What is it about?
Before Blizzard took over the world of real-time strategy, there was competition in the form of Westwood Studios. Red Alert 2 takes place in an alternate universe, where World War 2 never happened. Due to this, the Soviets and Allies find themselves at odds. It starts off with the invasion of the US (before Activision made it a yearly event in the COD series) and you can play the campaign from the perspective of both factions.
Why should I play it now?
Aside from having Hell March, also known as the greatest opening track ever, there’s a sense of balance that makes each mission or multiplayer match evenly poised. While Allies have air superiority in the form of rocketeers (soldiers with jet packs) and fighter jets, the Soviets have impressive ground units such as the Apocalypse tank and flak troopers. Each game ends up being an elaborate attempt of rock-paper-scissors, which makes for very interesting results. Early on, the Soviets have an advantage and can easily rush you if you’re not careful, while longer battles tend to favour Allied forces as the more complex and effective units are unlocked as time progresses.
Great music and fantastically balanced gameplay aside, Red Alert 2 oozes character. From the cheesy, full motion video sequences starring real actors to the minutest unit, the Soviet conscript who charges straight to his death screaming “For the Union!”, it’s steeped with dark humour, a plot laden with double crosses, high stakes and well, the world on the precipice of nuclear meltdown.
Furthermore, the units are highly varied. Through the course of Red Alert 2, you’ll discover bomb laden blimps, time travelling warriors and psychics. Westwood didn’t just borrow from one period in history; it decided to throw in bits of sci-fi as well, making it one of the more inventive and fun RTS games to play.
Oh, and don’t worry about it being a sequel. You don’t have to play the original Red Alert to enjoy this at all.
How does it hold up today?
Being a 2.5D strategy game concocted mainly of sprites, it makes for a rather pixelated experience. However, thanks to the nice people on the internet, there’s a resolution fix allowing you to get your tank rush on in widescreen without stretching. And if you’re running Windows 7 64-bit, this handy video should help you get it running without a hitch. In terms of gameplay though, it retains a great sense of balance and the missions are still inventive as they were almost a decade ago. In a word, timeless.
Is it similar to anything else out there?
Westwood churned out an expansion pack titled Yuri’s Revenge, which has you dealing with the ex-Soviet advisor and psychic menace of the same name. It was a fun romp in the Red Alert universe, but wasn’t as fun as classic Red Alert 2. Years later, EA released Red Alert 3, which while having slick features like co-op and sporting fast-paced gameplay, felt like it was trying too hard. Then there’s World in Conflict and the subsequent expansion World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, which takes it cues from Medal of Honor and Call of Duty to make for a more realistic take of Soviets invading America.
What do I need to play this?
A PC of course. Any old one will do. Yes, even that used hunk of junk your neighbour’s gardner’s butler uses to play Solitaire. It is really that painless on your hardware. Just one of the many benefits of most games covered in Back Catalogue.
‘When I played through…’
The first time I played Red Alert 2 was at a LAN party 11 years ago. It was dull to say the least because there were eight of us playing it and I won because everyone else was attacking each other while I just spent my time minding my corner of the map. Nonetheless, the premise had me hooked and a few days later I was helping Soviet troops take over the Western continent, and before I knew it, I was actually having fun playing it in multiplayer online and over LAN. Red Alert 2 became my RTS fix in an era filled to the brim with FPS classics like Unreal Tournament and Quake 3.
Playing it for this feature took more work than usual since the game doesn’t play nice with Windows 7 and the resolution needed to be fixed for widescreen, but the core mechanics were intriguing enough to keep me playing longer than I should. After all these years, it’s still a joy to play.
Is there anything else I should be aware of (i.e. mods, crazy glitches, contribution to pop culture, Internet meme, etc)?
There are a slew of mods for Red Alert 2, ranging from refining the game balance even further to incorporating units from the Battlefield series, further adding to the replay value. It was perhaps the last good single-player game to come out of Westwood before the ill-fated attempt at first-person shooter Command & Conquer: Renegade resulted in its closure.
Where do I get it?
Command & Conquer: The First Decade, a compilation of every Command & Conquer game made from 1995-2003 is still surprisingly available at quite a few all-India stores like Croma and Landmark. Another option would be importing the Command & Conquer: The Ultimate Edition, which EA has just released in other markets such as the US and UK.
The Ultimate Edition uses EA’s Origin client and is touted to work just fine on computers with newer OSes. What’s weird is that there’s no sign of this compilation on Origin for India or at local brick and mortar outlets across the country.
