I downloaded a bunch of maps from the C&C forums, but when I put them where I was told, they weren’t showing up in game. That’s because, on vista, you have to put them:
C:\Users\<yourusername>\AppData\Roaming\Red Alert 3\Maps
The AppData folder may be hidden, so you’ll have to go unhide it first.
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I love it.
How’s that for a review?
I’ve always enjoyed the Command & Conquer series. I played the crap out of Red Alert 2 almost as much as I played Blizzard’s Starcraft (and believe me, that’s saying something…) While Red Alert 3 has been great so far, there are a few things I hope they can clean up in upcoming updates.
My #1 Complaint – The Atrocious Online System
I actually bought this game more for the online play than the actual story mode. My friends and I enjoy teaming up in an online skirmish, but if we didn’t have cell phones or IM, we’d never link up. The online system lacks almost every semblance of usability that battle.net had for Diablo and Starcraft. When a friend on your friend list is online, you can’t get a hold of them unless they’re staring at their message board. I would think that it would be simple to allow in-game notifications, I know I’d gladly leave a campaign to play online if a friend came on, but nothing short of a cellphone call can get my attention. That, along with the horrid /whisper <username>line, makes it almost impossible to talk directly to a friend.
#2 – Lack of Multiplayer Maps
Thankfully, this will be fixed soon because Electronic Arts just released the WorldBuilder. One can only hope that the implementation to find/download/use maps is made easier than their atrocious online system (see item #1).
#3 – Empire of the Rising Sun
I don’t know what other people think, but seeming as I’m lacking the omnipotent AI of a computer, the EotRS are completely unwieldy on the field. Their method of building by deploying vehicles from the Construction Yard to then be sent somewhere to unfurl, becomes overbearing as you forget about building’s you’ve created. My other EotRS gripe lands with the Mega Tengu and Striker-VX. These are vehicles that can transform from ground to air vehicles. As the game progresses, and you get more and more of these, you’ll have a platoon of them but some will be in land mode, while others are in air mode, there’s no way to make them all ground, or all air, as they’ll continue to switch back and forth. The only way to combat this is to make sure you keep groups in different ctrl-# groups to easily switch from ground to air, or leave one air, and one ground.
#4 – Attack Formations
Bullfrogs On The Move
I’m pretty sure there’s a way to do this, but I haven’t found it yet. I usually play soviets, and I would like to have a group of Bullfrogs follow my Kirov Airships, but there’s no way, that I know of, to take group A and make them follow group B. You can select everyone, but the Bullfrogs go 3x faster than the Kirovs, so you lack the anti-air support you need under your sluggish blimpys.
Sum them up and you still have a rather small, and quite acceptable list of complaints for a game that has only been out a few short weeks, and has already had a few decent updates sent out. I’ll obviously continue to play, and I would highly recommend anyone pick the game up.
I broke down and picked up Mario Kart the other day. While IGN rates it high and follows that with praise after praise, I would like to append a few of my own gripes.
1. Blue Shell
Everyone complains about the blue shell, even IGN and XKCD does, but that won’t stop me. You can be cruising along, in the best race of your life, and BAM, the dude in last place slams you with a blue shell, while the guy in 2nd to last sends a POW your way, and before you know it, you’re in 10th place. This happens an understandable amount in 50cc and 100cc, but it seems a bit too coincidental in 150cc for it to be an accident. This would be fine, but there’s NOTHING you can do about it. *grinds teeth
2. Online Play *slow clap
Hey, 2001 called, they said congratulations for finally attempting online play and somewhat succeeding (yes, I know, 2003 called, they want their joke back). Online play is there, but comparing it to XBox Live, as IGN does, is laughable. Sure, going online to play against other real people is great, but trying to coordinate playing with other friends is impossible. I have to be in the online section to see friend requests, and they’re not queued. There’s no meeting engine, other than pure luck. You have to coordinate via phone, txt, IM, or some other communication media. With XBox live, you can be in ANY game and receive a friend request to play any other game. Then there’s the obvious lack of in-game shit-talking, which XBox Live does well too, but get into a game with one whiny 12 year old and you’ll be able to give or take that feature.
3. The Wheel
Yes, it’s neat. People can come over my house, and pick up the wheel and play along. But anyone who’s played any game with an analog stick will feel endlessly more comfortable with the wiimote/nunchuck combination. I picked that up and was able to fly through the game very comfortably. Use the wiimote/nunchuck in manual mode with mini-turbos and you’ll be a happy kart-er.
So, while online play lacks for me in terms of setup and communication, the game still gets like a 9.5/10 for playability in single player, local multi-player and online play. It’s definitely at the top my collection and won’t make it into the “sell at ebgames” pile anytime soon. If you have a wii, and you didn’t get this game yet, you are definitely missing out.
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