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The other week I got chatting with some mates down the pub and I don’t know how we got around to it but we started talking about the 1996 classic Red Alert 2 and what an awesome game it was. An afternoon of drinks was filled with nostalgia and everything we loved about it which as we drilled into it was a lot. So I thought I would revive the BTN retro reviews to take you back to the golden age of gaming.

If you’re of a certain age you’re bound to have played Red Alert 2. For those yet to be anointed Red Alert 2 was part of the Command & Conquer franchise which was a series of war simulation strategy games. Now don’t get me wrong the original Red Alert was awesome but its sequel knocked it out of the park.

The story carries on 20 years from the original in which the allied forces defeat the Soviets who are now seeking revenge and launch a full scale war on their enemies in Europe and the US. When you play the game you can play two campaigns. The first being the Soviet invasion and the second the Allied retaliation.

The gameplay is beautifully simple. You build up your base, train troops and produce military vehicles at the same time mining ore to fund your venture. You do get a little time to construct your defences but from time to time the enemies will send out scouting parties to check you out and if they fancy it attack to delay your progression. Eventually when they get up to strength they will send in all of their military might in an attempt to wipe you out. The idea is for you to do this to them first.

In the campaign modes there are set tasks such as destroying specific targets are rescuing people of importance but the real attraction of Red Alert 2 is the multiplayer/skirmish modes. This is about all out destruction. Get your base up to speed and kick the seven shades of shinola out of your opponent.

The first thing to do in my opinion is to get your ore refinery set up, this comes with an ore miner which will automatically go out and make money for you to build more things. There are two types of ore, the gold ore but what you really want to be getting in the early stages of the game is what I call the ‘rainbow ore’ this is worth big bucks.

The next thing to do is to install some power. The more buildings you construct the more power you need so keep an eye on that. Then go for a barracks and start training troops so that you have some level of defence. When you start the game you do get a number of troops and tanks but best to bolster their numbers just to be safe.

As you build more things more construction options will become available to you so always check to see what is new. One of the early things to do also would be to add some defensive guns, walls and flak guns.

Next move on to your War Factory, here you can build tanks and the like but I like to start out building a couple more ore miners to keep that cash flowing in. You then want to get yourself a Battle Lab, this will allow you to develop units with some serious firepower and technology.

You can also build an arsenal that can attack from the air and sea so get a couple of these on your base.

As you progress more and more options become available to you so make sure that you utilise them for ultimate damage. Also one tip. Build multiple buildings as this will speed up the time it takes to build what they are capable of producing.

And while you’re doing all of that you can train engineers that can capture enemy buildings, snipers that can take out troops at long distances as well as Tanya who is a one woman war machine for the Allies and Clone Troopers for the Soviets who can take control of your troops and turn them against you. There are also dogs which are highly efficient against soldiers, Flak Troopers and Crazy Ivan who just runs into buildings and blows them up.

There is also a map that shows you the terrain but you need to build a radar first but it does not immediately reveal the location of your rivals. To do this you need to send out scouting parties. The more terrain they cover the more of the map you see so you can’t just concentrate building your defenses, be vigilant. You can use the troops and tanks that you get at the start of the game to do this for you.

When you are ready unleash your forces on the enemy. You can group numbers of troops and tanks and send them where needed using keyboard commands. You can also set waypoints so that they can get on with the job while you continue to strengthen your base. And if you get really good you can construct killer weapons such as nuclear missiles to wipe out swathes of infidels. The aim is to destroy all of the enemy troops and buildings before they have a chance to do it to you, so go forth soldier.

I used to love playing Red Alert as a LAN game with mates. They were even considerate enough to give you two discs to enable this. I have lost many hours of my life and friends in my pursuit of total domination. You can however play skirmishes against the computer but don’t be a wuss. I used to add four armies to my map and just watched the carnage that ensued.

Oh, and there was also the Yuri’s Revenge expansion pack later on which made it even better and gave you even more campaign missions. Did I miss anything?

This for me has to be one of the best games of all time and one I still play today. I hope you have some happy memories too which I would love to hear about.

Author

Paul Wright

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