The Command and Conquer: Red Alert games are among the most acclaimed real-time strategy titles of all time, combining the series’ fantastic gameplay elements while introducing an alternate-history story any fan of The Man in the High Castle or Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus would love. It has been nearly a decade since a new game in the series has been released, and though that is about to change, fans aren’t happy.
Announced on Monday, April 23 by Chinese publishing giant Tencent, Red Alert Online is bringing the series to both iOS and Android devices. Little is known about the gameplay or narrative thus far, but the announcement trailer shows tanks rolling across the ground and planes flying through the air as we see a branching chart detailing a military’s conquest. Elsewhere, vehicles barrel through a forest as anti-air missiles fire into the sky and a line of industrial equipment runs nearby. At the very end of the trailer, we see a shadowy figure turn around to address the player — it appears to be the psychic Yuri.
Thus far, player reaction to the announcement has been abysmal. In addition to a terrible like-to-dislike ratio on the YouTube video, fans have expressed their distaste for the game on the forum ResetEra.
“I’m honestly surprised it took this long for the corpse of [Command and Conquer and Red Alert] to be dragged out like this,” one user commented.
Others were a little more optimistic, glad that the series wasn’t completely dead, as fewer and fewer big-budget real-time strategy games are available today.
“This certainly isn’t what I wanted out of Command and Conquer, but doing something in the mobile space can give a [glimmer] of hope for something else,” another fan added.
Tencent is no stranger to releasing acclaimed games and franchises on mobile platforms. It recently launched PUBG Mobile, an excellent version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds for iOS and Android. The game was updated with an “arcade mode” option, giving players the chance to play in games with specific rulesets, including “pistols only” or “sniper rifles only.” Unlike the versions of the game available on Xbox One and PC, PUBG Mobile is completely free, as well, making it comparable to Fortnite on mobile.
