• Best Co Op Campaign

Let's face it: gaming is more fun when you're playing with a friend. More and more games, particularly shooters, are coming out with co-op modes that let you and a buddy have fun blasting the enemy. EA wants to introduce this same mechanic to the entire campaign for Red Alert 3; instead of wading into the battles by yourself, you can team up with another player and tackle the battles together.

Oct 01, 2008 EA wants to introduce this same mechanic to the entire campaign for Red Alert 3. Red Alert 3 Co-Op Hands-on.

And if you don't have friends or your Internet access gets crippled, you'll still be able to run through with a computer controlled ally. The guys from EA LA stopped by the office this week to give us our first taste of co-op Red Alert.

Disclaimer time: developers Greg Kasavin and Amer Ajami and I used to work together years ago at another publication, but they've been working on real-time strategy games at EA for years now. Anyhow, I got to play with Greg as my wingman in a couple of missions to check out how co-op works out.

Best Co Op Campaign

Each mission in the game has been designed with co-op in mind, whether it's with another human being or with a computer-controlled teammate. So generally the battles are tougher than those found in earlier C&C games, as they're basically geared for two players.

And, yes, having a second player in the mix adds a new element to the standard C&C formula of resource gathering, base building, and tank rushing. For instance, in the Allied mission that we played the goal is to attack a heavily-fortified Red Army base, the key is to take out a series of power generators that are powering the Iron Curtain, a formidable defensive barrier. The battle begins with both players at opposing sides of the map, so you can each try and attack one flank on your own, or perhaps link your forces in the middle and attack together, or rush to another's aid if the enemy launches a powerful counter-attack. There's an interesting build mechanic in co-op. While you can't directly control the buildings and units of your teammate, you can build structures in his base and vice versa.

This is very handy, particularly in the second mission that we played. In a Soviet mission, we started out with Greg in command of a land base and myself in command of a base at sea. He churned out tanks and infantry to defend against a large ground attack, while I churned out speedboats to battle oncoming Allied dolphins (yes, dolphins) and aircraft carriers. To help me out, Greg dropped a Tesla coil in my base, and I added another, so any dolphins that got too close got vaporized. Later on in the mission, after I had pushed the Allied navy back, I realized I needed to help out on land. Many of the naval units are actually amphibious, so my speedboats could sprout spider legs and walk on land, but I realized that I needed to get a dedicated land factory for some heavy units, like the devastating V4 rocket launcher.

Setting up a whole new base on land would have taken too long. No problem - all I had to do was place down a single factory in Greg's base. And while you can't directly control a teammate's units, there are ways to still take advantage of them. For example, you can have his infantry load into your troop carriers, and then drop them off where needed. To help facilitate all this coordination, the game will have built-in VOIP support, so all you need is a microphone to talk to your buddy.

Nonverbal communication is also important, so all you have to do is hit B to drop a beacon on the map, letting you highlight something to your buddy. And of course there is in-game chat. I also got to play around with some of the special powers, which I hadn't seen yet. As you play a mission, you accumulate points that you can spend unlocking abilities on a tree. You can't unlock all the abilities, so you have to focus on specific paths. My favorite was orbital drop; at its basic level it drops a satellite form orbit onto a target, which is helpful to weaken a key building you need to take out.

At higher levels, it drops a bunch of satellites on the target. Other abilities include a cryo-freeze beam that makes any units it hits freeze up and become as brittle as ice; they shatter if hit by weapons fire. Then there's a magnetic beam from space that sucks up units from the ground like a vacuum cleaner and drops them from high altitude. All of this is presented in a game that has an attitude that could best be described as inspired crazy. The Red Alert series has always been known for its tongue-in-cheek attitude, but Red Alert 3 takes it to a new level.

Just imagine parachuting armored Russian bears and Samurai-like Japanese mecha. Combine that with the HD live action cutscenes with actors like Tim Curry and Peter Stormare chewing up the scenery, and lovely ladies like Gina Carano and Gemma Atkinson clad in cleavage-displaying costumes, and you've got the ingredients for campy, enticing fun. What's also impressive is the way that the game has come together so quickly. It was only announced earlier this year, but Greg and Amer said that they were wrapping up development this week.

Red Alert 3 is on schedule for release at the end of the month, making this a Red October indeed.