when dealing with Terror Drones as the Allies. Terror Drones are basically big mechanical spiders that penetrate the armor of an Allied tank and tear it to pieces from the inside. They move damn fast so it’s hard for tanks to hit them, which means you’d better have some ground troops or jet-troopers hovering nearby to take them out before they infect the tanks. The sides are fairly balanced, with no side having a distinct advantage over the other. For example, the basic infantry unit for the Soviets is cheaper than the equivalent for the Allies, so larger numbers can be churned out, but the Allied unit can entrench themselves to better protect an area. What is even better is that units can be promoted after surviving so many onslaughts. There’s nothing better than having a platoon of high-ranking infantry take out four or five tanks then heal themselves of whatever damage they might have taken.

Animation is excellent and there’s always lots going on. Explosions abound and there’s never any slow down (which might depend on your hardware.) Time has been put into making sure that you can see everything at a glance – unit and building health, where a unit is going, how many troops are garrisoned in a building, what group selected units belong to, etc. – at any resolution. If your hardware can support the higher resolutions, do so because you can see a lot more of the battlefield. Westwood is known for it’s cutscenes and RA2 is a great example of how FMV is still a part of the industry. The actors are good and the sets are simple/complex enough to convey sense of place. My one complaint with the cutscenes: too many digs at Canadians.

The sound complements every aspect of the game. It’s execution is slick, especially a certain unmentionable person, exclaiming a certain unmentionable phrase.

I found multiplayer to be a painless experience – actually it’slots of fun and challengers can be found at any time of the day or night in three modes of conflict via the in-game menus. Once again the unit balancing is very good.

Obviously, if you’ve bought the DVD Collector’s Edition you have access to a DVD player. I was a little disappointed at first with not being able to play RA2 from the DVD. (The game comes on the traditional two CDs – one Allies, one Soviets.) I expected to be able to see all the cutscenes in beautiful high-res, high definition style. What I found on the DVD was a whole lotta laughs and all the between mission cutscenes rendered in all the glory that DVD can afford it, plus so much more. Sketches and interviews abound. Some of the brainstorming ads created but never put into print are outright hilarious, even though some border on being offensive. There’s a couple of behind the scenes clips, where one person in particular is featured hopping around, acting silly, and wearing a tan coloured unmentionable item of clothing. The segment is executed in such as way as to make your wife say, "What the hell are you watching?" if she happens into the room while viewing that particular clip. I would go so far as to say that for the true Red Alert fanatic the DVD is a must have. Accompanying the DVD is a great pewter figure. I got the Tesla Trooper and he’s wonderfully sculpted – looking like he just blasted out of your computer – and he fits perfectly by my right speaker. For audiophiles there is also a soundtrack CD to try out. It has just over an hour of music spread over 16 tracks. I wish more games did this because some game tunes are just too good to be confined to your computer.

All the elements of the Collector’s Edition – the great game, DVD, soundtrack, and pewter figure – combine to bring a Red Alert experience that is well worth the slightly extra expense over the regular version. Do yourself a favour, buy this game now! Because it’s not just a game – it’s an experience.

- Omni