Over the Top: Good or Bad?

[Quadhelix]

I have noticed that a common complaint about Red Alert 3 is the "over the top," "cartoony" atmosphere of the game, with Bear Paratroopers, Freeze-Ray/ShrinkRay Helicopters, Psionic Schoolgirls, "Man-Cannon" Transports, Amphibious Battleships, Jedi Samurai, etc.

I was wondering how many people consider this to be a detriment to the game, and how many feel it is a desirable element.

[Derek]

I don't like it, but its not going to change at this point.

[Annihlator :D]

I know that there has been a recent increase in humorous games (TF2 and Battlefield: Bad Company for instance), but so many more games are dark and gritty, that the fun spirit in RA2 appeals to me (not that I don't like dark and gritty, starcraft is my fav. games of all time, esp. because of the storyline.)

[Gaucho8788]

I'd rather it not be that way but like Derek said, it's not going to change at this point.

[apple23]

When I want a dark and gritty storyline, I play a good game from the CNC universe, like Tiberian sun, or Even CNC3 from time to time (Singleplayer gameplay is pretty good, IMO.) Or even ZH (Not really dark, but gritty)

However, there are so many dark and gritty storylines out there, that I kind of like the wacky stuff that games like RA2 and RA3 bring. Especially because it brings a whole new element and a whole new strategy into the game (I don't think I've even heard of anything close to a "Man-cannon" before.)

What I really enjoy the most is that it sin't a game where all the elements of the game are out of wack. They cleverly mix in the wacky elements and then balance it out with all the other realistic units, like basic tanks, and all that other stuff.

On a side note, who else thinks that having ore nodes instead of fields is basically the best solve to the economy problems that CNC3 had?

[Annihlator :D]

On a side note, who else thinks that having ore nodes instead of fields is basically the best solve to the economy problems that CNC3 had?

I haven't played C&C3 in a looooong time, can someone explain to me the economy problems it had?

[Avapodnaught]

I'll train my bears to do whatever I want them to because its not what they want its what I want
The Freeze-Ray should be very hard to use.... or at least extremely limited, I'd personally like to see a King Oni Mech stuck because of this and then my Mirage Tanks go to work at it
Man Cannon's should help move slow soldiers into an enemies base, and the Bullfrog is amphibious making moving infantry from shore to shore viable, almost like being dropped on the shore from by plane
I think its more of a scary feature to have a Battleship go on that land a comical cartoon.... because those are huge and have lots of persons on board.... shaking them up may be one thing, but thats rocking the boat literally... and those units much have a lot of armor, I wouldn't want to run into a ship that comes out land, that would scare the hell out of me :eek:

[Daishi]

I refuse to say anything about the style until I've played the game.

On a side note, who else thinks that having ore nodes instead of fields is basically the best solve to the economy problems that CNC3 had?

Not the best, more like the laziest solution. The best solution would be to implement the law of diminishing returns unto the ore economy, such that ore collection would become inefficient if too many collectors were on the same ore patch. It's how Generals did it, and IMO it's the best balance between manageability and strategy to date in an RTS.

I haven't played C&C3 in a looooong time, can someone explain to me the economy problems it had?
QUAD REFINERY
FAVORITE UNIT: HARVESTER
FIVE MINUTES AND ALL THE TIB IS GONE

[Daishi]

oops delete me

[Derek]

Not the best, more like the laziest solution. The best solution would be to implement the law of diminishing returns unto the ore economy, such that ore collection would become inefficient if too many collectors were on the same ore patch. It's how Generals did it, and IMO it's the best balance between manageability and strategy to date in an RTS.
That can't be done on a field system. Thats the problem, you can't limit how many harvesters there are or how fast they collect, its open. The node system is basically the same as the Generals one, except the maximum income is from one collecter instead of 2 or 7. Beyond that and traffic problems will actually slow production (in both RA3 and Generals).

[EliteGi]

Increasing the cost of refineries/harvesters or even just slowing down build times and collection times would help. If a ref costs a lot, you ain't gonna spam them because you don't have enough time/money to do so.

