Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Review

The problem with RA 3 is getting the most out of each of these features and no matter how skillful you are, the effort it's going to involve some micromanagement. Not to mention the presence of hero units, with their own set of helpful abilities. It's immensely entertaining, but maybe bit too much to handle for some.

Walking boats, bears running across water... It's Red Alert, baby!

These damn satellites. They'll crash-land anywhere these days.

That's not the only reason why EA's latest strategy game left us a bit frustrated. Pathfinding is a major issue, perhaps more than in any other C&C game. The armies awaiting your command are frequently pants-on-head retarded when they are given a simple order to head to a specific location on the map. This especially goes for amphibious units. Boats and destroyers get caught between islands when traveling across water and they easily jam on land as well. These problems weren't uncommon either. They persisted and damn well made us lose key battles in both the main campaign and during online matches. We are not prepared to look the other way because of these issues, since they succeeded in ruining our experience quite a few times.

Okay, for arguments sake, if we don't count the lousy pathfinding and awkward online invites, this is an admirably well-polished game. It worked brilliantly on our rig with all the visual settings beefed up to the max. Impressive water effects, highly detailed explosions and the tinniest unit animation make each battle a joy to behold. Composer Frank Klepacki created another fabulous tribute to the series with a terrific soundtrack. Each unit has a number of often witty responses when they receive orders. Overall, it's amusing to listen and enjoyable to watch.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 carries some qualities with it, along with unwanted technical mishaps. The gameplay mechanics are great, if you're not bothered by micromanagement (mostly related to unit special powers). The dreadful pathfinding, as annoying as it sounds, in the end, doesn't get in the way of a good game. As a strategy, RA 3 delivers both as a single-player experience and as a co-op ride. The multiplayer portion also features a staggering collection of 28 cool maps to enjoy with friends. However you choose to play this game, you're bound to enjoy yourself, though maybe not as much as you would in C&C 3: Tiberium Wars.