Result : 7 - Solid real-time fighting
 | Graphics: 5 - Same as the original. |
| FMV : 7 - Good quality, but unrelated to action at times. |
| Sound : 8 - mmmmm, Tesla Coils. |
| Music : 5 - Updated original themes. |
| A.I. : 6 - Smarter, but too defeatable. |
| Lifespan : 8 - Two campaigns, Skirmish mode. |
| Gameplay : 7 - Build - fight - conquer. |
| Adrenaline : 6 - Lots of frantic clicking. |
Command & Conquer : Red Alert - Retaliation is the 3rd in the Playstation series. It plays very similarly to the original, the main differences being improved AI, new structures and units, and more emphasis on "combined arms", using land, sea and air units at once.
The plot is an alternate universe where WWII never happened, and instead NATO and the USSR fight it out sometime later (can't remember if it mentions a specific time frame). There are of course unusual tanks and technologies, each side developing different styles of fighting. I preferred the Russians, the Tesla Coils totally kick butt on defence, and with self-regenerating Mammoth tanks, and damaging Tesla tanks, the offence seems better than the NATO units too.
Sound is good, with a wide range of explosions and speech. The FMV's look good, but they don't seem to mesh into as comprehensive a story as the original. The missions do however run much more sequentially, with the skirmish mode left to satisfy peoples all-out bloodfest wishes. This it does admirably, with up to 3 computer controlled opponents (you can substitute one of these for a linked human player), you really need to pick you tactics with respect to the map, resources, and enemies. One of the best things about this game is the fact that there are so many ways to win - "starve" their resources, carry out suicide runs on their Construction yards and Refineries, Rush them, go for defence, and then swiftly counter-attack... The only real gripe is that it feels a little long in the tooth, it seriously needs a Warzone-type makeover.
While it looks and plays just like the original PC version, it does offer a better overall experience of this classic real time strategy game. Everyone should play Command & Conquer at least once, and this is probably the best of the versions out there.
| Ant missions |
| Complete the game once. Then, set the difficulty level to "Hard", select "Campaigns", and go to England to access the ant missions. |
| Cheat mode |
| Click on the "Teams" button menu with Circle (or which ever button is currently configured as "Cancel") or the Right Mouse Button. Then, move the pointer over the following icons on the tool bar and press Circle ("Cancel") or the Right Mouse Button on each. |
| Invincibility |
| Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "Square", "X", "Circle", "X", "Triangle", "Triangle". |
| Full map |
| Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "Triangle", "Triangle", "X", "Circle", "Triangle", and "Square". |
| Parabomb |
| Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "X", "X", "X", "Circle", "Triangle", and "Square". |
| Chronoshift |
| Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "Square", "Circle", "Triangle", "X", "Circle", "Circle". |
| Money is people |
| Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "Square", "X", "Square", "X", "Square", "X". |
| Money |
| Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "X", "X"," Square", "Circle", "Circle", "Circle". |
| Instant victory |
| Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "Circle", "Circle", "Triangle", "X", "X", "Square". |
| Instant loss |
| Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "Circle", "X", "Circle", "Square", "Square", "X". |
| Nuclear attack |
| Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "Circle", "X", "Circle", "Circle", "X", "Square". |
| Civilians have names |
| Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "Square", "Square", "Circle", "Circle", "Triangle", "Triangle". |
| Reveal Map |
Press Circle or the Right Mouse Button when the pointer is over "Triangle", "Triangle", "X", "Circle", "Triangle", "Square". |
