Your Base is Under Attack: The top 5 RTS games part 4/5

It's interesting: the last RTS in my top five list was based on an epic global conflict featuring the United States and Soviet Russia. And once again, as I arrive at the second greatest RTS of all time (in my humble and honest opinion I might add), we find a similar game in that respect. And, well, the similarities end there. Sure, World in Conflict had tanks; this game also has tanks. World in Conflict had infantry; same again. However, aside from a few similar unit titles, and I suppose rough plot, the games are nothing alike. Intrigued? I hope so. Here it is...

2) Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 (Westwood, 2000)

I'll be honest; If there is one RTS series that deserves a place in everybody's list, it is this one. Hell, you might not even enjoy the games, but you have to at least acknowledge it's authority. The question for me was not "should I put a command and conquer game in my list?" but rather "far out, which one do I pick?". The answer to that question? In my opinion it boils down to two: Tiberian Sun or Red Alert 2. I thought long and hard about this; calling to mind those powerful Nod Cyborgs of Tiberian Sun, and hurling them against the mighty double-barrel Apocalypse tanks of the Soviet military in Red Alert 2. Both games were made by Westwood, but in the end, Red Alert 2 muscled its way to the list ahead of the GDI/Nod epic.

Red Alert 2 is a stunning game because it balances on a tightrope very nicely. By this I mean it strikes up a balance between absurdity and realism, and the result is breathtakingly good. Lean over to realism in this instance and you take much of the fun out of the game, and lean too far over to absurdity and you end up with EA's attempt at Red Alert... I don't know, apparently some people liked that game, but me? I'd rather jump into a pool of caustic soda. But regardless, Red Alert 2 really nailed everything, from cut-scenes to catchphrases to combat to characters to... The list goes on.

The game features two discs, with an Allied campaign on one and a Soviet campaign on the other. This did make things annoying for me as I lost the Soviet disc after a while and was thus restricted to the Allies, but that's hardly the fault of Westwood. The cut-scenes advance the story with real life actors, on their eccentrically designed sets. I won't reveal the plot, but there are some great levels to play; one of my favourite is a spirited defense of the Pentagon using these 'Prism Towers', shown in game to be designed by Albert Einstein (not in real life of course, unfortunately). They shoot powerful beams of light from rotating tops, and can cause heightened damage through placing several close together and having them chain light beams. This made for some amusing moments as Soviet conscripts were violently electrocuted by this artificial lightning in comical skeletal detail.

The units are what makes Red Alert 2 so brilliant; where else could you employ giant squids to attack naval vessels and then be countered by enemy dolphins? Units like the simple G.I. were employed by the allies, right up to the legendary 'Chrono Commando', a unit which could be obtained in skirmishes by infiltrating an enemy base with a 'Spy'. These lethal soldiers teleport with the click of a mouse, kill soldiers effortlessly and destroy buildings instantaneously. Obtain one of these, and enjoy the fireworks!

Red Alert 2 is a game that had me saying "safety first, sir!" and "I can go anywhere" for a long time after I was finished with the game itself, and indeed I still quote those timeless catchphrases today. I love this game! I... I can't find anything else to express how much this game defined my gaming tastes. I'll let the second spot of the greatest RTS' of all time hopefully satisfy my futile search to do this game justice.