Customer Reviews

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(28)
1 star:		(131)

 

 

Red Alert 3 is a great game with fun units, a strong campaign, great multiplayer elements, and fantastic acting and production values. A lot of effort was clearly put into it and I give the developers all the credit in the world.

I played this game on a friend's computer and did not purchase it myself, and in fact cancelled my pre-order for the reasons I give below.

Unfortunately, I cannot give this game a positive review due to the actions of the publisher, Electronic Arts, in including the dangerous SecuROM software that is installed during installation of the game. This software, SecuROM 7.xx, does not uninstall when the game is uninstalled and will provide security loopholes as well as preventing legitimate CD burning or emulation software from functioning, as well as potentially causing other documented errors. I refuse to install software which is effectively rentware and that does nothing but punish its legitimate customers.

Red Alert 3 has already been pirated and is freely available on multiple torrent sites. At least twenty thousand people are downloading it as I write this review. I will not pirate it myself; but I refuse to provide my money to a company that treats me like a pirate. I will go without. SecuROM, by this very fact, has been proven useless. EA has had major backlash on this issue before with Spore and has not learned its lesson. We shall see if it ever does.

Here are the facts:

Electronic Arts Says:
"Authorization limits
... you are limited to five authorizations. So what's an authorization? The first time you actually run the game on a machine, we will authorize that machine. If you reach the authorization limit, the game will not run on a new machine. If you make major changes to the computer (switching out multiple pieces of hardware, install a new OS, etc.) you might need to reauthorize the machine."

What they don't mention here is that a "major change" to your computer can be quite a bit less than changing out multiple pieces of hardware. In fact, changing a keyboard, mouse, or joystick or any number of USB devices could be regarded as a "major change". Upgrading drivers for you sound or video card might be a major change. The rules are not defined and you will not know for sure what may or may not use up an authorization.

So if you use up all of your Authorizations? Electronic Arts says:
"Just give us a call...
If you had a run of bad luck, some hardware failures, a botched OS install, your notebook was stolen, you spilled a coke on your keyboard - you get the idea - and all five of your authorizations have been used up, just give us a call. We'll work with you and provide as many additional authorizations as are appropriate."

What they fail to mention here is that calling Electronic Arts for technical support is not free. You will be charged 2.50/minute plus any toll charges.

Now consider the idea that you have bought 5 Electronic Arts games over time and one by one they all run out of authorizations. When the authorizations start running out, do you honestly want to call EA every time you make a hardware change to ask them to allow you to play a game you already paid for? What a hassle!

Please don't buy this game; don't support this kind of DRM scheme. I don't know if this scheme is to prevent used-game resales or if they really believe it makes a dent in piracy. It doesn't matter why, they are going too far and punishing the honest consumer, so it's time to punish their sales.

October 2008 marks the return of the long-awaited next installment in the Red Alert series - one of the best real time strategy games ever.

Unfortunately, the series, which was originally developed by Westwood Studios, has been taken over by EA (Electronic Arts). EA executives are so paranoid about unlicensed playing of the game that they are shipping every copy of it with hidden spyware known as SecuROM.

SecuROM is developed by Sony, the same company responsible for packaging rootkits with their music CDs back in 2005. (A rootkit is a program that installs itself in the depths of an operating system like Windows, and is designed to be able to take control of the operating system).

[...]

Needless to say, you should not trust any game that comes with SecuROM. Ask yourself: Do you really know what's in that software and what it it might do once it installs itself into your copy of Windows? You don't, because SecuROM isn't free software.

It's proprietary commercial spyware developed by one of the biggest media conglomerates on Earth. A company that views every customer as a potential criminal.

And with EA's restrictions on how many times you can install the game...it really is like you're renting it.

Why should you, after paying hard-earned money for Red Alert 3, have to call EA Customer Service if you end up needing to reinstall the game one time too many?

Neither SecuROM nor the install restrictions are going to bother people who want to download unlicensed, modified copies of Red Alert 3 that don't have commercial spyware or EA-imposed limitations present.

I would give Red Alert 3 five stars if it didn't come with SecuROM and the install restrictions.

Other reviewers here have been criticized for not actually reviewing the game... which is unfair, because SecuROM is a dealbreaker and people need to know that this garbage is silently included along with the game. If SecuROM isn't the focus of critical reviews, how will people know about it?

Nevertheless, I do want to say the game itself, sans the spyware, is excellent. Anyone who's played the beta will probably agree... great graphics, the units are as silly and cool as ever, the ability to build true naval bases is fantastic, and the built in cooperative playing mode looks like a lot of fun.

It's a shame that EA ruined Red Alert 3 with SecuROM. It really is. It's even worse that they are not listening to the gaming community after the Spore backlash.

If you care about the integrity of your computer do not buy and install Red Alert 3. This applies whether you run Windows or Mac as SecuROM will install itself to either operating system (Sony is quite proud that it developed a version of SecuROM for Apple's OS).

#1 - SecuRom.

