Game Review: Red Alert 2

Well its time for another review: This time in the red corner the Soviets, aannnd in the blue corner we have the Allies!

Yes, that's right, we are back to the Cold War days with Red Alert 2! Although, admittedly, I don't think they had attack dolphins or Tesla troops the first time 'round. Red aleart 2 is a Real Time Strategy (RTS) set in a world on the brink or war, it follows on from the first Red Alert, though is vastly superior in the graphics, game-play and, well... pretty much every other department as well.

RA2 was released October 2000 and because of its age require only the most basic of system requirements. A 266 MHz Processor, 64 Mb of RAM and a tiny 2 Mb graphics card. This means that even I can run it.. and run it well. While the graphics and interfaces may not be as smooth or as shiny as modern games RA2 still gives a decent account of itself.

The game focuses on the two campaign branches; Allies and Soviets. They each have the same basic units and structures, though with differing power, build time and cost. The units begin to differ then more advanced units and structures begin to be built. After a Battle Lab is built the Allies can obtain such units as the Prism Tank or Aircraft Carrier, while the Soviets get the Apocalypse Tank and Kirov Airship.

Each side has its own pros and cons; the allies seem have have more technologically advanced, though not necessarily more powerful than the soviets, while the soviets seem to go for the brute force method. While each are powerful in their own way it is up to the user to decide what they like best. (Personally I just cant resist the temptation of trying to get capture the enemy buildings and get Apocalypse tanks AND Prism tanks.)

There are a number of ways of earning money to purchase units and buildings; the most common method is simply using Miner trucks to collect the resources so wantonly scattered around the map. You can also capture Oil Rigs, which produce a constant supply of money, at least until the enemy get tired of you throwing tanks at him and bombs it into oblivion. You can also find power-up crates which will give various bonuses, sometimes a unit promotion, sometimes a speed upgrade, and of course, sometimes money.

This is a well built game, which still holds its appeal for those who cant run top of the line games (or the new Command & Conquer). Its graphics are well designed and the intermittent live-acting film clips give great breaks in the combat.

I'm giving it 91/100.

Correction.. I know your father.

Hey, you may have seen my last article about Evony. I just read another blog in which some doubts have been raised about it. It seems that some people have had bugs messing with their PC after they played it...

This may just be a glitch in the game or coincidence.. but it could also be because Evony contains malware (not saying it is, just one possible reason). Because of this my legal adviser has told me to issue the following statement:

I do not take any responsibility for the users actions after leaving this site, furthermore I do not take responsibility for anyone's PC blowing up (etc.), them hurting themselves (etc.) when participating in activities I feature on this site.

Hehe.. that was fun...

Later all...
Remember.. I warned you.