Red Alert 2

RA2 was developed by, you guessed it, Westwood Studios and released by EA in 2008. Though this will be the last time that Westwood will create a RA title. The game has one expansion, Yuri’s Revenge. But like Red Alert I won’t be reviewing that, only the core game.

Red Alert 2 picks up the story of the Allied victory in RA, although this is open for discussion as not everyone agrees with this statement. but let leave that behind us. It’s the year of 1970, after the destruction of the USSR, the Allies appointed Alexander Romanov to rule and rebuild the country. The game starts with the USA being invaded by Soviet forces. The USA tries to retaliate by launching its nuclear missiles. And even that is impossible because Yuri, head of the Soviet Psychic Corp, manipulated the men working in silos and let them explode the missiles in their silos.

Now I have promised myself not to tell the entire story of the game because it would too long to write and the review would turn out massive. The story of the Allies start in New York where you have to liberate the city. You will be fighting throughout the USA destroying mind-controlling Psychic Beacons, rushing your way through Europe and eventually end your fighting journey in the Soviet capital Moscow.

The Soviet campaign is all about the destruction of the Allies and total world domination. Your first mission is destroying the Pentagon. Like in the Allied campaign you fight throughout the USA, but also in Mother Russia. The campaign ends at the Bering Strait. Though the Soviet campaign of ruling the world isn’t without treachery. The man who started it all simply named Yuri, murders de leader of the Soviet Union, Romanov. And to make matters worse, he then frames a general named Vladimir of conducting the murder. Vladimir is declared a traitor and you are ordered to capture him in Washington. After doing so successfully, you are ordered back to Moscow to be congratulated by Yuri himself. But before arriving there, you receive a video from Romanov before his death where he explains that Yuri has been brainwashing him and demands you to bring Yuri down.

So far the campaign of the two factions.
Everything in RA2 is unrecognizable when you compare it to RA. Where C&C and RA where almost similar, RA2 has been build up from scratch. The only things that are left from the first part are the Allies’ Chromosphere and the Soviet’s Red Curtain. Every unit has had it size increased. Sometimes infantry is bigger than a tank. Base Buildings are usually bigger than entire apartment blocks. The pace of battle has been increased dramatically. Where in RA you would have to wait maybe a minute for your units to reach the enemy, in RA2 the units rush to the enemy base in matter of seconds.

The two factions in RA2 have their own tactics. Where the Soviet Union is good at rushing early on in the game and almost superior in landbattles, the Allies rely on defenses and advanced tech that comes available as a match progresses.

Resource gathering hasn’t changed a lot, there’s only one exception. The Allied harvester can instantaneous teleport back to the refinery, very useful when harvesting in hostile territories. You still have to gather gold and diamonds to get your credits.

The 2 factions are split into multiple countries, but that doesn’t account for the campaign. Every country fights under the flag of the 2 main factions, but operate with different sets of buildings and units. Every country usually has a special unit, with the exception of the USA’s paradrop and the Grand- Cannon from the French.

In the end I really enjoyed playing Red Alert 2. The style of the game really addresses me because it the game doesn’t take itself serious and can sometimes cause some hilarious moments. So if you want this game I suggest buying The First Decade, containing all Command & Conquer series.