#2 - Limited installs, requiring EA's servers to always exist if you ever want to reinstall or need new keys.

#3 - Coop play is restricted to the internet through EA's servers, no LAN capability.

Avoid.

Anxiously awaited this game. Pre Ordered one for a friend and myself.
Installed it whilst gazing fondly @ the hotties in the poster that came with it.

BTW it installed just fine. Not happy about the DRM ... but at least it installed fine.

God is this game disappointing. I looved all the other C&C's (did not try Kanes wrath)
The AI on the units is horrible. Not being able to zoom out kills me.
Makes you micro manage. The levels are just tedious.
Could not get through more than a few before I turned it off.
I kept trying to like it... literally forcing myself to play it for an hour.
This mode of RTS is sooooo outdated.
Move on to better games like Sins of a Solar Empire or Supreme Commander.

Sad waste of $50

:(
Do they give refunds?

I think Secu-ROM has been beaten to death and dragged through the mud enough for this latest botched game from EA.

If it wasn't bad enough that I was told I would be limited to 5 authorizations, the CD-KEY was invalid and I couldn't even install the game.. EA's offer to fix this? Tough Luck, you can try guessing every key from 0-9, or a A to z Z.

So I decided to confront the developers only to be told that if I didn't tone down my questions that I would be banned from the forum. Then it was later released that if you are banned from voicing your opinion, that you would also be banned from any future or past EA games you own.

Do not buy or support these sleazy, horrible people.

Securom did not see my network driver(rest of my internet works just fine), hence I am not able to activate and play the game. I called EA and got a refund. Pity, I'll have to pirate the game I paid for just to have it work.

EA still continues to try to circumvent the right of "first sale" by using DRM in the name of preventing copyright infringement. DRM has only one purpose and that is to make sure the game you purchase is not controlled by you. Don't believe the hype spewed by EAs president. After all he thinks half of us are infringers (his word is pirates - a malapropism) and the rest are simply to stupid to understand what is going on.

Well Wall Street analyst Michael Pachter from Wedbush-Morgan had the following to say about EA and its executive management " EA management was somewhat aloof during [yesterday's] earnings call. With the stock hovering near a seven-year low, management continued its recent history of disappointment, and spent an inordinate amount of time sowing seeds of fear about the potential for a tepid holiday sales season. EA's share price in after hours trading reflects that many investors have abandoned hope...

Management has demonstrated an uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the eyes of investors, and we think that these old habits will take a long time to die... "

It seems that even the bankers agree with us stupid infringing gamers that the executives at EA are the real failures and they seem to keep doing so in epic fashion.

Please go to defectivebydesign.org & drm.info to educate yourselves about the issues with DRM and then chose to act - vote with your wallet, your actions and your opinion!

Moreover it appears EA cares about no one other than its top management. This is clearly illustrated with the recent layoff announcement of hundreds of staff and developers. I wonder how many are executives? Likely none to be honest. In my opinion it needs to change but sadly only the board can do that so we must make our voices loud and known everywhere and anywhere.

Do not support a company that treats its customers like ignorant sheep ready to be fleeced. If you think otherwise check out its expensive after market phone support system. If you are lucky enough to finally any support after trying to prove you are not an infringer several times it will likely cost you almost what you paid for the game in the first place.

I really wanted to like this game. I've played all of the Command and Conquer games, with Generals and Zero Hour being my favorites.
Command and Conquer 3 and CnC3:Kane's Wrath were interesting, but the game play just wasn't as complex. They were obviously geared toward the XBox crowd, not serious strategy gamers.
Red Alert 3 is more of the same, but worse! Just like CnC3 and CNC3:KW you have extremely limited base areas, quick-building but weak units, disappointing specials, and annoyingly brief battles.
Have 10 minutes free? Just enough time to play a skirmish.

Sheer crap. I'm already looking for someone to take this garbage off my hands; unfortunately, I've already complained about it to everyone I know, so they aren't interested.

Looks like it's the end of the line for the series; I'll go back to playing Zero Hour when I'm feeling nostalgic; otherwise, it will be Warhammer or Supreme Commander until something worthwhile comes out.

If you wait until it's in the bargain bin, it MIGHT be worth it.

Its the same story you've seen multiple times over on this board. Im not one to write reviews like this but EA's ridiculous DRM was sufficent to motivate me.

The DRM is not something that effects only those people looking to hack into and pirate the game, in fact, it seems to do just the opposite and ONLY stop the people who legitimately buy and use the software from using it. The code i was given had 19 numbers instead of 20, a common problem according to EA and an inconvenience they "apologize for". Ill save you some time and aggravation of going through their site: If you buy it because you love the C&C title, youll have to type in the last number yourself! So how do you know what the last number is? Well, you guess. get ready to go 0-9 and A-Z but just remember after every 3 guesses, youll have to type the whole code in again! What fun youll get to have and you haven't even installed it yet! My letter was W and of course i started with the numbers.

Good luck to you all and I hope the game is actually worth all this BS!