Kirov Reporting, Mate: Why Red Alert 2's Glorious Nonsense Intro Still Casts a Spell (and Why We Bloody Well Need It Back)
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Jeff celebrates the 25th anniversary of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, waxing nostalgic about its wonderfully cheesy FMV intro and lamenting the dormant state of the C&C franchise. He offers a nuanced take on EA's past stewardship of the series, praises spiritual successors like *Tempest Rising* while pointing out what they still miss (the glorious FMV camp), and speculates on a future where EA might just free the C&C IP from its corporate shackles.
Right, so apparently, time flies faster than a Kirov airship with a rocket booster, because Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 just celebrated its 25th anniversary. Twenty-five years! Good grief, where did the pixels go? I've been tinkering with this bit of news, and bloody hell, it got me thinking. You know that feeling when you accidentally blow a small hole through reality and find yourself in a world of infinite possibilities? That's what loading up RA2 felt like for a young gamer – pure, unadulterated, wonderfully chaotic joy.
And let's be fair dinkum, a huge chunk of that initial magic, that 'holy smokes, what have I gotten myself into?' moment, came from its opening movie. Alex Donaldson over at Eurogamer (a top bloke, he is) rightly pointed out that it's quite possibly the greatest opening cinematic of all time. And I reckon he's not far off the mark. This wasn't some polished, motion-captured Hollywood epic. No, mate. This was masterfully pre-rendered full-motion video (FMV) storytelling that was simultaneously oddly well-shot and unmistakably, gloriously cheap. It was like watching a B-movie blockbuster made with the budget of a school play, and it absolutely *worked*.
Picture it: jobbing actors, probably known for vaguely familiar faces on some obscure telly show, suddenly thrust into the pivotal roles of saving (or dooming) the world. The scenery-chewing was so ferocious you half-expected them to get splinters. Remember the US President in that intro? Later he popped up as the Vice President in '24.' Talk about a promotion! But the beauty wasn't just in the hammy performances; it was in the pure audacity of it all. Westwood, bless their creative souls, knew exactly what kind of ridiculous, over-the-top narrative they were weaving, and they leaned into it with the enthusiasm of a wizard who's just discovered a new, highly volatile spell. The irony, of course, is that its imagery of an invaded New York, teetering on the brink of obliteration, probably wouldn't have seen the light of day a mere twelve months later. It truly landed at just the right, albeit grimly fortuitous, moment.
Now, thinking about RA2 – and the wider Command & Conquer universe – stirs up a bit of a storm in my digital cauldron. It makes me genuinely despair that such a cornerstone of gaming culture is basically dormant. The most recent 'official' C&C offering? A mobile game that, if recent reviews are anything to go by, is an 'insufferable money-grubbing slop.' 'Travesty of an insult,' 'bastardized garbage,' 'rubbish' – those are direct quotes from actual players, mind you. Sounds less like a game and more like a spell gone horribly wrong, doesn't it? It leaves a curious gamer like me wondering: what on earth went sideways?
Because here's where my gently skeptical, cleverly observant side kicks in. There's this common narrative, almost a meme, that EA swooped in like the Grim Reaper, dispatched Westwood, and then proceeded to butcher the C&C franchise with ruthless efficiency. And while, yes, Westwood did close (a rubbish decision, by the way), the truth isn't quite so clear-cut. Fair dinkum, EA's stewardship wasn't *entirely* negative. We got C&C Generals, which is still many people's favourite. C&C3? That took the Westwood essence and dialled it up with EA's financial backing, bringing in actual Hollywood-adjacent talent like Billy Dee Williams and Michael Ironside. And controversially, I'm with Alex here – Red Alert 3, for my money, might just be the single best C&C game. Sublimely balanced, incredibly fun, and with a narrative feel of the most lavishly produced B-movie ever. Tim Curry barely holding back laughter for three minutes straight? Peak entertainment, mate.
So, EA actually had a pretty decent run, even managing some successful console ports, which for RTS games is no mean feat. But then, after RA3, things went a bit pear-shaped. Visions were meddled in, talent departed faster than a rogue goblin after swiping a shiny trinket, and the magic just... fizzled. The team responsible for those later C&C gems ended up crafting the forgettable single-player of a forgettable Medal of Honor reboot, essentially marking the team's demise. Bad times, indeed.
Then came the *Command & Conquer Remastered Collection*, a lovingly crafted visual overhaul of the first two games and their expansions. It felt like a genuine flicker of the old magic, a promise of things to come. Surely, RA2 and Tiberian Sun would be next, right? Five years on, and that hope is dying a slow, miserable death. It's like waiting for a legendary spell scroll to appear, only to find the quest giver has gone on an extended tea break. Which leaves us forlornly staring into the past, remembering the good old days.
But wait, there's a glint on the horizon! We've got modern heirs to the throne, like *Tempest Rising*. It's brilliant, truly – 'C&C but with the serial numbers filed off,' as Steam reviews will tell you. If you're a latent C&C or RTS fan, it's well worth your time. Yet, even *Tempest Rising*, as excellent as it is, doesn't quite scratch that specific itch. Its cutscenes, while alarmingly well-made and framed to emulate C&C, use 3D models. And for some reason, they just don't hit the same. I need the sets rattling, the dodgy green screen work that makes you wonder if they filmed it in someone's garage. I need an actor so committed to chewing the scenery they surprise the writers. That campiness, that inherent theatricality, that perfectly imperfect blend of cheap production and earnest delivery? It was the *heart* of classic C&C, inseparable from the gameplay itself. Like a wizard and their familiar, the two halves informed each other, making the entire experience better.
There's a certain energy, you see. A je ne sais quoi, as the French (and occasionally, Einstein in RA's intro) might say. No matter how many spiritual successors I've played, none have fully captured that unique feel. It's one of those rare things that might just be impossible to replicate without actually mining the IP itself. Which, of course, brings us back to EA.
With EA potentially looking at a massive debt pile, perhaps – and this is a risky bit of alchemy, mind you – they might be inspired to do something they'd never previously consider: selling off IP they don't plan to leverage. Command & Conquer still has legs, I reckon. Just perhaps not at a company that wants everything to sell tens of millions of units, aiming for giga-hits rather than cult classics. We live in hope, don't we? As Einstein himself said in the original Red Alert intro, time will tell. Here's hoping we won't need a time machine to tweak this timeline, though. In the meantime, happy birthday, Red Alert 2. You magnificent beast of a game, you truly are one of the GOATs. Now, if you'll excuse me, Hell March 2 (and then 3) awaits, at max volume.
Tags: RTS, CommandAndConquer, GamingHistory, FMV, Nostalgia
Original article: Eurogamer