Review: Command & Conquer: Red Alert for iPhone
by Rob LeFebvre
Developer/Publisher: EA Mobile
Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Price: $6.99
Acquired: Review Copy Provided
Verdict: Buy it when it drops to $5
Pros: RTS is here! Finally a real RTS game for the iPhone
Cons: A little light on the content for $7
Command and Conquer is, to all intents and purposes, the best Real Time Strategy (RTS) game on the iPhone/iPod Touch platform. It’s Command and Conquer, with all the gameplay expected, in one small package.
When starting this game, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, to be frank. Or Phil. I could be Phil, I suppose. But, to be frank, I’d not planned on C&C: iPhone Edition to be much more than some match three or puzzle game, or even, optimistically, a dual stick shooter with the C&C look and feel.
Imagine my surprise when the game opened to RTS screens of glory. Buttons to select one, some, or all units to the lower left, a multi-button unit training/building creation menus system to the lower right, and varoius other heads up displays in the upper corners brought tiny tears of joy to my jaded eyes. This, boys and girls, is actually Command and Conquer, with the main glory points of the RTS genre smashed down into a tiny, tiny screen. Train foot soldiers, bazooka soldiers, various tanks. Build defense towers, energy farms and more advanced barracks for better troops. Command the troops and tanks to move outward from your base and, you know, conquer the other armies on the map.
The graphical prowess of this game is fairly impressive, allowing a zoom in and out to see units up close and from on high like the Flying Spaghetti Monster might, would It deign to play an game on Its Holy iDevice. Animations are fluid and controls are both intuitive and responsive. Tapping on enemies to target them is simple and the visual indicators bright and easily interpreted. I found myself losing quite a bit of time playing this game, even when I had only planned a short session. The highest praise I can give any game is to have the mechanics and button pressing disappear, in what I liken to quality fiction writing — transparent and functional. Command and Conquer is one such game, allowing players to think more about the flow of the game and less about the control scheme or menu systems.
There is no multiplayer here, which is a disappointment, though the iTunes App store description mentions it as an upcoming free download, making the game easy to play over Blutooth and Wi-Fi. A third faction is also promised as future DLC.
My single complaint, echoed elsewhere on the internet, is the short duration and limited amount of maps that come with the main core game purchase. With only 6 campaigns and two multiplayer maps, the troops are a bit thin on the ground, if you will. DLC fills in that gap with extra multiplayer maps and additional campaigns, but these should have been in the initial release. At the original $9.99 asking price, consumers were paying a premium for the name Command andd Conquer, rather than for a lot of content. As of this writing, the game is $6.99, which makes it a tougher judgement call. My advice? Wait until it drops a couple of dollars more, and includes multiplayer. The game as it stands now should be comfortably priced at $4.99, with the DLC $.99. However, if you sincerely need the only RTS game worth its salt on the iPhone and iPod Touch, your $7 isn’t wasted. Early adopters always pay a premium and like it.
