Last year's Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 was a new chapter in the over-the-top Red Alert real-time strategy series, which combines resource gathering, base building, and giant armies of tanks that come out of nowhere with an enthusiastic, over-the-top sensibility of the kind that you can find only in a game in which actors chew the scenery like there's no tomorrow, and in which the tanks in your armies march alongside dolphins and bears. Now, EA's Los Angeles studio is hard at work on Uprising, a new stand-alone expansion that will explore more single-player content and add more units to control. We sat down with producer Greg Kasavin to discuss the details.GameSpot: Why go back to Red Alert 3 with a new expansion pack? What stones were left unturned in the story and in the gameplay?
Greg Kasavin: We think we introduced a lot of great units and characters in Red Alert 3, and this new campaign expansion builds off of that while also allowing us to offer our fans some really cool surprises.
Red Alert 3: Uprising really gave us a chance to follow through on a number of interesting ideas that sparked up late in the development of the original game, around when Red Alert 3 was essentially complete and we naturally started thinking about what else we could do with the game. Shortly after the game came out, our fans also asked for more campaigns to take them deeper into this unique universe, and they wanted more of the over-the-top units we introduced in Red Alert 3.
The original game's three campaigns represented three different, parallel timelines, and the epilogue-style conflicts in Uprising allowed us to continue and broaden the Red Alert 3 story in some exciting new ways. We got to bring back a lot of our favorite characters, introduce some new ones that can chew the scenery with the best of them, and deepen the crazy fiction behind this universe.
GS: We understand the expansion will have four new playable campaigns that take place after the events of Red Alert 3. What's the story behind them?
One of the campaigns we're most excited about is centered squarely on the Empire of the Rising Sun's psionic commando, Yuriko Omega, and how she got to be a troubled, ill-tempered young woman who can tear apart aircraft carriers with barely a thought. The Yuriko campaign looks and plays different from the core game, and we think players will love it as a refreshing and viscerally satisfying change of pace.
GS: What other content will the expansion offer? For instance, we understand there will be an expanded set of skirmish maps for both co-op and competitive play?
GK: On top of the four new minicampaigns, we're adding roughly 30 new maps for traditional skirmish. Many of these take place in new environments, such as a spooky European village with low-hanging fog. So we're taking a few detours from Red Alert 3's usually-bright, colorful world to add more variety.
There's also the Commander's Challenge mode, which features 50 unique, successively tougher scenarios, some of which are unlike anything we've ever done before. For example, in one particular challenge you get to go toe-to-toe with a new breed of Soviet War Bear, which happens to be much bigger and much nastier than usual. This mode offers an additional 30 hours of gameplay that we think the fans will enjoy. We're really happy with the way it's shaping up.
GS: Tell us about the new Commander's Challenge mode. Will this resemble the challenge modes from the Xbox 360 version of Command & Conquer 3?
GK: The Commander's Challenge mode was loosely inspired by the General's Challenge mode in Zero Hour, the expansion pack to Command & Conquer: Generals. Like that mode, the Commander's Challenge pits you against a variety of different, colorful characters, including some returning commanders from Red Alert 3 as well as some new ones. However, the Commander's Challenge is substantially bigger and deeper than any similar mode we've done, as each of the 50 different scenarios have their own tricks and rules of engagement. They're a real blast to play and fit right in with the over-the-top and playful world of Red Alert.
You initially start off with limited access to forces, but as you finish the different scenarios, your arsenal grows. Of course, finishing scenarios also unlocks new ones, and you can either try to get through the mode in as few steps as possible or pursue some of the side challenges to unlock the biggest and best forces. It's a highly addictive mode, and for fans of skirmish--and we know there are a lot of you out there--we think it's going to become an instant favorite.
GS: Red Alert 3 offered plenty of distinctive and crazy playable units, like transforming robots and angry, angry animals (such as electro-dolphins, scout dogs, and parachuting bears). What are some of the new units that will be added in Uprising? What purposes will they serve--how will they better complement their faction's strategy, for instance?
GK: We think Red Alert 3 players are going to be very happy with the unique, powerful new units we've added in Uprising. One of my favorite to use is the Empire of the Rising Sun's Giga Fortress, the biggest and strongest new unit we're introducing. It's this gigantic, starfish-shaped floating fortress that can transform into a monstrous, flying Sinistar-style head that shoots a devastating beam weapon out of its mouth. It should more than make up for the Empire's lack of a heavy flying unit until now.
GS: Of course, Uprising will give players a chance to revisit the Red Alert 3 content they know and enjoy, including, hopefully, more of the series' signature cinematic sequences. We understand that Gemma Atkinson and Ivana Milicevic will be returning, for instance. What other acting talent will return, and can we expect to see any additional Hollywood talent that may or may not be creepy German character actor Udo Kier?
GK: Indeed, it wouldn't be Red Alert if we didn't include new full-motion video sequences. As the Allies and Soviets, you'll once again be getting your marching orders from Gemma Atkinson and Ivana Milicevic, respectively, who reprise their roles as the briefers from the previous game. They were two of the community's favorites from Red Alert 3, and we're excited we were able to bring them back this time around.
We'll have more announcements about the cast soon, but suffice it to say there's going to be a mix of new and old faces this time around in both the campaign and the Commander's Challenge mode. I'm glad some of the commander characters from Red Alert 3 get more screen time here, as some of those guys were really entertaining.
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