RED Alert 3 - Command & Conquer

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is a 2008 real-time strategy video game developed by EA Los Angeles and published by Electronic Arts. Announced on February 14, 2008, it was released on October 28, 2008 in the United States for Microsoft Windows-based PCs and three days later in Europe. A version for the Xbox 360 console is forthcoming, as is a version for PlayStation 3, though the latter has been delayed due to difficulties with the system's architecture. The game forms a part of the Red Alert sub-series within the Command and Conquer series of games.

The game is set in a parallel universe in which World War II never happened and instead the Soviet Union rose to power, battling the Allies in the 1950s. In this game, the Empire of the Rising Sun rises to power as a threat as well. All three factions are playable, with the main gameplay involving constructing a base, gathering resources, and training armies comprised of land, sea, and airborne units to defeat other players. Each faction has a fully co-operative campaign, playable with an Artificial Intelligence or with another human player online. These campaigns follow a storyline, with specific mission objectives and unit restrictions applied. Unrestricted skirmish play against the computer and multiplayer via LAN or online is also available.

Commentary:

The game received mostly positive reviews, with reviewers citing the co-operative and multiplayer components as strengths, along with the enhanced role of naval combat compared to other real-time strategy games.

The game is good overall and better then RED Alert 2...  This is a game everyone was expecting, hoping, and waiting for... Like most things we long for as a group or society they seldom meet our dreams.  Red Alert 3 was no major problems, it is better then the last installment.  So what is the problem?

Electronic Art (EA) is taking a beating in sales and bad media, not because the game is not any good... which it is good, very good..

1. But because it has piracy protection on it... ( SecuRom DRM ) and there are many people on the boards, forums, reviews and so forth exaggerating and focusing negativity on the game because of it.. It is almost to the point of a direct campaign to make this into a bad game or at the very least make it fail to reach its sales potential?

The SecuRom DRM - allows for five authorizations - first when you install it, then if you have 4 more major hardware changes, new computer, reinstall the os all of these may take up another authorization, and so forth until they are all used up.  When your five automatic Internet authorizations are used up.  You will have to make a call to EA to activate / authorize the program so it will work.  This is nothing new, windows xp has a similar configuration and most people never new it.  You got to use the license code about 5 times or less, then after that you had to call in....

SecuRom DRM - there are quite a lot of misinformation about what it actually does, and what it really is.

Visit the SecRom FAQ site and read for yourself before deciding if it is a big deal or not.

If you love this version of RED Alert enough to still be playing it after 5 activations.  Then I seriously doubt it will make that big of a deal to you to place a call to activate / authorize.   I still remember back when all games had protection software of some sort, and being able to install it more then once without support was out of the question.  Game designers loss to much money from piracy, professional pirates making money of their ideas, sweat, and hard work.  They deserve and have the right to protect their work, and they deserve to get paid for it. Is there better methods possibly, is it a perfect solution no and that is a different story.

2. Red Alert 3 needs a higher end computer to play it... again no surprise, and the Red Alerts have always pushed the hardware envelope as much as possible at a new release...  That should be expect from this game franchise and the willingness to man up and build the perfect computer game to make it shine has always been about this series.

3. ( Only real complaint ) It does not support LAN computer to computer game play... No this is a disappointment and I feel it should have been included for us old timers. That still like to meet together in person and waste a day together bonding in a real good sim, such as Red Alert.

4. Unit Pathfinding is better then last release, but still has some room to improve.

The first two complaints (SecuRom DRM) and (Hardware Requirements) are not mine... and I wish the cry babies that continue to make them into a big deal all over the Internet... would just shut up buy an XBOX already. Then leave PC Games for men and ladies with real computers and the desire to see the industry grow and improve.... That includes taking advantage of new hardware and some decent security to help protect game content providers. They need to get paid for their hard work...  You make a good product, you should get money for doing it...  To many thieves, cowards, and jackasses out there feeding of the rest of us working people.  A few more game pirates having to pay their share or move on is all good for the rest of us.

Game Piracy is to blame for the need of software piracy security not the game designers

There is a great deal of game piracy and people using torrent and other sources to illegal obtain pc games.

We should be supporting the game designers and distrubution companies that make our game dreams a reality.

If you where a game designer and spent over a year, millions of dollars, your life at work until your own wife did not recognize you, all for the big new game release.

Then on release you get reports that your game is all over the place, everyone loves it, and all is well with the gaming community. Except for one problem your company only get 15 percent of the sales because of piracy... does that sound fair to you,,, it does not to me...

Real PC Gamers Wanted! - buy the game RED Alert 3, enjoy, and help keep EA alive!