[Derek]

Thats exactly what they did in Kane's Wrath v1.01. It still doesn't fix the field problem however, it just slows it down to more manageable levels. What you want is a resource system that is entirely consistant, you can know exactly the rate at which money will come in, and exactly how long it will last before running out, and you can determine how much damage harassment does by how long it stops harvesting. You can then easily adjust things around that to get the economy pacing that you want.

[EliteGi]

Thats exactly what they did in Kane's Wrath v1.01. It still doesn't fix the field problem however, it just slows it down to more manageable levels. What you want is a resource system that is entirely consistant, you can know exactly the rate at which money will come in, and exactly how long it will last before running out, and you can determine how much damage harassment does by how long it stops harvesting. You can then easily adjust things around that to get the economy pacing that you want.
Well a cap (although not as strict as the Generals system) is to have relatively big harvester unloading times. That way you can make it so your harvesters have trouble sharing refineries. I know it doesn't solve the problem, but TBH I like the freedom of fields. Not so much with the RA series because there are no unloading times, so you can spam very easily (IDK how it is with C&C3, I don't have a comp good enough as of yet to play it! Shocking I know :p).

[Derek]

Just leads to more refineries, solves nothing. You can only limit by controlling how many units can gather at one time. This is what the field system epically fails at.

[SgtRicko]

In my opinion, the success of RA3 is more or less going to depend on how they decide to write in the "cheesiness" into the story. If it becomes something completely parodic and actually acknowledges the stupidity in some of the unit designs (for example, your EVA tells you to load some conscripts into the man cannons so as to get them past a wall, but your men hear the order and begin to freak out over the radio until they are 'coerced' to use it at gunpoint), then it may actually work. Likewise, they could also approach it the same way WarHammer 40k does and just make everything so ludicrous and and impractical that the ideas themselves become the humor and flavor of the universe at the same time.

However, I doubt that they're going do that, since they've already hired that PXC fighter-chick to play Nastasha, so it's most likely gonna be some plain slapstick like RA2 was, corniness and all.

[soadfan1]

Do I even need to say what I feel about the over the top catoonyfied nature of ra3? I think most people by now are tired to death of hearing how much I dislike the way this game is looking to be turning out lol!

I hope that was a joke about psionic schoolgirls.

I hope it does come out soon, so then it can fade away into non-existance and we dont have to hear about the crappy designs and hype for this pile of crap any longer.

Btw if anyone thinks if I dont like it I should just not bother myself with it. I find it hard to dettach myself from a series that redefined gaming for me and that Ive been with for over 12 years.

-Rob

[Quadhelix]

To be completely honest, I'm not even sure why people think that it is cartoony.

For example, I have heard it said that the Peacekeeper resembles Megaman. What do you expect? It's blue because it's an Allied unit, and it is effectively a riot soldier.

I've heard complaints about the bubble canopies on Soviet units, but EA hardly came up with that idea on their own (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Boeing_XB-17_%28Model_299%29_nose_turret_with_gun.jpg).

The "Man-Cannon" may seem humorous, but I see it more as an interesting gameplay mechanic than as humor. Similarly, the Sickle resembles the Cyborg Reaper from Tiberian Sun: Firestorm more than anything else, and I do not recall anyone accusing the Reaper of being "cartoony."

[soadfan1]

The "Man-Cannon" may seem humorous, but I see it more as an interesting gameplay mechanic than as humor. Similarly, the Sickle resembles the Cyborg Reaper from Tiberian Sun: Firestorm more than anything else, and I do not recall anyone accusing the Reaper of being "cartoony."

The reaper was in the Tiberian Sun universe and it wasnt protrayed in a cartoony way. No-one especially me thinks that c&c should be ultra realistic, but it always managed to get the right balance between grit realism and fantasy.

Red Alert was less fantasy based than the Tiberian universe anyway, thats why mechs and robots and cyborgs were perfectly acceptable in Tiberian Sun and Wars, But they didnt protray them in a cartoony way in any case.

This isnt so much about returning to its roots as it is about retaining SOME dignity.

[Quadhelix]

The reaper was in the Tiberian Sun universe and it wasnt protrayed in a cartoony way. Neither is the Sickle, so where is the problem?

