Moose O'Malley's Software Valley Established : July 1996 Please bookmark this location only : http://move.to/moose

Red Alert is the sequel to the fabulous computer game Command & Conquer (C & C) .

My full review of C & C is available here.

If like me, you had completed all the Command & Conquer missions twice or more, completed the extra Covert Operations missions, downloaded and finished dozens of extra missions of the Net, and played network games against friends for hundreds of hours, then you should be slavering for the release of Red Alert.

I know I sure was !!

When it was released, I rushed to the shops to buy it, but it took me about a week to buy as all the shops kept selling out. But, perserverance paid off, and I finally held the game in my sweaty little hoofs !!

Like Command & Conquer (C & C) , Red Alert invites you to lead an army and attack rival armies and claim territory. This time, you can choose between the Soviets or Allies - what you choose determines what structures, weapons, and units you can build.

Red Alert is very similar to Command & Conquer (C & C) , and still has the great arcade game feel.

But, Red Alert has quite a few new units / structures. Now you can train :

• Attack Dogs,
• Thiefs,
• Medics,
• Spy,

and produce :

• Mine Layer Vehicles,
• submarines, gunboats, destroyers, Landing Ship Tanks, and/or cruisers,
• Migs, YAK Attack Planes,

and build :

• Tesla Coils (which shoot lightening bolts at enemies),
• Flame Towers (like a stationary flame tank),
• Pillboxes (machine guns in concrete bunkers),
• Gap Generators (radar blockers)
• Chronosphere (move a unit from one location to another for a short period)
• Iron Curtain (make an object temporarily invincible)
• fake structures - a decoy for the enemy

What you get out of the above depends on which side you choose : Allies or Soviets.

You also can (if you build an airfield) get Paratroopers and a Spy Plane, which are both very handy.

But, gone are these :

• the flame tank (Sob !!! Farewell old friend !!)
• the Stealth Tank (Boo Hoo !! Lost like tears in the rain ... No more shall dozens of you gather around my enemy's harvesters ...)
• the space-based Ion Cannon (Damn I miss this weapon !!)
• the Obelisk of Light (these have been replaced with Tesla Coils).

The missions in Red Alert have a bit more variety than C & C, and some of the "Against the Clock" timed missions are pretty hard to complete in time.

One thing I was really looking forward to was the far improved computer opponent's AI that Westwood had been promising.

Red Alert also features :

• Network play against up to 7 other humans or Computer players.
• Skirmish mode which means that you can play multiplayer games against 1-7 computer players on your own PC.
• Internet play against another person.
• Modem play against another person.

OK, so that's the run down. Now for the important question : How does Red Alert compare against the original Command & Conquer ?

Well, the game is very good, but, after finishing all the missions, and playing all the Skirmish levels, I am sad to report that I feel a bit let down.

Here are the problems I found with Red Alert :

1. For me - like many Windows 95 games, I could not get the Windows 95 version to run on my PC, and the "help" in the manual and readme files was of absolutely no use. So, I was forced to stay with the DOS version - which I was happy with anyway. I am afraid that I am still extremely dubious about Mico$oft's Direct/X - I have seen too many programs fail on my PC and the people who program games based on Direct/X seem to be unable to put decent error checking, error messages, and work-a-rounds into their code. Why ??

2. When playing Red Alert on my ninja Pentium 90, 16 MB, S3 Trio PC, the game paused for between 2 and 10 seconds frequently during Skirmish games. Why ??

3. The computer's AI is still crap. I know that I am a real C & C veteran, but Red Alert's AI improvements just do not live up to those promised by Westwood. Here's a few of the obvious problems with the computer's AI.
   • Even when playing on "Hard" against 3 "allied" computer opponents, I can always win unless the 3 of them team up and attack in full force very early on - the computer really has very little idea of what it should be doing. e.g. it will try and attack your group of 3 Telsa Coils with a tank and a few men instead of waiting to build up strength.
   • Also, when sending ships around the ocean, I was getting frequent traffic jams where the ship's AI was just too stupid to get the ships to go past each other round the tip of a land mass.
   • Harvesters are still idiotic - and still try to harvest minerals in the middle of enemy's bases when there is perfectly good ore near your base.
   • After many dozens of skirmish games and all the missions, I have never seen the computer opponents build a ship or naval yard. This is a massive flaw because with a few well placed / protected Cruisers can end a game very quickly.
   • The computer opponets build stupid things when it is running low on money instead of building what it really needs.
   • The computer players don't sell redundant buildings to get money to build a harvester even when all its other units are wiped out.
   • Attack an enemy harvester with a soldier and then run away, and the harvester will stupidly try and run the soldier down even if the man runs into the middle of your base - the harvester still rushes to meet it's Telsa Coil death.
   • You can Ally with a computer player and then force your units to attack its and its won't attack back once even when you have wiped out its whole base.
   • Computer players ally without even firing a shot. I have played skirmish battles against seven player computer players and have had them all Ally together and attack me - all without firing a shot against each other !! What is needed to a mode to disable all alliances so the pathetic computer players don't all get together. Or, better yet, if I am allied to a player and they try to ally with one of my enemies, then force the player to choose - us or them ! Or have a game where the Soviet players are automatic allies and the Allied players are automatically allies. You have to find your friends and help them. Sadly, Westwood have done none of this.
   Crap, Crap, Crap !!

4. There is no "save" game in Skirmish mode. Why ??

5. Saving and Loading games takes an eternity compared to C & C. Why ?? (and yes, I am running the game with full disk caching !).

6. The missions were too easy. The Computer's AI is just too easy to beat.

7. The CD must be in the drive to play the game. Bad Westood, Bad !!

The "reviews" in the magazines (like PC Format, PC Review, PC Zone, PC PowerPlay, etc) all gave Red Alert scores in the mid 90%'s. All I can say about this is that these magazines must only have had a very superficial look at Red Alert.

Because of the above, I am afraid I am going to have to mark this game down in my review.

Game Summary :

Name :	Red Alert - Command & Conquer II
Developer :	Westwood Studios
Recommended Retail Price :	$99.95 Aus
Release Date :	December, 1996
Graphics :	90%
Sound :	90%
Music :	90%
Atmosphere :	90%
Longevity :	95%
Operating System(s) :	DOS and Windows 3.1, 95, NT. I have run it successfully under all of these O/S's. But, the native WIndows 95 version does not work for me.
Expandability / Extendability :	95% Thanks Westwood ! You can use various editors (freely available on the Internet) to add new levels, etc.
Multi-player :	Yes Modem play (2 player), Internet (2 player), Skirmish (up to 7 Computer AI players), and Network play (up to 8 players) are supported.
HD Installable :	Yes. You can play it off your HD but you need the CD in the drive ! Bad Westwood, Bad !!
Any Copy protection :	Yes. You need the CD in the drive ! Bad Westwood, Bad !!
Problems :	Crap computer AI and too easy - see above.
Overall Rating :	80%

Moose's Rating : 8 / 10

The above review is Copyright © Moose O'Malley, February 15, 1997.

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