- Joined
- Jan 2, 2007
- Messages
- 1,067
Hello, C&C fans! I am one of the many participating in the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 beta. I've played about 10 games now, and I will state my current impressions; what I like, what I think needs to be changed and so on.
So far, it plays like you would expect Red Alert to play. It is fast paced, stylish and crazy. The biggest changes from C&C 3 are the way you build and the way you control units. The way you control units is a step down from the squad building in C&C3 and back to the classic one unit at a time style. Buildings build faster, which can be both bad and good depending on your style of play. It certainly leads to a lot of rushing. This time around, you place the building BEFORE it builds and it quickly rises up from there, in the shortest building time scene in an RTS. It is good for rushing, but for those who want to take more time, it'll likely become a pain in the butt.
The balance is almost right but it feels off. For example, an attack dog will go down in one hit from just about anything, yet a sickle will get its ass handed to it by a paltry Allied GI even if it is guarded or accompanied by other units.
The graphics are a mixed bag. They are definitely colourful, but they seem too cartoony. Your units look like single coloured objects and the buildings look like they are made from plastic. The special effects such as explosions, water, blood, and certain terrain is awesome though. It will run on just about any computer as well, which is a plus, though it might bring some framerate issues when lots of things are going on at once; which is certainly common in a C&C game.
Red Alert 3 beta is obviously... a beta. It still has some time to go before being finished. I have enjoyed my time in the game so far, however the building style SERIOUSLY needs to be addressed. It will likely throw the balance off kilter severely if it remains as it is now (The average build time is hardly 2 seconds) and it is not favourable for those who actually like a little strategy. Another problem with this build style is you cannot cancel a building if its in progress and you run out of funds. You just can't, and it will drain every fund you get, so you are screwed if you are building something and you run out of funds then your gatherer gets pwned. That thing is practically more important than even your construction yard now. If it dies, you might as well give up.
If you enjoy a fast paced, action oriented RTS though, Red Alert 3 is certainly heading down that path, although so far I'd say it's a tad disappointing when compared to the epic-ness of RA2, but lets hope things shape up for the final game.
Oh, and if anyone else here has the beta, post your screenname so we can play sometime.
So far, it plays like you would expect Red Alert to play. It is fast paced, stylish and crazy. The biggest changes from C&C 3 are the way you build and the way you control units. The way you control units is a step down from the squad building in C&C3 and back to the classic one unit at a time style. Buildings build faster, which can be both bad and good depending on your style of play. It certainly leads to a lot of rushing. This time around, you place the building BEFORE it builds and it quickly rises up from there, in the shortest building time scene in an RTS. It is good for rushing, but for those who want to take more time, it'll likely become a pain in the butt.
The balance is almost right but it feels off. For example, an attack dog will go down in one hit from just about anything, yet a sickle will get its ass handed to it by a paltry Allied GI even if it is guarded or accompanied by other units.
The graphics are a mixed bag. They are definitely colourful, but they seem too cartoony. Your units look like single coloured objects and the buildings look like they are made from plastic. The special effects such as explosions, water, blood, and certain terrain is awesome though. It will run on just about any computer as well, which is a plus, though it might bring some framerate issues when lots of things are going on at once; which is certainly common in a C&C game.
Red Alert 3 beta is obviously... a beta. It still has some time to go before being finished. I have enjoyed my time in the game so far, however the building style SERIOUSLY needs to be addressed. It will likely throw the balance off kilter severely if it remains as it is now (The average build time is hardly 2 seconds) and it is not favourable for those who actually like a little strategy. Another problem with this build style is you cannot cancel a building if its in progress and you run out of funds. You just can't, and it will drain every fund you get, so you are screwed if you are building something and you run out of funds then your gatherer gets pwned. That thing is practically more important than even your construction yard now. If it dies, you might as well give up.
If you enjoy a fast paced, action oriented RTS though, Red Alert 3 is certainly heading down that path, although so far I'd say it's a tad disappointing when compared to the epic-ness of RA2, but lets hope things shape up for the final game.
Oh, and if anyone else here has the beta, post your screenname so we can play sometime.