Red Alert was less fantasy based than the Tiberian universe anyway, thats why mechs and robots and cyborgs were perfectly acceptable in Tiberian Sun and Wars, But they didnt protray them in a cartoony way in any case. Chronospheres, Tesla Coils, and Iron Curtains are less fantasy based than mechs and cyborgs? I would assert that both are equally fantastic. In addition, Volkov was also a cyborg.

Whatever is said against the atmosphere of Red Alert 2 and Red Alert 3, their over the top nature allows them to include things that other games could not. I like the idea of a man-cannon, even if it seems hopelessly silly, if only because it allows for new and more interesting tactics.

[soadfan1]

Neither is the Sickle, so where is the problem?

Chronospheres, Tesla Coils, and Iron Curtains are less fantasy based than mechs and cyborgs? I would assert that both are equally fantastic. In addition, Volkov was also a cyborg.

Whatever is said against the atmosphere of Red Alert 2 and Red Alert 3, their over the top nature allows them to include things that other games could not. I like the idea of a man-cannon, even if it seems hopelessly silly, if only because it allows for new and more interesting tactics.


I think the Sickle is Cartoony, its very design is cartoony for a start. Its not designed in a powerful way like the Reaper.

If you assert that Tesla Coils for one are more fantasy based than mechs and cybrogs I would suggest you read on the actual real thing called a Tesla coil which actually exists but is not used for weaponary. Also read up on the philadelphia experiment which was the basis of the Chronosphere.

So to counter the first arguement I would definately claim that cyborgs and mechs are more fantasy based as half of the Red Alert items there are either real or were real experiements that didnt work. As for Volkov and Chtizkoi, they were in the aftermath so I dont really count that in quite the same way,however I refer to my point below for that.

To further counter it I will stress what I said before.

Red Alert always had some element of fantasy, but it got the balance right between fantasy and grit. It was fairly brutal at the same time as not being company of heroes for level of realism. I have no problem with a certain level of fantasy in fact it clearly improves a game, its that ra3 sounds stupid, it takes it to ridiculous levels.

Of course if you LIKE that then you're going to love Red Alert 3 I'm not disputing that, I just find it saddening that the series has come down to this from my personal, much-voiced opinion.

[Quadhelix]

I think the Sickle is Cartoony, its very design is cartoony for a start. How did you reach this conclusion?


Its not designed in a powerful way like the Reaper. What on earth does this even mean?


If you assert that Tesla Coils for one are more fantasy based than mechs and cybrogs I would suggest you read on the actual real thing called a Tesla coil which actually exists but is not used for weaponary. I know that Tesla Coils exist, but the idea of actually using one as a weapon is so ludicrous that the thing might as well shoot purple garden gnomes, if realism is the issue. Furthermore, with regard to Cyborgs, I suggest that you look up Matt Nagle, a real world Cyborg.


Also read up on the philadelphia experiment which was the basis of the Chronosphere. I suggest that you red up on the so-called "Philadelphia Experiment," which is most likely a drastically distorted description of the (uneventful) degaussing of the USS Engstrom.


So to counter the first arguement I would definately claim that cyborgs and mechs are more fantasy based as half of the Red Alert items there are either real or were real experiements that didnt work. Incorrect: Tesla Coils, as a weapon, are as absurd as the Cryo 'Copter's freeze ray. The "Philadelphia Experiment" never truly existed, and so cannot be used to argue realism. Cyborgs are real. Mechs, as impractical as they would be, at the very least do not so blatantly disregard the laws of physics in the same way that Chronospheres and weaponized Tesla Coils do.

I would also like to point out that there were no mechs nor cyborgs in the Tiberian universe was in Tiberian Sun, the sequel to the original Command & Conquer. The sequel to the original Red Alert had mind control, attack squid, tank-eating robots, weather control machines, etc. The only "fantasy" elements in the original Command & Conquer were Tiberium (the alien equivalent of Kudzu), the Obelisk of Light (read up on THEL), and the Ion Cannon.

In short, Red Alert had more fantasy elements than Command & Conquer.


