All factions use ground, air, and sea units, with many of them doing double duty in water and on land.

This isn't to say that Soviet and Allied units aren't equally entertaining to use. In this circus, your crazy units are the sideshow. This flexibility translates to most Empire units and makes them fun to use.

For example, the mecha tengu can attack infantry from the ground or do antiair duty in the skies.

This is particularly true when playing as the Empire, considering that most of its units are more than meets the eye they transform between two distinct states with differing strengths. But no matter whether you're using familiar units or new ones, clashes are fiery and tense, especially when you've grasped the nuances of each unit's secondary mode. Some of them, such as attack dogs and flak troopers, are carryovers from previous games. Nevertheless, a slower economy doesn't make for less explosive gameplay, and each faction boasts a number of awesome units to throw into the fray. The method of implementation is a departure for the Red Alert franchise, given that it generally means a one-to-one ratio of ore collectors to refineries and a resulting slower pace. Gem fields are gone, which makes ore mines your only source of income. Of course, these differences extend to ore refineries, but in all cases, resource collection is more measured than in prior games in the franchise. Additionally, most Empire structures (with the exception of defensive turrets) can be placed anywhere without the fetters of a nearby base, which makes them the easy choice for players who like to establish an early presence across the entire map. In this case, you queue up movable vehicular pods called cores that then unfurl into the appropriate structure. The new faction for the franchise, Empire of the Rising Sun, is even more flexible in this regard, but it also requires a bit of micromanagement. For instance, Allied structures can be placed only after fully completed within the build queue (a standard Command & Conquer mechanic), whereas Soviet refineries can be placed immediately and assembled afterward. Skimpy, ill-fitting costumes, blatant computer-generated graphics, and bad accents-it's all quite wonderful, with tongue firmly planted in cheek.ДЄll three factions-Soviets, Allies, and Empire-are fun to play, and though not dramatically different from each other, they're distinct enough to make each of them feel fresh. Then there is Jenny McCarthy as Tanya, stroking an enormous toy gun in one scene, holding a sexy pose but still prepared to slit a man's throat in another. The whole thing is a live-action riot: JK Simmons as US President Ackerman is all anticommie swagger, and George Takei scrunches his face into superserious knots as the Emperor. Instead, this bit of time tampering gives rise to a new threat, the Empire of the Rising Sun-and, of course, more broadly played histrionics. The theory is that doing so will change the course of history, causing the Soviet Union to dominate as a world power. Here's the setup, told in a hysterically overacted cutscene that could have been ripped directly from a bad sci-fi flick: Russian leaders, including the premier (played by a heavily accented, wonderfully hammy Tim Curry) travel back in time to kill Albert Einstein. Rollin', rollin', rollin', gathering no moss. The PlayStation 3's Ultimate Edition makes some suspicious claims of exclusive content, but more-vibrant visuals and a larger selection of skirmish maps make this the preferable console version of the game. This is the most rambunctiously over-the-top strategy game to reach store shelves in years, filled to the brim with laugh-out-loud cheesiness and a cheerful disregard for political correctness. Where else but in the Red Alert universe could you pit transforming mechs against bears, or decide the fate of your mission by attacking floating fortresses with intelligent dolphins outfitted with sonic disruptors? Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 doesn't take itself seriously, but that's what makes it fun to play.

Command and conquer crossover