Red Alert 2 is a classical RTS (Real Time Strategy) game by Westwood Studios, released in 2001. The gameplay involves playing as the commander of one nation, controlling economic production and military actions to protect and expand one’s own bases and to destroy enemies’.
Mechanics: movements and attacks of individual military units, production of military units, currency-based resource system, construction of military bases.
Dynamics: complex social dynamics and competition between players
Aesthetics: fellowship/competition, challenge, fantasy, sensory
Red Alert 2 was initially designed to be an alternate-ending story telling game focused on narrative. However, somewhat ironically, players are so much attracted to single round player-vs-AI or player-vs-player competition mode such that some MODed version got rid of the original story set completely. As one of the earliest games of its kind, the military strategy games provides a hotbed for developments of un-anticipated tactics from both technical and social aspects, creating complex dynamics between players. The real-time aspect of the game adds to the Challenge by presenting players with constantly changing circumstances (created by the past actions of all players!) such that no single tactic could dominate once-and-for-all, and requiring players to make decision in limited time. While hardcore fans go in depth to measure and calculate the best technical strategy under different circumstances, when playing with a group of friends, “diplomacy” outside the game (a form of “meta”-gaming) become a legitimate and important aspect of the game, creating dynamic experiences of Fellowship and Competition.
The game also has an aspect of Fantasy and Sensory, which in this case is fascinatingly intermixed. The gameplay itself fulfills players’ fantasy of beholding the power of commanding one military/nation and dominating the map. On the other hand, the Cold War settings also fulfills certain historical fantasy. While the visual and sound design of the game itself is relatively simple, the repeating simple elements creates a strong “secondary” sensory stimulation once players associate them with the fantasy. It’s not any 3A visual effects that acts as the stimuli, it’s the cold broadcasting voice “nuclear missile launched”, that a veteran players have heard hundreds of time and fully aware of its consequence both in the fantasized game world and the fantasized real world. The accompanied not-excessive visuals and sound effects are just enough to induce the mental state from holding a horrifying power, instead of representing the power explicitly. The Sensory experience it creates is no weaker than if it did use direct stimuli.