Red Alert always had some element of fantasy, but it got the balance right between fantasy and grit. It was fairly brutal at the same time as not being company of heroes for level of realism. I have no problem with a certain level of fantasy in fact it clearly improves a game, its that ra3 sounds stupid, it takes it to ridiculous levels.
I agree with this, that Red Alert had a good atmosphere and was a good game. However, just because Red Alert was a good game, that does not mean that Red Alert 3 will be a bad game for being different.


Of course if you LIKE that then you're going to love Red Alert 3 I'm not disputing that, I just find it saddening that the series has come down to this from my personal, much-voiced opinion. I'm not saying that I dislike "grit," as you put it, but I am saying that the "over-the-top," "beyond-the-impossible" atmosphere of Red Alert 2 and Red Alert 3 allow the game-designers to include units and strategies that they otherwise might not be able to included. I am not saying that a Red Alert 3 with more grit and less fantasy would be bad, but I am saying that I don't believe that current design of Red Alert 3 will be bad either, unless EA pulls its usual stunts and fails to balance everything properly.

[Zardac the Great]

I am dissapointed that RA3 is going to be, in the words of the dev team, "wacky."

However, the game looks like it is going to be massive fun, and I intend to have massive fun playing it.

[Annihlator :D]

I am dissapointed that RA3 is going to be, in the words of the dev team, "wacky."

However, the game looks like it is going to be massive fun, and I intend to have massive fun playing it.

I think that about sums it up, right there.

[Quadhelix]

I have to say that if a game did to the Tiberium series what Red Alert 2 did to the Red Alert series, I would be ticked.



The only "fantasy" elements in the original Command & Conquer were Tiberium (the alien equivalent of Kudzu), the Obelisk of Light (read up on THEL), and the Ion Cannon.
I forgot the Stealth Tank. Of course, given recent developments, Stealth Tanks might not be fantasy much longer.

[apple23]

Stealth tanks will probably not exist like they do in TS until long before our generation has passed. The idea of a giant tank passing right in front of a person's face unnoticed it simply ludicrous.

Same goes with stealth anything. The only thing "stealth" about them is that they can't be seen on radar, but they are plain as day to the human eye.

[Quadhelix]

Stealth tanks will probably not exist like they do in TS until long before our generation has passed. The idea of a giant tank passing right in front of a person's face unnoticed it simply ludicrous. I think you mean "long after," and you are correct. My point, lost in poor word choice, is that we can now see that, at the very least, the principle is sound.

[Statalyzer]

RA2 was over the top in a fun way (although it made the FMV's pretty weak most of the time). If RA3 is more over the top than RA2, it will be a bad thing, because RA2 was about as far as you could go in that department with a semi-serious game without degenerating into inane stupidity.

Stealth tanks will probably not exist like they do in TS until long before our generation has passed. The idea of a giant tank passing right in front of a person's face unnoticed it simply ludicrous.

Same goes with stealth anything. The only thing "stealth" about them is that they can't be seen on radar, but they are plain as day to the human eye.

And if something was stealth to the human eye, it would probably also itself be blind.

[Quadhelix]

And if something was stealth to the human eye, it would probably also itself be blind. Only if it was made invisible by bending light around it: Active Camouflage, if advanced enough, would produce near invisibility without the side effect of blindness.

Furthermore, if a vehicle were cloaked through the light bending method, it would not have to mask itself from all frequencies of light: high UV or low IR are well outside the range of visibility but could still be picked up by the stealth vehicle's sensors. Additionally, the same flaws in the cloaking technology that allow Detectors to pick up the presence of cloaked units could work in reverse, allowing a stealth unit to pick up enemy forces through its own cloak.

Finally, if you are really, really advanced, you could possibly create a quantum "clone" of each incoming photon. The original photon is wrapped around the vehicle while the duplicate continues to the cockpit/sensors.

[SgtRicko]

One thing that I've learned over time is that despite how many times people say that something is completely impossible or a long ways off, somebody comes out of the blue to prove them wrong. Just look at the very concept of flight; before the Wright brothers, we used to believe that the skies were forbidden. Before the moon landing, we used to think that walking on a foreign celestial object was fantasy, and before the internets, we used to think that pron was something that you had to smuggle out of the store or pay for: but now, it is free.;)

So you see, before you dismiss the idea of stealth tech, or heck, even the dang Cryocopter, just think: someday, somebody's gonna invent it, and force you to put your foot where your mouth is!:)

[soadfan1]

I did post a message sooner, but it didnt appear due to the den forums logging me out after about 15 minutes and losing my post.

