RA3 Info - Storyline, Campaign, etc.

[Lion]

Thanks to frequent DEN contributor Hagren for this bit of info.


Storyline

After the Allies drove the Soviets back to Moscow, and their defeat is nigh, they decide to send back several hitmen in time to kill Einstein, the single person they see responsible for the Allied superiority. Although the act is successful, and Europe seems is in peace (With the second war never happening) in this altered timeline, a third party comes into play with the Empire of the Rising Sun (Japan), which gives birth to plans of world domination they, given their technological advancements, are set to realize and achieve, throwing you into this manage a¡ trois.


Campaign

-Can be played co-operatively either with a friend via Multiplayer, or with the aid of an AI ally. The main goal of the AI players is to capture and defend the most significant points of a given map, and you can use their structures for producing units. You cannot control the units of your team-mate however, for the developers deemed it very chaotic after a test run. Needless to say that you see the map-revealing progress of your ally. Both points count for AI-driven or human Co-op.

-For each side (Allied, Soviets, Empire of the rising sun) there are three commanders to choose from before every mission, each with at least three special abilities. The one they showed the magazine was an allied commander from whom you could ask for an air strike in pre-set periods of time. This commander is played by Peter Weller (aka RoboCop).

-While Yuri doesn't play a role in the main game, the game's writer mentioned the possibility of his return in an already planned expansion pack


Maps

-Altough not visible on the screens, there's going to be massive damaging in RA3, with weapons carving colossal craters into the ground.

-Amphibious ships/tanks can only leave shore on sandy beaches, so it's crucial to capture and defend these areas.

-Since the maps have to provide enough room for at least three participants, they're naturally much bigger than they were in Tiberium Wars.


Gameplay

-Slower pace to prevent rushing and base crawling.
-Most buildings can be placed on water for extra cost (Confirmed: Power plant, construction yard, airfield, war factory).
-Most units have a secondary function.
-Economy remains unchanged (Two resources: Ore and power).
-Naval combat is crucial in the game, with most units being amphibious.
-All units have their place in the combat chain. For example, air units are preferable against well defended positions.


Demo Level

The mission involved a cloaking allied tank with which aid you had to get into the city centre unseen, where all of a sudden the city's stadium opened and launched a nuclear missile, while the Soviet dictator appeared in the edge of the screen and raved on about his plans of world domination with a broad smile on his face. Later on it was revealed that not one, but three such rockets were launched, and the objectives were to destroy the silos and stop the missiles. For the already launched one, the writer used Robocop's special ability to call an airstrike, which destroyed one of the stadiums as well. The other two posed an increased difficulty, given the well-defended bases of the Soviets. He chose to capture an enemy conyard to set up a base in the water and escape the massive defence, and after setting up a defensive perimeter at the shore, he produced aircraft, infantry and bullfrogs, and finished off one stadium with bombers launched from the airfield placed in water. He couldn't apply this strategy to the other stadium however, given the numerous air defences. Therefore, he cut off the second base's power, captured a war factory near some Tesla towers and purged the Soviets from the face of the earth with a tank force, completing the mission.


Units

Allied:

-Tanya
-Apollo: A lighting-fast jet best used against bombers
-Century: Carpet bombing aircraft, quite ineffective in air-to-air combat
-Cyrocopter: A propelled scouting/spying unit. Its ability to spot cloaked enemies is currently under discussion
-Mirage tank: Now with a wider array of holographs, making it more useful outside forests
-Unnamed light tank as seen in screenshots: Is able to concentrate its radar-beams to be used as a scouting unit
-Unnamed heavy cruiser: Amphibious
-Trained dogs, which stun enemies with their barking
-Shotgunner. Slow, but with a shielding ability

Soviet:

-Commando (Supposedly armed with a tesla-gun)
-The Akula, a submarine which isn't merely deadly against ships, but is able to train divers as well
-The Bullfrog transport ship doesn't have to set shore, its able to shoot out the units it's carrying
-Mobile V4, with the new ability to swim, but its main draw point is the precise and area-effective attack. Very slow unit.
-Stingray Nasad, a small and fast tesla-launching boat
-Kirov
-Tesla walker
-Armored bear (Made out to be a polar bear in the article, which is doubtful in my opinion)
-Apocalypse tank
-Machinegunner, fast and lightly armoured.

Empire of the rising sun:

-Commando
-The Seawing bomber is able to transform into a submarine simply by falling into the water
-Tsunami, a water-affin tank which is both heavily armoured and powerful, although slower on land than in water


FMVs

-Seen scenes: Marching allied soldiers, a Russian general shouting, a cold, calculating Japanese general giving orders
-Stylised and humorous
-Allegedly not as overacted as in Tiberium Wars


Graphics

-Nearly 60% of the Sage engine's code was rewritten for Red Alert 3, and the screenshots don't represent the visual quality well, as they are from an alpha-build of the game and still worked on. Most attention went to the water (Now with splash animation! :P), demolition, animations, respectively to keep RA3 true to RA2s light-hearted style. This goes for the Japanese faction too.


Misc

-Game menu is cartoonish and quite moody, with a great soundtrack to boot
-Neil Young, head of the studio, mentioned that an SC2 designer worked on RA3 before he left for Blizzard. Now who's right, Mr. Young or Apoc, who denied this bit?
-2 super weapons per faction are planned

[ein1017]

I have to say, the Red Alert timeline is so full of time travel, how can a person keep things straight? Looks fun and wait for it on the shelf.

[starscream007]

So Im assuming this is taking place after YR or after RA 2 since Worth died last year.

[ShadowClaw]

I'm curious to see how they are going to link the C&C and RA timelines. I remember reading somewhere about how RA3 is suppose to be a link between the end of the RA and the begin of C&C: Tiberium Dawn timelines. This is very unlikely because I can't remember where I saw it so I can't confirm it.

[Statalyzer]

BAD - Couldn't think of any way to make the timeline work and have the Soviets rise to power for a 3rd game than "let's just go back in time and erase the whole timeline"

BAD - Another Yuri expansion pack? Please no.

BAD - Dogs that stun enemies with bark power. Dumb. Bark should not be worse than bite.

GOOD - secondary functions for most units should add skill

GOOD - air-to-air-combat system

GOOD - standard cooperative campaigns for the main storylines

RANDOM THOUGHT - Japan ought to get some sort of Kamikaze unit.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by Statalyzer

BAD - Dogs that stun enemies with bark power. Dumb. Bark should not be worse than bite.

GOOD - it adds functionality and micro potential to a unit. One ability is a support power and the other is a direct attack, so neither can be said to be more powerful.

[CO Valle]

^^
And I think that a rifle has more range than a bark!

[Statalyzer]

Ok, let me rephase: "Dogs should defeat enemies by mauling them, not by making noise." Why not have the human infantry units yell their enemies to death? Secondary abilities are good, but not dumb secondary abilities. Notify me the next time the mailman goes unconscious because your dog barked at him.

[Derek]

Notify me next time the mailman is barked at by a dog that is making it quite clear he'ld like to tear him limb from limb

[Alpha and Omega]

A dog can only maul one person at a time. So logically you'd use the bark ability to stun one man while you tore into the next.