Review by Colin Edmondson Name: Red Alert Publisher: Westwood Studios Format: CDROM Available: Now Requires: O/S: DOS / Windows 95 Processor: 486 DX 66MHz (Pentium required for Windows 95 version) RAM: 8Mb (16Mb recommended) Graphics: 256 colours (1Mb PCI card or better for Windows 95 version) CD-Rom: Double speed Soundcard: Digital Audio via any Windows95 supported card / Most popular cards supported under DOS Controls: Mouse & Keyboard Tested on: O/S: Windows 95 Processor: 200MHz Pentium Pro RAM: 64Mb Graphics: Matrox Millenium (4Mb WRAM) CD-Rom: Panasonic 4X Soundcard: Soundblaster AWE64
Red Alert
Introduction
In 95, Westwood released a hugely popular game called Command & Conquer
with a sci-fi plot based on a fictional future conflict, the game
involved either playing a number of progressively difficult missions
against the computer or playing head to head against network, internet or
direct modem connected opponents. Each mission involved manoeuvering a 
variety of military units around, gathering a scarce mineral 'tiberium',
and building/expanding a well defended base which produced more armour
and soldiers. Sometimes a single mission took hours to complete (I
remember spending at least 6 hours on one!) and required careful
planning, strategy and an eye for any opportunity which may arise.
Much as Doom established a new genre of first person perspective 3D
games, Command & Conquer was followed by a number of games broadly
similar in style - Warcraft, Z, KKND for example.
But of course Westwood's own sequel (strictly speaking a prequel because according to the storyline the events of Red Alert predate Command & Conquer) was eagerly awaited. Which is where Red Alert comes in.
Red Alert released in November 96 therefore had a lot to live up to, does it deliver? Indeed it does!
First Impressions
Red Alert was released whilst I was on holiday in the States so I very
nearly bought the game whilst I was there (despite having no PC to play
it on). I'm glad I didn't because in the USA the game was released 
separately as DOS and Windows 95 versions whilst in the UK both versions
are included on the same CDROM.
The manual is attractive and comprehensive covering everything from setup to a tutorial and reference information and there's an extremely useful quick reference card which you can keep at your side which details what facilities are needed to build different units, their cost, firepower, armour and range.
Game installation was very straightforward - Red Alert was one of the first games to utilise DirectX 3 - having had previous bad experiences with DirectX overwriting my graphics card drivers I was pleased to see that I had the option to keep my old graphics card drivers thus avoiding any problems.
As well as installing both Windows 95 and DOS versions of the game, you get a map editor to create your own multiplayer environments, Westwood Chat and facilities to play red Alert across the internet using various game server services (TEN, Mplayer & Westwood's own) without a lot of configuring.
As with Command & Conquer, a separate CDROM for each of the opposing sides (Allied & Soviet) is included so you can lend one to a friend and play head to head across a network, modem connection or across the Internet.
The Plot
History has been rewritten! The Second World War never happened because
Einstein travelled back in time and assassinated Hitler before he got his
plans off the ground. Instead Stalin's Soviet Bloc came to blows with the
allied forces at around the same time in history, or something like that,
but honestly it doesn't really matter too much. All you need to know
is that you take control of whichever of the two sides you choose and you
have to complete a number of increasingly difficult missions.
Gameplay
If you're familiar with Command & Conquer you'll already have a good idea of the principles. Not much has changed, although the variety is greater in terms of armaments and the types of mission. Unlike Command & Conquer, many of the missions provide you with options to build a variety of ships, submarines & aircraft. The terrain is more varied and some of the missions even take place inside buildings. Once again the two opposing sides have their own range of weapons & technology.
There was a long running debate with Command & Conquer about which side had the advantage - I think the Soviets won the day but the differences are fairly subtle.
One of the appeals of both Command & Conquer and Red Alert in my view is
the fact that different types of military unit demand entirely different
strategies and used in conjunction with each other there's an almost 
unlimited number of ways you can approach a particular problem. It
doesn't really matter whether your style favours aggression or defence -
there's a number of ways to win.
Mastering a few keyboard commands to create and control groups of units is still an essential skill and there are one or two new ones which enable you to keep a group in formation or establish a group to escort another unit. [Tip: getting to grips with these 'hot key' commands is essential to really master the game].
Oil barrels are a nice feature too - shoot at one and you'll trigger a chain reaction which explodes all within close range of each other. Recognising the effect of hitting different groups of barrels is another skill worth learning as they feature heavily in a number of missions. Skirmish mode is a new development - in essence it's multiplayer Red Alert but against computer opponents so whether you want a scrap without the complexity of completing missions or just want to practice before taking your mates on - it adds another dimension to the game. There are a number of different terrains to skirmish over and you can take on up to 7 opponents (if you're feeling brave enough).
Despite the numerous features in Red Alert which weren't present in Command & Conquer, you're never left in any doubt that this is Command and Conquer II. This is no bad thing, it would have been all too easy to try to change what was obviously a winning formula too much and end up with something vastly inferior.
Graphics
The transition to Windows 95 has provided Red Alert with much more
detailed (SVGA) graphics than Command & Conquer - not only is this much 
nicer to look at; it also means that you can see more territory at once
and keep abreast of what's going on.
There are various video sequences between missions that allow the plot to unfold as you progress through the game. Mind you don't expect any Oscar winning stuff - the acting is probably even worse than the cut scenes in Command and Conquer - and they were pretty dire too!
Music
Command & Conquer had an excellent soundtrack and so does Red Alert. Musical accompaniments to games often grate after a few plays so it's encouraging to see that it can be done and it can be repeated. It's probably a sad admission but I've even gone to work humming some of these tunes after a determined evenings play.
Problems & Niggles
A number of people have reported a problem with Red Alert freezing up
just as a mission is completed. I've experienced this myself - although
for some inexplicable reason it seems to go away once you've progressed
to the higher levels in the game. Its easy enough to work around - simply 
by saving your games in the closing stages of a mission so that you can
go back if it does lock up but it's extremely infuriating if you forget
and have to go back and complete the mission all over again.
Command & Conquer allowed you to drive your tanks over opponents soldiers (with a sound effect that was so horribly satisfying it ought to have sent us all running to our analysts) but you had to explicitly direct them - whilst your computer seemed to 'squish' your soldiers by default. I hoped that this 'wrong' would be righted in Red Alert but sadly it's not the case. If anything the computers AI seems to be even more determined to obliterate your soldiers. This doesn't really spoil the game but it's a major piss-off when you've established a substantial army of infantry and grenadiers and 2 or 3 tanks steamroller the lot of them!
Conclusion
Another winner - Red Alert has definitely lived up to my expectations. Mission disks have already been announced and the next full release in the series is tentatively targeted for early 1998. Personally I can't wait although I hope another publisher succeeds in knocking Westwood off their pedestal. Why? Because it's going to have to be a stonkingly good game to do that!
================================== Rating: 9/10 (Classic - Must Buy!) ==================================
Colin Edmondson for Game Over!
