Red Alert 2

Herald rating: * * * *

Electronic Arts, PC

Review: Peter Eley

The Soviet Navy is attacking the Statue of Liberty. We can't let them get way with that. And so starts chapter, sorry I've lost count, in the Command and Conquer/Dune/Tiberian Sun/Red Alert saga.

Red Alert, a sort of sequel to the original Command & Conquer, was the pick in the series, and its sequel, Red Alert 2, is a worthy successor

That's high praise, for the C&C games are up there with Age of Empires as the must-have, Hall of Fame real-time strategy titles.

Red Alert 2 doesn't stretch the boundaries. It is the best of the series graphically, but is still a pseudo 3D tile-based game.

Where it scores is in its playability. It is an excellent war game, whether played against the computer's challenging artificial intelligence, or as a network/internet multiplayer game.

The game is much the same as other titles in its set-up. Mine, build, defend, atack.

But there are many more ways to drill and kill. The land, air and sea units are all well thought out and have a place in co-ordinated campaigns.

The storypits a post-Stalin Russia against America, but brings in Libya, Cuba, Iraq, Britain, France and Germany, all of whom have unique units - such as Libya's demolition truck.

There is a core of 20 weapons for each side, with each countering something from the other side. For example, the Allies have trained dolphins which carry sonar amplifiers.

But the Russians have giant squid and sea scorpions.

Likewise, the Allies' aircraft carriers are countered by armoured Soviet airships, which carry an enormous payload of high explosives.

The Russian Terror Drones - metal spiders which penetrate armoured vehicles and destroy them from the inside - are particularly deadly.

The structure set-up has been overhauled. The familiar ore refineries and war factories are still there, but look out for new devices such as nuclear reactors - which create a fearful mess when destroyed.

C&C games have always had a strong mission structure while being weak on one-off games - the opposite of the other war game giant, Age of Empires.

Red Alert 2 fixes that with a random map generator in Skirmish mode, and finally adds a Save option, giving the game unlimited replayability.

peter_eley@herald.co.nz"