Anyone who enjoyed Red Alert 2 will find Yuri's Revenge to be a highly challenging if familiar experience.
- Still that great strategic gameplay found in Red Alert 2
- Decent graphics even for today
- Excellent for veterans who want more and more
Negative
- Extreme difficulty doesn't give a chance to everyone to settle in
- No tutorial this time
2000's Red Alert 2 was a great and very addictive real-time strategy game which despite its age was quite fun. This expansion pack under the name Yuri's Revenge builds up upon Red Alert 2, which will be highly entertaining for experts who want more. This game offers more of the same with the gameplay which received almost no change, and an absurd difficulty which doesn't let most people play more than just one or two stages.
Yuri's Revenge still offers 2 different campaigns to play through, the Allied and the Soviet. Unfortunately no tutorial to available this time around but that is to be expected since this is an expansion pack. Soviet soldiers can use mind control on allied soldiers or citizens which can come to harm you. There is a lot to play through in this expansion, which is exclusive for fan because casual players are bound to get stuck after the first few levels.
Basically the gameplay is the same story as Red Alert 2. You control either the allied or the Soviets, normally red and blue but a new faction is available under the color purple. Most objectives consist of destroying buildings and taking out armies or enemies which is no different from what we saw before. Click and drag the mouse to take control of more than one man or tank or press P to gather everyone in your team in a single spot. You can hide and wait for the enemy in abandoned buildings and shoot them when they get close enough. In this one ships, submarines and airplanes are available from the beginning but the more you move through the game, the more powerful your arsenal becomes. The level of challenge is insane.
Red Alert 2 was good for its age and Yuri's Revenge looks exactly the same. The graphics are decent and acceptable for today, since I've seen newer games from 2000 onwards which look worse. No problems in running the game if you have Windows XP and a decent amount of RAM. The cutscenes are again real life, which is a strong point in the game even if it doesn't fit the game but it might work at a better advantage in the future. Music is quite good and almost unchanged which is the same story for the voice acting.
Yuri's Revenge is inarguable a great expansion to Red Alert 2. The downside is that it is only aimed at fans, but maybe that is what expansion is meant to be. Barely any improvement and insane difficulty are bound to frustrate normal players who struggled in the RA2. If you're a fan, no doubt play this since it is worth the trouble but there isn't enough to recommend this one.
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Graphics = 7.8
No change but everything looks good.
Sound = 7.3
Voice acting was great and still is and the music hasn't many noticeable changes.
Presentation = 7.7
No tutorial this time around. Real-life cutscenes are appealing. AI is challenging but maybe too challenging.
Gameplay = 8.3
Same great gameplay of the previous year from Red Alert 2, including a new faction and new missions. Difficulty is off the charts though.
Others = 7.4
Offers more of Red Alert 2 and 2 campaigns which make equal. No tutorial. You won't survive 2 stages if you weren't good at Red Alert 2.
OVERALL = 76 / 100
Anyone who enjoyed Red Alert 2 will find Yuri's Revenge to be a highly challenging is familiar experience.