I'll keep it brief this time.

I dont see whats fantasy about Tesla coils as weapons. They have killed people before, and caused damage to buildings its just not really convieniantly usefull to have them as weapons, but its entirely possible.

Its not just about the actual theoretical plausibility of these things anyway its about the way they are portrayed. Is it cartoony science fiction like ra2 and ra3 or is it B movie style science fiction like the Tiberium universe.
You cannot look at these Japanese flying and walking Mechs and say ' yes this is a Red Alert game, its not.

If this were a seperate canon like Generals I could accept it for what it is, which is a chance to go stupid with everything and let loose. But being a Red Alert game comes with some history, something this development team do not realise.

[Quadhelix]

I did post a message sooner, but it didnt appear due to the den forums logging me out after about 15 minutes and losing my post. I hate it when that happens.


I dont see whats fantasy about Tesla coils as weapons. They have killed people before, and caused damage to buildings its just not really convieniantly usefull to have them as weapons, but its entirely possible. The problem with that is getting the electricity to flow where you want it to go. The electricity in the Tesla Coil wants to flow to ground, and will take the least resistive path to get there. A metal tank might seem like a juice target for an electric current, but not if the tank is furtherer away from the top of the Tesla Coil than the ground, as the electricity would have to travel through as much air to reach the tank as it would to reach the ground, and would still have to travel through the tank, which has a small but non-zero resistance of its own.

Basically, I would be willing to bet that everyone who has died from a Tesla Coil has been in contact with or very near to the Tesla Coil.


Its not just about the actual theoretical plausibility of these things anyway its about the way they are portrayed. I hate to tell you this, but the Tesla Coils in Red Alert look like something strait out of Looney Toons.


If this were a seperate canon like Generals I could accept it for what it is, which is a chance to go stupid with everything and let loose. But being a Red Alert game comes with some history, something this development team do not realise. Actually, you can look at Red Alert 3 as a separate canon, as there is time travel involved with the assassination of Einstein.

[Miles]

Well after seeing some footage of the game, I'm afraid of one thing: the Empire. The units look too futuristic and behave in a too futuristic way. I mean, big walking robots with lasers?
Red Alert is supposed to be a more "present time" war with modern weapons... not with weapons from Star Wars or C&C 3 or something.

I don't mind the whacky stuff like bears and man-cannons. After all, Red Alert 2 had squids, spider-like robots, laser technology (prism) and psychic warriors and RA2 was one of my favorite RTS ever, but I have the feeling that the Empire in RA3 will give the game a feeling that the war is taking place in the far future.

Keep the bigass mechas, lasers and super-futuristic stuff for the Tiberian series and keep the more "present-day" warfare for RA.

[Cylon Crusader]

I loved RA,RA2 and YR.

I appreciated their wacky nature and these three games were extremely FUN to play with, mostly in part of its half serious and half wacky storyline.

That was a good 50-50 split.

And as much as I will love RA3, it has gone a tad bit over the top.

It stands at more of a 30% serious and 70% wacky split.

This did do a little bit to disturb me, but as long as the core gameplay is there, Im really not that worried.

So if it comes down to it, I would say that the answer to that question is an absolute YES, I wdo like its over the top nature, since thats the way the originals were. Even though this is a little too much, its still Red Alert and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Annihlator :D]

Keep the bigass mechas, lasers and super-futuristic stuff for the Tiberian series and keep the more "present-day" warfare for RA.

You're right. Freeze rays, shrink rays,walking boats, men in armored suits shooting lightning, and and spiders w/ machine guns are hardly futuristic.

[Statalyzer]

Red Alert had walking boats and shrink rays?

Also, fwiw, Prism Tanks/Towers don't fire lasers, they are redirecting energy from the sun.

[Avapodnaught]

Red Alert had walking boats and shrink rays?

