Red Alert 3 is an RTS in which the player can play as either the Russians, The Empire of the Rising Sun (aka the Japanese), or as the Allied forces.

While the three competing factions look completely different, the units are actually very balanced and there is a counter for each counter. For example the Russians use War Bears. They make excellent scouts and do fairly well ambushing infantry. The Allies equivalent to the Russian bears is the Attack Dog, which are specially trained German Shepherds.

Just like most other RTSs out already, Red Alert 3 has unique upgrades and buildings for each faction. For example, the Russians have the most basic technology tree; in order for them to upgrade the Russians just have to construct the new building that allows for that specific technology. The Allies upgrade all things on the base at once (costly if I may add but well worth doing), and the Japanese are somewhere in the middle; the Japanese upgrade individual structures one at a time.

Once again, just like most other RTSs, in Red Alert 3 you can play single player or multiplayer. If you enjoy the movie files and the storyline the campaign is the way to go, but if you’re heart desires total freedom, the best way to enjoy that freedom is in a skirmish match. If you’re skirmishing against a computer controlled opponent the difficulty settings can really be noticed. On easy mode for instance the enemy AI is almost nonexistent while on the hardest difficulty setting it is almost impossible to stay alive for just a few minutes. I really like the way that works: start slow and move yourself up the difficulty ladder.

Two other impressive features are the Formation Move and Attack Move options. If the selected units are set to Formation Move then the group travels at the speed of the slowest unit in the group which all of the sudden eliminates your flying and engine operating troops from arriving at the destination way before the bulk of your infantry gets there. The Attack Move formation is one of the best features incorporated in an RTS. I’m so very tired of RTS where you have to walk your army one step at a time because they can’t figure it out that on they’re way to the final destination they’re being fired at. With Attack Move you can just click you army to its final destination but now your army will stop and fight any enemies they encounter on the way to that final destination. That is an excellent feature.