed (by a Service Depot or Repair IFV).
• War Miner The War Miner mines Ore for the Soviets (you get 1 Ore miner free when you build a Soviet ore refinery). The War Miner can carry twice as much ore as the Allied Chrono miner, and it has a small gun to defend itself with.
• Flak Track The Flak Track has a Flak gun which is strong against air units and infantry, it can also carry 5 infantry units.
• Rhino Heavy Tank – the basic tank for a Soviet player, homologous with the Allied Grizzly. Rhinos are tougher than Grizzlies and possess longer range, although they are slightly slower.
• V3 Rocket – an upgrade to the previous V2 launcher unit. This unit can take out structures from afar although its slow launch speed means that its rocket payload can be shot down during its flight to its target.
• Apocalypse Tank – the heaviest ground unit in the game. Has AA capabilities, strong armor and firepower.
• Kirov Airship – slow and heavy bomber blimp. It can take a huge battering to deliver bombs over key enemy structures.
• Yuri – psychic, can control one enemy unit at a time using mind control.
• Submarine – underwater interceptor. Normal fighting ability
• Dreadnought – heavy cruiser armed with two V-3 rocket launchers. It possesses great firing range and decent armor.

Notable Allies Units:

• GI – basic infantry. GIs are similar to Conscripts except that they can be deployed to benefit from longer range and greater damage.
• Rocketeer – Flying infantry, can attack both ground and air units.
• Spy – can steal money and technology from the enemy. The player has the choice to decide which enemy infantry unit the spy should look like although enemy Attack Dogs are unlikely to be fooled.
• Chrono Miner – The Chrono miner is used by the Allies to collect ore. You get 1 free Chrono miner wher you build an Allied ore refinery. The Chrono miner can only carry half as much as ore as the war miner, but the chrono miner will instantly teleport back to the ore refinery after collecting ore, it still has to drive back out to the ore field, but being able to teleport back means each trip takes only half as much time. You can also teleport a Chrono Miner back to the Refinery when it is attacked, making Allied miners just as hard to kill as the armed War Miners.
• IFV Tank – The 'Infantry Fighting Vehicle' is a new innovation by the Allies where the vehicle can assume the fighting capabilites of the infantry unit stationed in the vehicle. In normal mode, i.e. without any infantry modifiers, it can take out enemy air units with its missile launchers.
• Prism Tank – ground unit for long-range attacks; high firepower; light armor.
• Grizzly Tank – the regular Allied well-armored tank that is best deployed with Prism tanks to draw enemy fire while the longer ranged-units take out key threats.
• Harrier – attack plane; needs to reload after strike.
• Destroyer – anti-submarine boat with a 155mm naval gun for short-ranged off-shore bombardment.
• Carrier – naval vessel which launches 3 small interceptors.
• Tanya – Allies' commando unit; excellent infantry killer; can plant C4 explosives on structures and demolish them in an instant.
• Chrono Legionnaire – Infantry unit that teleports across the map using Chrono technology and erases its targets from time.
• Mirage Tank – This tank may alter its outer appearance to assume the form of certain vegetation in the area, fooling enemy units as to its true form while taking out enemies with its short-ranged weaponry.
• Navy SEAL – a versatile infantry unit that can take on enemy infantry units easily and can level structures with C4 charges.

Basic structures:

• Construction Yard.
• Power Plant.
• Barracks.
• Ore Refinery.
• War Factory.
• Repair Facility.
• Naval Base.

Notable Soviet structures:

• Flak Cannon – air defence.
• Tesla Coil – high-voltage defense tower.
• Cloning Vats – 2 infantry for the cost of 1.
• Iron Curtain – gives a timed immunity to up to 9 vehicles in a 3x3 grid. Any infantry that get hit by the Iron Curtain will die.
• Nuclear Silo – produces nuke about every 10 game-minutes.

Notable Allied structures:

• Patriot Missile – air defense.
• Prism Tower – powerful ground defense.
• Airforce Command – a radar facility and landing site for four Harriers.
• Gap Generator – covers a large area with a fog-of-war.
• Chronosphere – teleports up to nine mechanical vehicles every several game-minutes. Any infantry that you try to teleport with the Chronosphere will die.
• Weather Control Device – produces lethal lightning storm every 10 game-minutes; although the countdown time was much shorter than this.

The Yuri's Revenge expansion introduces new units and structures into the game. In addition to the Yuri faction, also introduces a new Soviet commando Boris who can call in airstrikes and take out enemy light vehicles with little trouble. There was also a Soviet campaign mission where a conquest of the moon is in order. The Soviets also have the new Siege Chopper Gunship units which are large helicopters with artillery barrage capability. The Spy Plane from Red Alert 1 also makes a (retrospective) return however not with Soviet Migs but with a slower and vulnerable plane. For the Allies, they have the anti-armor infantry unit called the Guardian GI which can turn enemy tanks into scrap metal in large groups. They also have a new Battle Fortress which has decent armor, can crush walls(and even tanks!), and can house five different infantry units to enhance its fighting capability. The Robot Tank is also on the Allied side with normal fighting capabilities of a Grizzly Tank but with the bonus of the ability not to be mind-controlled.

The game also featured upgrades to general game balance, and gave individual voices to each unit in the game.

