Chris Corry, Executive Producer on Electronic Arts’ forthcoming Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, recently spoke to IGN in regards to the company’s plans for the highly anticipated Real Time Strategy (RTS) game.

The lengthy interview describes a number of aspects on the game, including the premises, of which Corry promised, “For those who are already familiar with Red Alert games and their place in the C&C universe, certainly Red Alert 3 is going to be everything that the hardcore fans have been looking for.”

“It's going to have that trademark, light, humorous, fun, Saturday matinee popcorn feel to it, with live-action cinematics and all these great actors chewing up the stage.”

The storyline also comes under scrutiny, which starts off in wake of the Soviets defeat at the hands of the Allies. Desperate and on the verge of defeat, the Soviets retreat to a secret underground laboratory in the depths of the Kremlin, where they unearth a prototype Time Machine, and utilize the device to go back in time to eliminate Albert Einstein; the man responsible for the eradication of Adolph Hitler and the subsequent rise to power of the Allied nations from the previous Red Alert games.

However, the Soviets meddling with history has resulted in a third superpower come into play; the Empire of the Rising Sun, and what’s more, the Allied Nations are still at large. Thus, the story of Red Alert 3 kicks off as all three nations are thrown into conflict.

Of the three available factions, Corry reveals, “They're pretty different,” drawing comparisons from the original Red Alert, and the discernible differences between the way the Allied and Soviet armies operate in the game. Furthermore, Corry describes the Empire of the Rising Sun as the “most technologically advanced,” with a clear dominance in Naval warfare.

Corry places great emphasis on the cooperative play experience (at first for a Command and Conquer title,) giving examples of how it may place out. For example, players may find themselves working together on a stealth-based mission, with one player controlling a shield generator unit, while the other, commanding the main attack force, must control the army and ensure it remains hidden under the generator’s protective cloak. This provides what Corry views as an “intimate co-op experience,” allowing both players to communicate in tandem via their headsets to coordinate their efforts.

Additionally, the game will also include a competent Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to circumvent times where the player is unable to locate any friends online for a co-op game. Corry states that these will be unlocked as you progress through the campaign, allowing you to pick your desired AI commander for any given mission.

These commanders each have their own distinct traits and preferences in battle; for example, one commander may prefer the rudimentary ‘Tank Rush’ approach to combat, while another may tend to favour air strikes to ground-based assaults. By learning the unique attributes of each commander, Corry says, players will be able to gradually decide which one is best suited to their needs, ultimately leading to a successful campaign.

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