When EA announced that they were going to be packaging a Red Alert 3 beta key with the Kane’s Wrath expansion for Command & Conquer 3, I was sure to be one of the first ones in line to get it. Of course, EA’s registration for the beta was nothing short of jumping through a burning hoop. I was surprised then that when the beta started, I wasn’t asked to join. I freaked out the day I finally got my RA3 beta key in the beginning of September (cue music). Of course, there was more burning hoop circus jumping in store for me, but it was all worth it. Those who haven’t heard much about it, or are checking out all the screenshots wondering if EA is just phoning it in, I can tell you first-hand: it’s everything and more.

Although the Beta only had four multiplayer maps, all the factions were available and the game played as if it was just out of the box (balancing issues excluded). At first, I was skeptical when I heard about how they were taking the franchise into the water. I hate games with so many different units that it becomes rock, paper, scissors to the one thousandth power. But after playing it, I realize that they addressed the issue with a simple answer: some units can go on both land and sea. It sounds crazy but it works, and vehicles' amphibious abilities enable you to easily orchestrate strategies that you could never even attempt in other RTS games. And even more important, it’s so much fun than other RTS games.

Needless to say, the Allies play almost as you would expect them to. They are the basic mortar of the three factions, providing users a normal tech tree and units that are fairly easy to navigate. Tanks are slow and powerful, planes come in a few flavors, and heavy artillery can change a simple standoff into a base-crumbling offense.

The Soviets make a return to the franchise as well with a play style that mixes conventional units with more creative options. For instance, the Bullfrog tank acts as an infantry transport as well as a human cannon. You’ll also be relieved to know that the anticipation you get when you hear the ominous hum from your opponents inbound Kirov Airships is just as nail biting as it has always been. It’s also just as frustrating when you lose a match to them.

Finally, the newest faction, and perhaps my personal favorite, is the Empire of the Rising Sun. They are by far one of the coolest and most innovative factions to join the franchise since Yuri. I know it’s a bold statement, but I’m not kidding. From the transforming planes and helicopters, to the surface to air seaplanes, they got it going on. It’s definitely an unconventional way of playing, and certainly favors those who can manage their units over who has more units. But that has been Red Alert 3’s mantra this whole time. I’m just happy that they executed it so well, and that it’s also really really fun. It’s what was missing from the C&C3: fun.

The graphics are vibrant, playful, and satisfying. You can play the game with super-high detail on a gaming computer, or low graphics setting on a basic computer and you won’t be missing much, although my mouth did drop when I saw all the bells and whistles. My only real complaint in the graphics category is scale. It’s a bit of a disappointment when you finally build that super tank, or that mega destroyer, and it turns out that an infantry unit is a quarter of its size. It makes the game feel a little Warcraft-y. It’s tough though when you make individual units, and not squads where the individual units are smaller. In the end, its all about the gameplay, and it’s a very forgivable decision when the units are so fun to use and watch. The voice work is solid for the units and it was also great to rock out to some of the old tried-and-true tunes from the Red Alert franchise, but I can’t wait to hear what they've done with the Hell March.

All in all, it’s obvious that the ties to the original franchise run deep here. Some of the units are just so much fun to use, and when you play for the first time and have that all too familiar “they can do that?” experience all over again, you’ll realize that you are in great hands. Sure, the game might have an EA logo on it, but when you look under the hood, it’s all Red Alert.