Also, fwiw, Prism Tanks/Towers don't fire lasers, they are redirecting energy from the sun.
He's talking about the Stingray tesla unit

[Quadhelix]

You're right. Freeze rays, shrink rays,walking boats, men in armored suits shooting lightning, and and spiders w/ machine guns are hardly futuristic. They are not futuristic. They are "zany" and thus never really appear in serious science fiction anymore. Mecha is less "zany" and almost always appears in a highly futuristic setting: Gundum and BattleTech, the main mecha and mech franchises, respectively, are both incredibly serious and set in the distant future. The few instances of "Steam Punk" mecha are rare enough that the do not play a critical role in defining the genre.

That said, the King Oni, at the very least, seems to have drawn elements from the "Super Robot (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuperRobot)" genre, given the eye-beams and pseudo-sumo wrestler special attack, despite the fact that its position as a unit in an RTS forces it to assume the role of a "Real Robot (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealRobot)."

[Cylon Crusader]

They are not futuristic. They are "zany" and thus never really appear in serious science fiction anymore. Mecha is less "zany" and almost always appears in a highly futuristic setting: Gundum and BattleTech, the main mecha and mech franchises, respectively, are both incredibly serious and set in the distant future. The few instances of "Steam Punk" mecha are rare enough that the do not play a critical role in defining the genre.

That said, the King Oni, at the very least, seems to have drawn elements from the "Super Robot (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuperRobot)" genre, given the eye-beams and pseudo-sumo wrestler special attack, despite the fact that its position as a unit in an RTS forces it to assume the role of a "Real Robot (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealRobot)."

Yeah the King Oni reminded me about the robots attacking the city in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, with their eye rays and whatnot.

[SgtRicko]

Red Alert had walking boats and shrink rays?

Also, fwiw, Prism Tanks/Towers don't fire lasers, they are redirecting energy from the sun.

Then how the hell did they operate during nighttime missions?!:wtf:

[Statalyzer]

Maybe they just didn't think about that when designing things?

Mecha is less "zany" and almost always appears in a highly futuristic setting:

Which is odd, because mechs aren't really a futuristic concept. They are feasible today, but nobody uses them because they just plain are not as good as tanks.

[soadfan1]

I think the developers now have crossed a line where even the fans who enjoy the wackiness and sillyness are beginning to think 'wtf'. The Japanese side look ridiculous and comic book sterotypical ( admittedly c&c has always used stereotypes in its country based games, but this is stupid). Whats with these flying bug-men, and giant robots :-s, the supposed zanyness, is actually really boring, because its predictable.

-Rob

[tennesseetitans]

I'm just disappointed in what ive been seeing in RA3 previews. The graphics don't look too stunning or anything, the units look cartoony, and there is really no realistic originality. I would have no problem with a return of the nuclear bomb or other cherished RA2 weapons. I think the ideas for RA3 look too over the top for my gaming pleasure. For example, that anime psychic school girl unit just looks stupid. i would rather have the return of the sinister yuri. I think that the emphasis on navel battle is good, but the fact that an entire base can be built on water is just unrealistic. i am a true fan of RA2 and I have been looking forward to a RA3 for a while. I am just truly disappointed in what I see.

[Quadhelix]

For example, that anime psychic school girl unit just looks stupid. i would rather have the return of the sinister yuri. I don't really have a problem with the basic "psychic schoolgirl" concept, but I feel that, to undercut the idea that this is a humorous game, Yuriko Omega should have have been more "River Tam from Japan" than "Tanya and Ellen Ripley in a school outfit." It would still be "over the top" and "zany," but would divorce those aspects of the game from the supposed humor.


I think that the emphasis on navel battle is good, but the fact that an entire base can be built on water is just unrealistic. I actually like the idea of aquatic bases. It may not be realistic, but it is at least conceivable (think oil rigs), unlike freeze rays, shrink rays, man cannon, giant mechanical sumo wrestlers...

In addition, aquatic bases forces new strategic thinking. For example, if you opponents are constantly tank rushing you, build your base on the water and their main attack force will not be suited to attack you..

[Statalyzer]

man cannon

Mannon?