Notable Yuri units:

• Initiate – pyrokinetic, main foot soldier for Yuri
• Brute – mutant melee unit who can deal a lot of damage up close. It can also be created by a Yuri player via the mutant device superweapon when targeted at normal enemy infantry.
• Virus – female sniper. With each veterancy level, she may snipe even further.
• Gatling Tank – tank wielding dual gatling guns that increases in velocity and deals out more damage at full throttle.
• Magnetron – a tank that can levitate enemy non-organic units close to its position to facilitate mind control by nearby units with such ability. While lacking first strike capability against units, it can deal damage to buildings as would any ordinary tank.
• Yuri Clone – same as Soviet Yuri, mid-level mind-control unit who may also capture certain enemy structures.
• Floating Disc – a flying saucer attack-unit armed with lasers and may either deactivate enemy base power or steal credits from refineries.
• Boomer Sub – a submarine equipped with SLBMs and dual torpedo launchers for naval defense.
• Master Mind – a vehicle with a giant brain that can safely mind control five units although if it exceeds this limit, it will suffer damage on itself and eventually self-destructs if the limit is not observed.
• Yuri Prime – Yuri Prime can use mind control to take over enemy structures as well as being able to control enemy units. Yuri Prime can only use mind control on one thing at a time.

Controversy

Westwood found itself in a storm of controversy regarding Red Alert 2 after the events of September 11th, 2001, due to the contents of both the game and its packaging. As part of the Soviet campaign, the player is required to both destroy the Pentagon and take over the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center with a mind control device. In addition, the original packaging for Red Alert 2 had a hinged cover that would open to show a scene of New York City under attack by Soviet forces, with the Twin Towers in the center of the image. Westwood immediately pulled all remaining copies of Red Alert 2 in the original packaging from stores, and retooled the box art before reissuing the game.

Mods

Red Alert 2 is a popular game for modding. Hidden within the ra2.mix is a file called the rules.ini. This file can be extracted using a tool called the XCC mixer and edited after extraction. The rules.ini is constructed in such a way that it is very easy to modify; no programming skills are required. There are tags which refer to the strength of a unit, such as its hit points, which can be modified with the program.

It is also possible to create whole new units. There are other .ini files such as the art.ini and ai.ini which allow for further modification.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (Unknown)

On December 6, 2004, EALA executive Mark Skaggs announced in an e-mail that the next Command & Conquer title will be "set in the Red Alert universe".[1] Then, four months later on April 6, 2005, in an interview with Gamespy, EALA executive Louis Castle said that a new RTS game by EALA will be announced this summer and that it will "be faithful to the story presentation set in previous products".[2]

Connections to the Tiberian Series

Command & Conquer: Red Alert was designed as a prequel to the first C&C game Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn. During the Soviet campaign Kane makes infrequent appearances as an advisor to Stalin. Kane, it seemed, instigated the battles of Red Alert, in order to secure a power base for his Brotherhood of Nod. Indeed, a Nod character asks the player to 'keep the peace' until Nod becomes active. Kane shoots this person, and informs the player that he is the future. During the Allied Campaign, a news annoucer reporting on the Allies' loss of Greece also annouced that the United Nations had create a special military task force to deal with future global conflicts. It was assumed that this group was the Global Defense Initiative (GDI). When Red Alert 2 (a game which had no connection to the Tiberian Series) was released, Red Alert's connection to the Tiberian Series was made unclear, making some fans confused and annoyed. Nevertheless, many fans still consider it to be connected. Perhaps in the future the connections between the two series will be made more clear.

A debated theory to resolve the apparent timeline error is to consider Red Alert as the genesis of two parallel stories. If the Soviet campaign is played in Red Alert, Russia emerges as the dominant power and Kane and the Brotherhood Of Nod take control of this new empire. This leads directly into Tiberian Dawn. On the other hand, if the Allied campaign is played in Red Alert, the Allies emerge victorious, and the timeline leads directly to Red Alert 2. Of course, this is not without consistency flaws. As mentioned above, during the Allied campaign in Greece, the newscast refers to the formation of a "Initiative of Global Defense" to combat Soviet militarism in any form, a clear reference to the military alliance of the same name in Command & Conquer, yet if the Allied campaign is played, C&C never takes place, and Red Alert 2 contains no mention of GDI. The problems arise mainly because, of course Red Alert was originally conceived solely as a prequel to Tiberian Dawn, and only after its mass popular success was a separate sequel planned, muddying the timeline.

A totally different and extremely controversial possible solution is provided by Yuri, who bears a resembelence to Kane, thus bringing about the possibility that the events of the Yuri's Revenge expansion pack to Red Alert 2 are Kane's last attempts to create his future. This suggestion could mean that either Kane is disguised as Yuri or Yuri is somehow connected to the Brotherhood of Nod.

See also

• Command & Conquer: Tiberian Series
• Kane
• Command & Conquer: Generals

External Links

• The XWIS server – an alternative server to Westwood Online (WOL) created by Olaf van der Spek and sponsored by the EA Germany Community Team.
• The Strike Team – the anti-cheating team setup in 2002 to curb cheating in Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge (after it became clear that EA, the publishers of the game, wouldn't).