Great at first, then the good wares off fast and hard.
The game has three factions: The Allies(AKA the US), the Soviets, and the Empire of the Rising Sun(Japan). There is little story other than to put these three sides against each other for world domination.
And the game just isn't serious enough. I mean the thing comes off almost cheesy at times. The scenario that the game sets up is incredibly interesting, but the execution is just stupid. All of the factions have the most ridiculous units I have ever seen in an RTS. Whether its the Soviet Sickle Walker with its jumping, or the Allied Cryo-copter with its Shrink/Freeze ray, or pretty much ALL of the Japanese units. While Red Alert 2 also had a few crazy units, but it was mainly Soviet Mind control units, something the Soviets actually experimented with during the cold war. I doubt the Japanese ever tried to develop a Transformer or that the US ever tried to make a battleship that cold go on land. After playing this game I found myself wishing I had a more realistic game to play.
What pissed me off most was the fact that the whole conflict evolving Yuri in Red Alert 2 is completely forgotten. I know EA probably dropped Yuri in favor of Japan, but going with four factions instead of three would have just raised this game to a much higher level.
Now despite all of that, it's a decent RTS. The factions are well balanced, and need different strategies in order to survive. The Allies and Soviets are pretty basic, but because of their transforming units the Empire is a little difficult to play as at first, but you get the hang of it. The Co-op commander is fairly competent in single player and the FMV acting is hilarious.
The game is decent, but I'm very disappointed, both as a C&C fan and as an RTS fan. This is an interesting experience, but it's not one you need to have.
Bottom line: I hope they don't make a Red Alert 4, as EA already screwed up regular C&C beyond repair and turned its spin-off, one of the greatest RTS series of all time, into something that is mediocre at best.