Reviewed: January 2, 2002
Reviewed by: Richard Cross
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Developer
Westwood Studios
Released: October 10, 2001
Genre: RTS
Players: 8
ESRB: Teen
10
8
8
10
8.9
System Requirements
If I had to sum this expansion pack up with one word, that word would be "awesome!" I have played the entire Command & Conquer series beginning with the original Command & Conquer and ending with this expansion pack. I have to honestly admit that I was disappointed with a couple of the previous expansion packs from the earlier series. When I first received this box in the mail, I was already preparing for the disappointment that was sure to follow.
I ripped open the box like a kid at Christmastime. I popped the cdrom into the drive and installed Yuri’s Revenge. So far everything I had seen looked similar to the expansion packs of the past C&C packages. I was really amazed with the product from the minute it started to run, and I haven’t been able to put it down since. I have completed five out of the seven Allied missions so far, and I am looking forward to what lies ahead.
Yuri’s Revenge doesn’t even compare with past expansion packs due to the fact that Westwood has not only added new units and features, but they have even given Yuri an army of his own to send into battle. One of the new units in Yuri’s army is the flying saucer, which can shoot laser beams and interrupt power to building structures. The one unit that I found very difficult to stop was the Gatling Tanks. These tanks begin shooting at a rather slow pace and if they are not interrupted will end up spinning as fast as a jet engine while wreaking havoc on your defenseless Guardian GI and foot soldier units.
The Yuri Clone is a unit that really gets you thinking while playing this game. The Yuri Clone can mind-control almost any unit into doing Yuri’s bidding for him. For example, if you attack a Yuri base with a group of Guardian GI’s or Prism Tanks, Yuri can use his mind-control technology to turn your very own troops against you. The Allies have a Robot Tank that can combat against the mind-control technology, but it is very weak defensively and it doesn’t last very long in a heated battle.
The Allies have gained some significant increases in their technology, and Yuri has some very advanced technology as well. The Soviets seem to be the only group that hasn’t really gained many advantages in this expansion pack. The Soviets have only gained two new units; the BORIS unit that can call down air strikes, and the Siege Chopper.
Each game in the Red Alert series has improved over the last. This expansion pack is no different. The gameplay is outstanding and is the easiest to learn and use out of any of the Command & Conquer series. I have found that the Microsoft Strategic Commander has really helped me out a lot when it comes to playing strategy games, and this one is no exception. The combination of the hardware with all of the niceties of the software has really made this game a dream to play. The strategy element has been tweaked to the point where you actually need to use your head when attacking the enemy, and the tank rush no longer works against the opposition.
The computer AI does tend to give you a break once in awhile by sending foot troops to your base in single file. This makes it very easy to pick them off one at a time. You can garrison your units inside buildings in order to help you pick off the enemy as he marches by. The computer will also send multiple groups of different units to your base and will take sections out piece by piece. Defending against this type of attack really depends on the troops that the AI sends to your base. For example, if the computer sends a large amount of Gatling Tanks, then the best defense is to build and surround your base with the Allied Tank Destroyer unit that is new with this expansion pack.
One thing that I have found to be different from the previous games is the ability to select waypoints for your units. This feature was added to the original Red Alert 2 series and you will rely on it heavily in this expansion due to the range of Yuri’s mind-control units. When you select a ground unit (this doesn’t work for all units) you are able to click on the waypoint icon and then select the route that you would like your units to follow. Once you deselect the waypoint icon the unit begins following the route that you determined.
Graphically, there really hasn’t been any improvement over the Red Alert 2 series. Although Westwood has really done their homework by creating the entire Yuri faction and all of the new Yuri units, not much has been done graphically to improve the look of the game. The unit icons are detailed very well and the buildings and structures all look very nice. Based on the resolution that you play the game at you may or may not be able to see all of the detailed objects. The game runs very nicely on a 450 MHz P3 system without any slowdowns or clipping of the graphics.
The in-game movies have really been implemented nicely. I just have to say that Kari Wuhrer has never looked better! Kari is the actress that plays the Allied Tonya character in the game. I have to admit that her unit’s graphic quality in the game doesn’t really do her justice. The time-space continuum still exists in this game as it does in the original Red Alert 2 game. That is to say that you are able to jump back in time to fix some things that are broken in the future…kind of like in the movie “Back to the Future”.
The sound that I like the best in this game is when your foot soldier units get run over by tanks and other rolling armor. There is a loud squishing noise that makes me chuckle every time it happens. Overall, the sound is implemented very well in this expansion with Yuri’s troops all having their own special sound effects. I usually turn off the music tracks that play during the game as they become quite repetitive over time.
If you enjoy the original Red Alert 2 and Command & Conquer series of games, then you will surely play this game for quite some time. One thing to note is the replayability that you get when you purchase this game. You get to play all seven missions as the Allies and then turn around and play them again as the Soviets. Each time you play the computer reacts differently and thus your game will be a fun and exciting experience each and every time you play.
One thing that I need to mention here is the fact that you don’t get to play as Yuri in any of the built-in missions. If you would like to play as Yuri and use his new mind-control technology and his forbidden units then you must play online. Luckily, this expansion pack is supported on GameSpy, and as such you will never have to look far for an opponent. To play Yuri on GameSpy you just need to change the path of the ra2.exe file to look at the yuri.exe file. That’s all there is to it.
In all the years that I have been playing the Command & Conquer series I will never forget the twelve year old kid that kicked my butt online in just a few short minutes. Of course that was in Red Alert 2 and he used the well-known Tank Rush to do it, but nonetheless, he did destroy me. The Tank Rush has really been countered well with this new addition to the series, and you should be able to thwart it each and every time your opponent tries to use it.
The only thing that I have left to say is “go out and buy this add-on now!” If you are a veteran to the series then you will surely be thrilled to play this new expansion. If you are a newcomer to the RTS genre then this is a great game to cut your teeth on and learn to play online as well. As a newcomer, just be sure to purchase the full version of Red Alert 2 as you will need this in order to install the expansion. You really can’t go wrong with this add-on, as it is nearly a full game in and of itself. I only wish they would have included more than seven missions for the Allied and Soviet side, and it would have been nice to play as Yuri in the single player game.
I have always enjoyed the games from Westwood Studios and they seem to be better now than ever before. Pick up this game at your local software store where it sells for around $30. It’s a small price to pay for the hours of fun that you will enjoy from this excellent expansion pack.
I am currently looking forward to Westwood’s next effort, Renegade, an FPS type game where you get to play as one of the soldiers from the C&C world. I just hope it meets the high standards that they have finally achieved with this series.