Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a real-time strategy video game in the Command & Conquer franchise, developed and published by Westwood Studios in 1996. The second game to bear the Command & Conquer title, Red Alert is the prequel to the original Command & Conquer of 1995, and takes place in the alternate early history of Command & Conquer when Allied Forces battle an aggressive Soviet Union for control over the European mainland.

The Story Behind Command & Conquer - Red Alert - Retaliation

The PlayStation version was also re-released as a download on the PlayStation Network for PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3, but has since become delisted. The Command & Conquer Remastered Collection officially includes the Retaliation cutscenes, linking them to their respective expansion missions in the same way the mod does. According to PC Data, its domestic sales totaled 347,844 units during the period, which drew revenues of $16.5 million.

Over half of these sales derived from North America. On August 28, 1998, Westwood Studios released Command & Conquer Red Alert: Retaliation for the PlayStation, a compilation of the two PC expansion packs, including the secret Ant Missions. Following a brief conversation between the two, Einstein shakes Hitler's hand, which erases the latter from the timeline.

How Command & Conquer - Red Alert - Retaliation Plays

The objective stays the same but the map layout differs. It was ultimately the fourth-biggest seller of 1997's first half in the United States, after finishing at No. Red Alert Retaliation was a nominee for "8th Annual GamePro Readers' Choice Awards" for "Best Strategy Game of The Year", but lost to Pokémon Red and Blue for Game Boy.

Unlike the standard Allied/Soviet factions in the single-player campaigns, in multiplayer/skirmish, players choose a particular country to play as, each with its own unique advantage over the others. Allied countries consist of Germany (greater firepower), England (better durability) and France (faster rate of fire), while Soviet countries consist of Russia (lower costs) and Ukraine (faster movement speed). The Soviet 'tank rush' was a popular strategy online, involving building many heavy tanks and overwhelming the opponent with sheer numbers.

Why Players Still Load It Up

The PlayStation version was also positively received, but generally not as enthusiastically as the PC original. Some also found this version's inability to save mid-mission to be frustrating. A reviewer for Next Generation commented that Command & Conquer: Red Alert retains the gameplay elements of the outstanding original game while enhancing the graphics, expanding warfare to both air and sea, and rebalancing the gameplay so that players cannot succeed by simply using the same tactics which worked in the original.

Electronic Gaming Monthlys team of four reviewers all gave it an 8.5/10 or better, particularly noting its strategic depth and high quality FMV cutscenes, with Kraig Kujawa concluding, "Although Red Alert isn't as good as its PC counterpart, you won't find a better realtime strategy game on the PlayStation." Electronic Gaming Monthly also named it "Strategy Game of the Year" at their 1997 Editors' Choice Awards, calling it "the best console realtime strategy game of all time". GamePro ultimately recommended it, though only to those for whom the PC version is not an option, citing the addictive gameplay, engaging cutscenes, "both exciting and subtle" music, and improved A.I. over the PC version. He praised the unit design and variety, particularly that "the units of the two opposing sides aren't mere copies of each other, but instead maintain a sort of karmic balance." Additionally complimenting the level design, cutscenes, graphics, sound effects, and music, he judged that, "Red Alert belongs in the same category as Civilization II and Quake, games that followed legendary predecessors and immediately eclipsed them." In a review for PC Games which was also published in its sister magazine GamePro, Rob Smith summarized, "The new units, the great story, and the variety of mission styles make up for the limited improvement in the A.I." He also noted that the control interface allows players to quickly and easily select units and order them into combat.

Command & Conquer - Red Alert - Retaliation — Frequently Asked Questions