The UrbanWire

A crowd clad in heavy coats stands outside the Kremlin, hurling abuse and brandishing protest signs. Overhead, an ominous charcoal skyline looms menacingly.

It is apparent that things are not going well for the Soviet war effort.

Inside the building, as the elevator grill slams shut, two desperate men resolve to employ a desperate measure – to use the Soviet experimental time machine to go back in time and eliminate Einstein.

The Soviets succeed and discover that they have altered the time continuum with disastrous results and have now unleashed a third superpower, hell-bent on world domination, the Empire of the Rising Sun.

Yes, you’ve guessed it, commander.

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 is finally here, after a 7-year exodus.

For the uninitiated, the Red Alert world takes place in an alternate universe, with two main factions, the Soviets and Allies, perpetually at war. The Soviets plan to dominate the world while the Allies, gifted with various technological advances and the genius of Einstein, endeavour to halt their plans.

Flying Bears And Walking Ships

Chris Ng, General Manager of Electronic Arts (EA) Singapore, shows exactly what he means by that with the use of a new unit available to the Soviets, the Bullfrog. He loads up the amphibious troop carrier with 4 War Bears (another new unit available to the Soviet Faction) and an engineer and sends the carrier cruising through the bobbing, iridescent blue waters. In what must definitely one of the most comical sights to go down in the annals of gaming history, Chris promptly targeted a spot of open ground and launched the 4 bears and 1 man into the air. The flying units automatically deploy their parachutes when they reach the maximum altitude that their forceful ejection would allow.

The sea opens up a new frontier of war in Red Alert 3, vehicles transform and adapt to new terrain such as Sea to Air or Land to Sea. Chris builds several units of Stingrays – an attack boat built at a Naval Yard structure. But as he directs them to land the Stingrays each extend a set of 6 mechanical legs and proceed to climb onto the arid orange sand like a spindly bizarre steel spider. Likewise, War Bears are able to swim and the all-important Construction Yard – a core structure from which other military and support structures are built, can be packed up, moved into the sea and re-deployed. Terrain is no longer much of a hindrance when it comes to making war.

Another pioneering feature is the co-op option for campaigns. When you begin a new campaign, you have to option to play through the campaign with a friend, with an increase in difficulty as well. You could also play solo, with an AI officer fighting alongside you in your battles. You could give context-sensitive commands to the wholly subservient AI officer, unlike that uncooperative human ally of yours. For example, when you scroll over a building which can be captured, a command box will pop up, and clicking the ‘execute’ button will have your AI support commander dispatch officers to go capture the building, leaving you free to continue your wanton genocide.

Master And Commander Of Land, Sea And Sky.

General Manager of EA Singapore, Chris Ng announced today to the crowd of game distributors and media personnel today that the fans of the genres can head onto the battlefield in one of two ways – the Commander Pack or the Officer Pack. These two limited edition packs will come bundled with different products.

The Commander & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Commander Pack retails at S$219 and consists of the Red Alert 3 Premiere Edition game, Microsoft SideWinder X6 Gaming Keyboard and Red Alert 3 Dicota Notebook Bacpac. The Officer Pack retails at S$119 and consists of the Red Alert 3 Premiere Edition game and the Red Alert 3 Dicota Notebook Bacpac. Highlights of the Premiere Edition of the game are 5 exclusive multiplayer maps, the Command School Special Edition – a video strategy guide containing strategies and tips for the different factions, game soundtrack and behind-the-scenes production footage. Alternatively, gamers can still get just the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Premiere Edition that retails at S$79 and comes in a numbered tin packaging with an exclusive beta key to a future Command & Conquer game.

Official Game Launch in Singapore ahead of North America

The official game launch of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 will take place at Shaw Lido 5th Floor Atrium, Oct 27. This is an unprecedented turn in game launches, as Singaporean fans of Red Alert will get their hands on the game one day before their North American counterparts and the rest of the world, who will only get the game on Oct 28.

It will be held from 10am to 3pm and fans that have reserved or pre-ordered their copies of Red Alert 3 may them up on the launch day. Pre-orders of the game can be made at selected retailers from Oct 10 onwards.

The first 2,000 will receive limited edition Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 tee-shirts and Red Alert 3 posters.

The Commander & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Commander Pack will be available at Challenger, Cyberactive, PK Computer, Popular Bookstore and Comics Connection distributors. While the The Commander & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Officer Pack will only be available exclusively at Comics Connection.