[tennesseetitans]

I actually like the idea of aquatic bases. It may not be realistic, but it is at least conceivable (think oil rigs), unlike freeze rays, shrink rays, man cannon, giant mechanical sumo wrestlers...

In addition, aquatic bases forces new strategic thinking. For example, if you opponents are constantly tank rushing you, build your base on the water and their main attack force will not be suited to attack you.. (quote by Quadhelix)


Good point about the aquatic base. It would and a new and interesting twist the more I think about it. However, ideas like man cannons and giant mechanical sumo wrestlers are too strange for me and take away the seriousness of RA2 game play.

I understand that RA2 was, in a sense, unrealistic, however, all great strategy games are. Nobody wants to use conventional weapons. Many people would rather use futuristic weapons like the weapons of C&C 3 and the prism weapons of RA2. Unfortunately weapons like mechanical sumo wrestlers and man cannons are neither plausible nor practical, taking the fun of commanding a unrealistic yet powerful military away. Instead, they are zany and childish, making the game unappealing to me and probably many other gamers.

It is such a shame. I loved RA2 and yuri's revenge so much because of the cool technology. It just seems as if RA3 won't recapture that appeal.

[Annihlator :D]

Mannon?

Mannon.

[yurihomer]

I think the developers now have crossed a line where even the fans who enjoy the wackiness and sillyness are beginning to think 'wtf'. The Japanese side look ridiculous and comic book sterotypical ( admittedly c&c has always used stereotypes in its country based games, but this is stupid). Whats with these flying bug-men, and giant robots :-s, the supposed zanyness, is actually really boring, because its predictable.
-Rob
agreed!

[yurihomer]

I don't really have a problem with the basic "psychic schoolgirl" concept, but I feel that, to undercut the idea that this is a humorous game, Yuriko Omega should have have been more "River Tam from Japan" than "Tanya and Ellen Ripley in a school outfit." It would still be "over the top" and "zany," but would divorce those aspects of the game from the supposed humor.

they prob got that stupid idea from the movie Kill Bill. and to be honest, that idea suck! i think it takes away the idea of "bad assness". like think of apocolypse tank in red alert 2, the only word it comes up my mind when think of it is brutality and badassness (soviet power supreme :P) but when u see a school girl walking around battlefield.. in the mid of a tank battle, that gives u an idea of stupidness... like it doesn't fit the contex at all... (i like the idea of the soviet hero, thats understandable, like undercover agent/sniper, but the idea of the school girl..... gez!)

and not to mention the soviet bear, and the stupid japan unit that is made to anti tank that can go underground...... gez...

[thetechieotaku]

I hope that the gameplay would still be realistic even if the story line and some units are not. :p We still have to see the final gameplay before we can judge it.

[Thumper]

if mexico was a playable side i know 100% that mexico would have a unit that wears a sombraro and a day of the dead walking skeleton that throws tortias made out of depleted uranium... and would have a unit that specializes in infiltrating other countries.

thats how ****ing creative EALA is.

[Statalyzer]

They certainly are good at making cutscenes and units that exaggerate regional/national culture stereotypes....

[thetechieotaku]

The King Oni mech functions like a Mobile Suit, in my opinion. So RA3 is somewhat cartoony. But not realistic. Damn...

[yurihomer]

haven u guys checked the unit discription in the ea website? i love how they keep using the phrase "it is still a mystery" like they use that phrase whenever their imagination fails :P

[XIthAqua-11thFleet-]

Well so far I think the games good, although the whole cartoony side isn’t as cool as I’d imagined. But I think I’ll be playing the game once it comes out.:)

[apple23]

I think of it through a gameplay perspective. So what if the technologies are a bit unrealistic? In all honesty, most of those ideas are possible, even if not practical, (A man-cannon is possible, really (but probably not very safe or reliable)) and the new technologies and units bring about lots of new tactics and strategies. As long as the new stuff gives good, flavorful, and interesting gameplay, I'm fine with it.

Possibly the only unit I really can't stand at this point is the psionic schoolgirl. It just seems so out of place, even in the wacky, futuristic atmosphere of RA3. I mean, a schoolgirl lifting tanks up in the air and crushing them with her mind? Come on, in all seriousness, that is extremely impractical and out of place.