![]() ![]() In skirmish games, they don't feel properly balanced, which is also the case for several other imposing additions. You get to put these powerhouses to good use in the Empire campaign, in which objectives are stacked against you and the giga fortress's potent missiles are a great boon. When gliding through the air, its powerful beam slices through units below, and in its five-armed floating form, its barrage of rockets makes short work of flying foes. Perhaps the most impressive new unit is the Empire's giga fortress, which is great fun to watch in action. Defending a central base with the help of century bombers and cryocopters is enjoyable, and some of the new units fit in nicely, such as the Soviet's awesomely named mortar cycle. Standard strategic gameplay within the campaigns succeeds better, though not having a co-op commander to join you keeps large battles from feeling as grand and sweeping as they did in Red Alert 3. The campaign was a good idea, but it doesn't feel as tight as it should, particularly in light of Dawn of War II's far superior foray into that hybrid realm. It can be a bit tactical, particularly during the final boss battle, but it isn't strategic enough to work in the context of an RTS, and it's certainly not as engaging as a good action RPG. There is no onscreen minimap (you need to hit the escape key to view the map), two of the three levels take place in the same unimaginative environment, and you can't zoom in to get a better look at the action. Granted, it's cool to rip up entire swaths of enemies and fill the screen with colorful particle effects. It's over quickly and not all that satisfying. With Yuriko's main attack, you can demolish entire buildings, whereas four additional abilities let her shield herself, unleash a formidable psychic blast, brainwash enemy infantry into fighting on her behalf, and pick up objects and enemies and fling them at each other. The campaign is a stripped-down action role-playing game. Here, you take control of Yuriko, the Empire's commando unit, and take her dungeon crawling, using her four psionic powers to wreak havoc. Red Alert 3 lovers who wanted a greater challenge may enjoy the occasional punishment, but anyone looking for more of the original's brand of joyful action will be alienated by the slapdash nature of the missions.Īlmost as if to counter the derivative mission grind, Uprising features an entire campaign that breaks free of RTS conventions. And twice during the game, you are instructed not to engage units that you actually must engage if you have any hope of succeeding. Should you lose, the continuing voice-over indicates that the mission is continuing, even as a competing one signals your defeat. In another sloppy, heavily scripted sequence during the Allied campaign, rocket angels may pummel your MCV before you're even aware that you've been provided your own rocket troops to counter them. For instance, as the Soviets, your first encounter with the Allied cryo legionnaires (one of Uprising's new units) will likely be disastrous because you won't be ready for their icy attack until it's too late. Given that Uprising requires very specific tactics in these instances, you may need to save and reload a few times until you get a handle on these highly scripted events. All too often, you are handed a small group of units and pressed into a very specific tactic, a contrivance that was less mundane with a co-op commander at your side, but now feels quaint at best, and at worst, frustrating. Red Alert 3's greatest claim to fame, cooperative gameplay, has been jettisoned completely to make room for too many ho-hum, derivative puzzle-type objectives, the kind that have long plagued mediocre strategy games. The real storytelling highlight is found within the unusual Yuriko campaign, which breathes humanity into the Empire's quietly creepy commando. Even the fantastically inelegant Ric Flair, appearing in the new Commander's Challenge mode, can't muster these troops into action. The less-enthusiastic Gemma Atkinson, and newcomer Holly Valance as a smarmy anchorwoman, simply can't compete, and a bizarre performance from Julia Ling isn't so much melodramatically cheesy as it is a bit insincere and embarrassing. He and a few other new personalities join some returning ones, but the histrionic, live-action magic of Red Alert 3 is muted here, a testament to the hammy energy of George Takei, Tim Curry, and J. If there's one individual you can't fault for Uprising' lifeless meanderings, it's the blustery Ric Flair. ![]()
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