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Another
winning RTS from Westwood
Review by Pete "Skotos" De Garis, Dec 29/2000.
C&C is back, and it's EVERYTHING Tiberium Sun should have been but wasn't. Forget wars in Europe. Forget assaulting the Soviet Union, now the war has been taken to the shores of the USA. Oh I'm sorry, was the that White House I just nuked? Let me first point out that I've been a HUGE RTS fan from the beginning and in my mind no-one combines good graphics, with playable engines and a good story better then Westwood in the RTS development world. If you forget that Tiberium Sun ever happened and look at C&C, Red Alert, and now RA 2 you have 3 awesome games that any self respecting gamer would love as a stocking stuffer. Add to that the Warcraft series and Mhmmmmmmmmmm..... The engine used in C&C 2 has been brought into the new Red Alert which is a good thing. It allows easy and initiative control over your units and won't be too big of a challenge to pick up on even if you've never played C&C 2. For single player you choose good guys or bad guys, where in multi you choose specific nationalities (France, Germany, USA, Iraq, Soviet, Libya, etc.) Each Country has their own strengths like American Paratroopers, the British Snipers, or the new Desolator units from Iraq. These special traits are important to know as your muliplayer strat will have alot to do with them. The single player story line is well laid out and follows a good difficulty progression for either side, and yes if you choose a harder difficulty then they get pretty darned hard indeed. One thing I did hate however is there are no less than 2 or 3 missions for each side's campaign that don't give you the ability to build, you just go out and fight with your set units. Missions like these have ALWAYS been something I cant stand and wish I could skip. Before I get into multi player here are a few screenies.
One interesting aspect of RA2 is that the units have the ability to interact with others. You can turn an ally IPV into a repair vehicle by having an engineer board it, teslsa turrets can be made more powerful by stationing telsa troops nearby. Units can be promoted and have their defense and offense power upgraded with each promotion. These are just a few examples, as you play you will find more I'm sure.
Another Interesting unit is the Prism tower and Prism Tank. Basically the more you have the better. If they are all within range of each other, they can draw on one another's power to magnify the damage they can inflict with a single shot There is not alot of money on alot of the maps so you will have to be careful where you spend it. Though like all RTS games, too much D is never enough. My one big problem with the game, and I can appreciate perhaps why it wasn't included is that you cannot host a direct IP game. If you wanna play online you have to do it through the provided channels. I'm sure this prevents alot of pir8s from playing online but this also makes it slow and difficult to play online if you are on a dialup connection. Direct IP is still the best way to play RTSs. There are several different game when you are playing RA2 multiplayer. Among them are Co-op, Land Grab, and verses. Co-op is interesting and challenging, especially on the harder missions. If you slip once you are DEAD. Keep in mind the AI is VERY good on this game. For people that want to practice by themselves before going online, there is a single player skirmish option as well in which you can battle some VERY hard AI opponents all alone. The final analysis If your an RTS fan, were disappointed with the last C&C and have forgiven Westwood for the mistake then get this game, it is spectacular. Endless fun on LAN or Net and a challenge to beat single player if your man (or Woman) enough to take on a higher difficulty level. It takes all the good of the first RA2, none of the bad from the last C&C, blends it with a good story and some kick ass new units to make what could be the best RTS of 2000. Sure it isn't eye candy like Warzone or Homeworld, but hell you can play this one and not get lost on the map. |
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