A New US President Is Overshadowed By Video-Games!

Wow, It's been a mammoth week, there are just so many things I could talk about, The USA has elected a new president, California has passed Proposition 8, New Zealand is heading to thye Polls for their election, The Global economy continues to see-saw as a direct result of the poorly regulated American markets (or is it because both China and Saudi Arabia have taken active swipes at the US as part of a brewing global economic war?), Yup, so many things.
And Instead I gonna say that it has been an excellent week for Gaming, with Fallout 3 released last week, and Red Alert 3 out this week.
I've already grumbled about Fallout 3, about how it feels more like a sequel to Oblivion than a Sequel to Fallout.
But red Alert 3? Well, It's delivering exactly what it says on the tin. Except for one tiny niggle. In a trend that seems increasingly common these days the Solo campaign has been neglected in favour of online multiplayer. Even the Solo campaign REQUIRES that you play with a co-commander (either a live online person, or an AI controlled general) Which can hardly be described as Solo play. And there just doesn't seem to be a way of turning them off.
Though I'm not sure if this is good or bad yet.
See I've very actively resisted the idea of becoming an online player in RTSs, mainly because I'm sure I'd get my ass kicked (I've seen some of those Starcraft players go at it, it's crazy)
And the Solo campaign on offer here seems like it is geared, more than anything else, towards getting you into the online arena.
Yes, I do want a very solid SOLO campaign out of a westwood game (all that cheesy FMV should serve a real purpose) but at the same time, I want to give this online play thing a shot, It's just there is some anxiety surrounding the possibility of me sufering maximum pwnage.
So this could be the game that helps get me past that.
Still, I'd like a straight run through the game, by myself, so at least I knew what all the units were capable of (especially given that every unit has a secondary power/mode, and that, for once, these secondary poiwers are very, very useful.
In fact, overall, Red Alert 3 is a very well crafted game.
I've played a lot of RTS games over the years, and seen the genre evolve. It's become much faster paced, and honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about that. Unit abilities were slowly introduced,(poorly at first) Troop transports are a classic example of this, so very often being slow and cumbersome. And Resource management has undergone many, many change over the years, not all of them good.
And So we have RA3 which has tackled each of these issues superbly.
Yes, it's fast, but the interface is slick, and with the help of a few good hotkeys, the pace is consistent, and feels just right. You never feel like your waiting for something to be built, or for resources to become available to move forward, and you never feel slowed down by toggling unit abilities or waiting for upgrades.
As mentioned, the unit abilities are wonderfully handled and useful, your victory will rest on using them well.
And my personal favourite feature is the wonderful changes to the troop transport system, having only really played the soviets so far, I got to say that the Bullfrog, which launches your troops at the enemy, has been very useful. There is also no noticable delay with loading troops into a transport. (which I'm sure will make online tactics such as loading a Twin blade Helicopter full of engineers, moving stealthily to the rear of the enemy base, and capturing their structures, a very common strategy.
The Resource Management feels PERFECT. Not so fast that you're constantly rolling in credits, but not to slow that you're constantly waiting for units/structures to be built.
And the Paper, Rock, Scissors balance of Units also feels extremely well balanced, the navy and seas have been well integrated, through the use of many amphibious units.
And yes, you're going to want early Air Defense, as the majority of Air units can make quick work of your buildings.
With all of these elements so finely balanced, it means your efforts are spent out on the map, guiding your troops towards swift victory.

Yup, I'ts a brilliant game, and I'm more than happy to let it slowly drag me into the online world.