This product is like new. At NexWave Games, like new means:
Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert for PlayStation 1
Command & Conquer: Red Alert for PlayStation 1 lets you wage a war in an alternative European history. You choose the Allies or the Soviets and build an army with income from ore and gemstones. Refineries, power plants and factories form the foundation of your offensive. You must protect supplies, explore new parts of the map and prevent the enemy from disabling your key buildings at the same time. Filmed briefings introduce assignments.
The factions have different tools. The Allies use spies and fast vehicles among other units; the Soviets deploy heavy tanks and Tesla coils. Warships and submarines also take part on maps with water. You select units with the controller or an optional PlayStation Mouse and quickly return to groups. In addition to the campaigns, Skirmish lets you set up standalone battles against up to three computer-controlled opponents, with your own map choice and starting conditions.
On one console, you play alone. A duel between two people requires two PlayStation consoles with Serial I/O ports, two televisions, a PlayStation Link Cable and a controller or PlayStation Mouse for each player. The two discs from one complete copy of Red Alert can each supply one console. You resume campaign progress using mission passwords: these restart the assignment concerned and do not preserve a partially completed battle. This release is the original Red Alert, not the separate Retaliation.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 1 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Command & Conquer: Red Alert for PlayStation 1 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Westwood Studios made Red Alert after the first Command & Conquer. The computer release appeared in 1996; the PlayStation version followed in 1997 through Virgin Interactive. A time-travel experiment sets the twentieth century on a different course. Tension between the Allies and Soviets replaces the conflict between GDI and Nod. This allowed Westwood to create new armies and a story of its own, while base construction and resource gathering remained the foundation.
The war gained more scope at sea and in the air. Alongside infantry and tanks, ships, submarines, aircraft and unusual technology play a role. Tesla coils and the Chronosphere fit the mixture of recognisable military vehicles and fictional science. Filmed scenes put faces to the commanders and lead into the next assignment. The different campaigns let you follow the same clash of powers from two sides, with different means of tackling enemy defences.
For PlayStation, Westwood developed controls built around a controller interface and support for the separate PlayStation Mouse. The Link Cable enabled a duel using two complete console setups, a clear addition compared with the first Command & Conquer on this platform. Skirmish also provided battles outside the story campaigns. The later Retaliation brought a separate collection of assignments to PlayStation. This Value Series offer is the reissue of Red Alert itself; extra scenarios from Retaliation are not attributed to this game.
Similar games for PlayStation 1
Command & Conquer uses the same foundation of gathering resources, building factories and commanding groups of vehicles. The first game has GDI and Nod fight over Tiberium; Red Alert uses ore and gemstones in a different history. Naval warfare and unusual defences in particular change your approach. On PlayStation, the first game only has single-player campaigns. Red Alert adds Skirmish and duels between two consoles connected through a Link Cable.
Like Red Alert, Dune 2000 combines an economy with base construction and direct orders to your army. The three houses on Arrakis harvest spice instead of ore and gemstones. Sandworms threaten harvesters and buildings require rocky ground. Red Alert divides its armies between the Allies and Soviets and gives ships a larger role. On PlayStation, Dune 2000 also shows three-dimensional units and buildings within its desert environment.
Warzone 2100 also has you produce an army, defend a base and issue orders under time pressure. Assembling vehicles from separate parts is an important system there: you choose a body, propulsion system and weapon. Red Alert gives each faction predefined units such as tanks, spies or submarines. In Warzone, research directs the development of your equipment; in Red Alert, you mainly build a combination of existing roles to break through enemy defences.
Warcraft II: The Dark Saga shares combat across land, sea and air and the need to protect income. It uses a fantasy world of humans, orcs and magic. Gold, lumber and oil require different gathering activities, while Red Alert finances its war with ore and gemstones. In both games, a fleet requires a plan for the coast. The types of units differ: flying fantasy creatures and spellcasters versus military aircraft, spies and electrical defences.
Like Red Alert, KKnD: Krossfire uses real-time battles with bases and armed forces that you expand as you play. The Survivors, Evolved and Series 9 robots provide three different armies in a world after nuclear war. Red Alert has two main camps and builds its story around an alternative European war. In both, you must think beyond a single attack group: without protected production, you cannot keep replacing losses on the front line.
