Airabisu

This game is an "Acquired Taste". One game I wouldn't recommend to everyone because it takes a certain individual to find games such as Iron Grip to be enjoyable. I found this browser type game to be relaxing. I don't have to think on the fly, I can thoroughly investigate my battlefield options, and plan my attacks accordingly. There isn't the stress of time, though I may like to speed ahead, this game forces me to take breaks because of the constraint on energy which replenishes one per hour. I never find myself playing more than an 1 hour every 4-6 hours because most actions take a decent amount of energy to start. There are missions that are instant, you can play immediately, while others take a decent amount of time before you'll be able to play and even then there is a percentage that you have to do anything at all. Missions have difficulty rating so if your not sure of your battle prowess, there isn't any shame in taking it easy and playing to your ability. My advice to new players is to explore the interface, take a gander at the game's library, and ask players for help. Don't mind the lost battles, plenty will come. Be grateful there are breaks because if you come to a losing streak you will go mad. There are bugs to be squashed which takes time. I am having issues with running the battle client(sluggish/lag/freeze), some information about certain things may be off, may be too difficult even when setting on the lowest difficulty, overlooking all of that, I very much enjoyed playing this game.

Pros (Opinion) Co-Op - I just love gaming with friends. If your into that sorta thing. Graphics - Decent, graphics however matters little. Intriguing Units - some units are rather fascinating. Decent Interface - Hard to complicate. Strategic - Units have dual purpose. You'll find it fun when your screwing around with those global abilities. Cons (Opinion) Simplified Resource Collection - I'm a Empire Earth 2 Fan, excuse me! Strategy - sometimes it doesn't matter, send everything in.... Poorly designed units : Seriously ran out of ideas. Non existing units : Ran out of ideas. Content : Ran out of ideas. You get my drift. Logged Hours of Play : 49 Played Hours Worth : Decent Replay : Little Compare (Opinion) (PC)Red Alert 2 + Expansions >= (PS1)Red Alert 1 + Expansion (I am really fighting with this one.) (PS1)Red Alert 1 + Expansions > (PC)Red Alert 3 + Expansion (Nano second of thoughts) Like Supreme Commander? Then you will like Red Alert 3. Like Company of Heroes? Then you will find Red Alert 3 unpleasant. Individual Little under Decent... I can't really say much more than that. Insight I can't recommend this game to just anyone. They didn't do well with this project, however I hope their future RTS projects do not fall as this one did. I had hoped to enjoy 100's of hours of gaming, to fall short of decent means I can only say, at least it was entertaining, keeping me preoccupied for 1-2 weeks before moving on completely. I was unable to pick the game up again knowing how disappointed I was. I hope you find a means of playing without paying, or if it is on sale, I do not want you to feel that your money was all but wasted. My feelings on EA taking on the Red Alert Project? Quote "I don't want to live on this planet anymore." -Professor Farnsworth / Futurama : A Clockwork Origin

Bottom-Line I would only and very much recommend this game to anyone who looks for an RTS that isn't trendy. If your more into killing, return to C&C or SC. It lightly delivers an RPG feel, has a great economic system, and unique way of going about the game from a military point of view. Not only does it provide objective based rules, there is a sandbox to try out new things for single and multiplayer. However, you have to weigh bugs, your patience, and an absent multiplayer(online) into playability of the game. However, the community has a way around the multiplayer through the use of third party programs that allow players to join games through their Lan. This is the first game I've tried of the series, so I can't compare/contrast of the others, but I have to say its a good play. I've played 75hours. I've paid sale price for this game and I definitely got my money's worth. Any game nearing 100 hours of enjoyable/challenging experience is no doubt in my opinion is something to definitely try out! Youtube Tutorial on basics, quit whining about absent manual and enjoy gaming.