Red Alert 2 First Impressions

Like its predecessor, Red Alert 2 is set in an alternate historical reality, where Hitler's rise to power was averted by Einstein's time travel device, which unfortunately also allowed Stalin to sweep across Europe. In the sequel, Stalin's successor, Romanov, has launched an invasion of the United States (as in the movie Red Dawn), using assorted pulp fiction gadgetry: bomb-dropping assault blimps, lightning-spewing Tesla troopers, psychically controlled giant squids, and so on.

Following in the footsteps of earlier Command & Conquer games, Red Alert 2 is filled with full-motion video sequences featuring Hollywood actors in cheesy costumes, most notably Kari Wuhrer as the tank-topped Agent Tanya and Udo Kier as the sinister Soviet psychic Yuri.

Red Alert 2 plays much like previous Command & Conquer games. It uses a modified version of the 2D Tiberian Sun engine, which has been enhanced to support resolutions up to 1024x768, FMV transmissions during each mission, and lots and lots of explosions. It's not uncommon to have dozens of paratroopers, tanks, and aircraft onscreen at once, chucking ordnance every which way. There's also lots of interesting scenery, from working drive-ins and fast-food restaurants to recognizable landmarks like the White House and the Statue of Liberty.

The interface has been tweaked slightly. Tiberian Sun's waypoint system has been replaced with a more intuitive hotkey system, and separate tabs for infantry, vehicles, and buildings eliminate having to scroll through the unit menu as in earlier Command & Conquer games. However, by and large, the game should seem familiar to anyone who's played earlier games in the series. There are two campaigns, one Soviet, one Allied; a robust skirmish mode including a random map generator; and, of course, a full multiplayer suite through Westwood Online.

As for the new units, while the old standbys such as tanks, troopers, and engineers are available, Westwood has added a host of exotic and interesting war machinery. For instance, the Allies can build networks of prism towers, which link up to fire devastating bolts of light; and they can build chrono legionnaires, who can teleport anywhere on the map and simply "erase" their targets out of time. The Soviets, on the other hand, control Crazy Ivan demolition troopers, who can attach time bombs to pretty much anything (including their own troops or wandering cows); spiderlike terror drones, which slowly dismantle vehicles from the inside; and clone vats, which duplicate soldiers or melt them down for credits.

There's no hiding the fact that, compared to the latest crop of games, Red Alert 2 appears pretty old-fashioned. But for fans of the Command & Conquer universe and traditional real-time strategy addicts, it just might prove to be the newest fix. Look for a full review of Red Alert 2 on GameSpot soon.