Red Alert and Command and Conquer-

These two games are put under the same listing because they are so similar. Until recently, the main differences were that Red Alert had larger maps, a greater variety of units, the ability to play for free over Westwood's server "WChat", and much better SVGA graphics. A few months ago, though, in order to squeeze a few extra dollars from a fundamentally great game, Westwood revamped the graphics in Command and Conquer from VGA to SVGA and added the WChat feature to make "Command and Conquer Gold". Now the only differnces between the two games are unit types and map size.

Red Alert and Command and Conquer are arguably the best two player strategy games ever made. Using the WChat server and a connection to the internet, it is possible to play (for free!) people from across the world. I have personally played people from several European countries, as well as Israel and South Korea. Because of the incredible popularity of Red Alert (Command and Conquer Gold doesn't really seem to have taken off) it is very easy to find players. Just log onto WChat, set up the game parameters, and wait perhaps 2 minutes for an opponent to connect to your game.

Red Alert is a great multiplayer game for more reasons than just ease of finding players. Because of the real time action each player is constantly forced to be thinking and acting. There is no boring wait while the opponent decides his turn. It is also more easy to create diversions and distract the opponent from the real thrust of your intentions, since each player doesn't get a basically paused turn in which he can scrutinize every inch of the map. Instead, each player must prioritize time as well as resources, leading to not only fun but exciting, on the edge of your seat, matches.

In comparison to other real time, two player strategy games Red Alert reigns supreme. In Warcraft 2, for instance, the only real tactics are to build an impenetrable wall of fighters to defend the irresistable force of a phalanx of archers. Attacking buildings takes forever, so it is definitely advised to attack structures only after all enemies in the are have been killed. In Red Alert, however, structures go down relatively easy, so it is advised to fight on a strategic level by taking out ore refineries, for instance (structures responsible for resource gathering).

You will notice that I have talked only about multiplayer. There is a good reason for this. The single player aspect of Red ALert and Command and Conquer is fun once through, but after beating all of the missions it is difficult to convince oneself to do it again. In the early missions you are restricted to infantry and weak vehicles, and only later in the game are you allowed to build the more advanced structures. Some of the most powerful (and expensive) units are only available in the very last missions. After beating the game and playing multiplayer with both evenly matched competition and a large selection of unit types, it is difficult to go back to the predictable and limited single player missions.

When playing many people on the net I have heard the complaint before a game of "Hey, no tank rushes, ok?" In simplest terms, what a tank rush is is a major assault using large numbers of tanks against a base.

Originally I thought "what a stupid rule. I can't attack with large numbers of tanks? Is 10 too many? 15? What constitutes a 'rush'?"

I now know the frustration of playing repeated games of the "rush" by playing against a friend who recently decided to begin that style of play. As a result I believe I can define it more fully than has been done for me. A tank rush is more found in the events before the attack than in the attack itself. The person begins by building as many weapons factories and ore refineries as he can, and then puts out tanks as fast as possible. The strategy is to defeat the enemy in raw numbers, with no battlefield intelligence necessary. After all, one can accept 2 to 1 losses if you have three times as many tanks as the enemy!

Another symptom of the tank rush is the total ignoring of other structures besides the ore refineries and weapons factories. Radar, ship yards, airstrips, repair bays, nuclear silos, tech centers, defensive structures, all are shunned in the quest for more efficient tank production. The number of types of structures and units built has decreased, and so has the richness of the game.

The sad thing is, now that my friend has discovered this tactic, I am doomed to forever play the same tactic or lose. There is no easy way to say, "Hey, no tank rushing, ok?" As a result, I have recently become jaded on the game which now is based more on production rates than on skill in the field.