Sunday, 30 August 2009

VIDEO GAME COLLECTION #??

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Ultimate Edition

Platform: PlayStation 3
Region: UK (PAL)
Developer: EA
Publisher: EA
Retail Release: 27/3/2009

2 comments:

Michael said...

You must tell me what you think of this. I've had the PC game for some time now and think it's great fun, but I can't imagine how it could possibly work without a mouse and keyboard.

Count Fosco said...

Hey Michael,

I've only played through the first two campaign missions as the Russians. The game is certainly fun in a knowingly tongue-in-cheek manner as far the cuts scenes go. The game design itself also seems to reinforce this 'so silly its fun' aesthetic through its use of garish colours, loud music and wacky unit types.

I've only played a handful of RTS style games on console before and they have pretty much all been let down with the controls. C&C Red Alert 3 shows promise on the PS3 as the gameplay feels akin to games such as C&C, Dune II, Age of Empires, StarCraft etc on PC.

However, there is no denying that I am finding the controls quite a challenge to get used to. The game uses a circular dial menu access system (in addition to straight button clicks) which allows you to select various moves and commands. Having not played the PC version I can't make any comparisons other than I totally agree mouse and keyboard simply works far more intuitively.

This is a shame as I'm sure the PS3 can support both keyboard and mouse control options so why weren't they implemented in this console version of C&C?!

I intend to preserve with the controls and hope I am able to memorise them through repetition but I do envisage issues trying to command a large number of units at speed in the heat of battle against more advanced players/difficultly settings.

By the way Michael, have you played UNCHARTED or INFAMOUS on PS3? I have bought them both recently and think you might enjoy them. Worth a look at least.