In a year of almost universal excellent from the EA studios including definite improvement in all their sports titles and a two excellent new franchises in Dead Space & Mirror’s Edge it was with great interest that I loaded on to my 360 the latest game in the Command & Conquer Red Alert series. This was especially true having already played the PC version of the game and because of how much stick RTS games get when appearing on a console.

What has been produced is actually, quite easily the best RTS on any console yet, with controls, although not perfect, are the best yet and featuring some very sharp excellent graphics and a cast list that some movies would kill for, including the brilliant (And in my opinion underrated) Tim Curry, George Takei of Star Trek and Heroes fame and the stunningly gorgeous Gemma Atkinson.

The basic premise is this, what would happen if the Russians, led by Tim Curry whose accent is both funny and brilliant, went back in time and killed Albert Einstein thus changing the course of history beyond recognition. They come back to a bizarre world where they are at war against the mighty Japanese army who have huge transformable machines that wreck havoc as well as high tech ninjas, samurai robots and a schoolgirl with psychic powers. The allies (who make up the third concern within the title) and the Russians themselves also have some new weapons within their arsenal including armoured zeppelins, leggy female commandos and a helicopter that somehow can shrink opponents to pint size. There are no nuclear weapons however, because Einstein wasn’t there to help create them.

One of the biggest changes from previous instalments of the game is amount of thought that has been given to co-op mode. All the single player missions can be played this way and if you haven’t got someone to play with the computer takes the part of your assistant. Basically what this means is that you have twice the size army to play with as you literally can let your friend or the computer handle half the map whilst you handle the other.

Another addition that the series hasn’t had before is the naval element of the game because a lot of the maps have vast bodies of water on them. This means you have to build submarines and battleships and also you use dolphins in your warfare. Also you can send your foot soldiers into the water to fight from there in some levels (infact that is the only way to complete an early levels) Whether this element has been introduced to add some variety to the game or just because the developers wanted to show how brilliant they are at doing water in the game is open to debate however, because the water is gorgeously presented.

As usual there are three campaigns for you to work through in the single player game. The Russians, the Japanese and the allies. I can see lots of boys playing as the allies first because of Gemma Atkinson’s involvement but to be honest all three campaigns are equally as good. Also returning from previous C&C titles is the fact that a lot of the missions have a distinct puzzle element involved and that you unlock things as you make your way through the game. There is also only a small area of the map open to you at any one time so you have to send troops further into the game to unlock some more play area.

The main improvement for this title however, is that for once; the game seems to have been produced, with the developers keeping in mind the machine it was appearing on and the controller that would be used. The ease at which you can build and command units from anywhere at any time with a pull of the right trigger is a joy and also keeps the gameplay and the combat going at a speedy pace. Also for once the enemy AI is actually very good which makes this a much harder game than previous Command & Conquer or other RTS games.

On top of the single player game there is a full multiplayer mode available where as well as being a good military tactician you will need to have a lot of cunning, aggressiveness and economic know-how in order to achieve success.

Graphically this is a joy to play. The cut scenes as I said before are beautiful and are worthy of any film that you are likely to see. The cast throughout look like they are enjoying themselves making the game and I hope should there be a Red Alert 4 that a lot of them return. The acting in the cut scenes is so deliberately over the top with very funny accents and over serious acting that they are quite simply some of the best cut scenes ever. The game itself looks like it has been told from a US or Manga comic book with excellent colourful graphics and brilliant definition and distinction between the different units.

Sound wise the vocal acting is, as I said previous, over the top with some incredibly bad accents. There is also a good musical soundtrack and excellent effects presented within.

Overall this is an excellent game packed with top level production values. Although I am a C&C veteran it is actually the first of this series that I have actually played and I have to admit the storyline, although a little camp and ridiculous in places is actually a lot of fun and makes a lot of sense in a bizarre kind of way.

Certainly if you have liked the series before or any of the C&C games there is absolutely no reason not to buy and love this one and for newcomers this would be an excellent place to start. Silly but a lot of fun!