The Essential 100 - Command & Conquer: Red Alert

[Sonic 295]

For the past couple of months, 1UP.com has been counting down the Essential 100 games as picked by their readers. And no list would be complete without a Command & Conquer game in it, right? So it's great to see Westwood's classic Red Alert make it in at number 66. Here's a sample of the article.

 

 

The fans, of course, loved it. Red Alert ended up being enthusiastically accepted and eventually dominated real-time strategy over a period lasting between its release in late 1996 and the appearance of StarCraft in 1998. It was one of the first real-time strategy games to be widely played on the internet in an era where online multiplayer was still finding its feet. Supports lauded Red Alert for its two very different factions -- the powerful Soviet Union and the stealthier, deception-oriented Allies -- which helped to set it apart from rival WarCraft II, which featured factions that generally mirrored one another.

 

Personally, I remember it less for its depth than its rich personality, which appears to have been by design. In a 1997 interview, Westwood co-founder Brent Sperry seemed to decry an overt focus on mechanics at the expense of entertainment value: "When I started in the industry in 1982, I thought it was all about entertaining people, but I noticed so many developers were missing the point. They got hung up on the game mechanics and the activity of actually manipulating the game. Learning the interface and resolving exactly how the programmers or designers wanted you to play their game."

 

You can read the full article right here.

[Nmenth 291]

the stealthier, deception-oriented Allies

Not really the way I would have described them...

 

Sure they had fake structures and camo pillboxes, but I never saw that as their tactical advantage.

[Luk3us 63]

The Allies have small tanks. Small tanks that buzz like bees and slaughter everything that moves....

 

I love those tiny tanks.

 

Far superior to the overweight Soviet tanks.

[PurpleGaga27 40]

Never knew about this until I read it. Definitely an essential, excellent RTS game of the decade alongside Starcraft.