Command & Conquer Red Alert 3
EA Games
Real-time Strategy
PC, Xbox 360, PS3

The first time I ever bought a RAM upgrade for a PC was to play the original Command & Conquer. The second time, it was for Red Alert. To say I have a soft spot for this series is an understatement, that’s why I’m stoked that Red Alert 3 is on the way. Given, the Command & Conquer series – formerly a property of Westwood Studios – is now owned by ginormous gaming giant (redundancy intended), EA Games, but they’ve managed the series pretty well thus far. Red Alert 3 takes place in an alternate timeline’s WWIII as three factions – the Allies, Soviets, and The Empire of the Rising Sun – duke it out for territorial dominance.

Red Alert’s retro-sci-fi style is a significant and welcome shift in theme when compared to the Tiberium series, Command & Conquer’s flagship. EA has announced that anyone who buys Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath will automatically be entered into a “queue” for their beta testing program, which sounds pretty shady if you ask me. Regardless of EA’s unhealthy love for money, Red Alert 3 should be a heaping pile of real-time strategy goodness.