What Makes Red Alert 3 for PS3 the “Ultimate Edition?”

Hi all, my name is David Seeholzer and I am the Senior Development Director for Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Ultimate Edition. You might be asking yourself why we are calling it the ‘Ultimate Edition’ of Red Alert 3. I wanted to share some insight into the cool extras and bonus content we are making exclusive for you guys, as well as shed a little light on the development process and our future plans for the title on PS3.

Red Alert found its humble beginnings over a decade ago on PC and has since seen 2 sequels, several expansion packs, and now, is making its debut on the PS3 console. Fortunately the power of the PS3 and the Blu-ray medium has afforded us some extra luxuries that weren’t available to us previously.

The most noticeable difference you’ll see in the Ultimate Edition on PS3 is an increase the visual quality of the game so that it truly stands up to HD Blu-ray definition. A perfect example of this is what you will see in the game’s water. One of the huge new features you’ll see in Red Alert 3 is an increase in naval warfare and amphibious units. Most strategy games in the past have never paid much attention to navy but we’re bringing it to the center. As such, we paid close attention to detail with it and ensured that we maximized its visual aspects, without penalizing game performance even under the most intense of battles.

Another great thing about the PS3 is its use of Blu-ray. We are taking as much advantage as we can of the extra storage space, cramming it full of exclusive features and in game content, including some exclusive new maps for you wage you and your buddies to skirmish battles on over PSN. There is also a ton of videos, giving you a behind the scenes look at the development of the game and the making of our live-action cinematics, a hallmark of the Command & Conquer series. Red Alert 3 features one of the biggest casts in the history of games, including legends like Tim Curry, George Takei, J.K. Simmons, MMA superstars Randy Couture and Gina Carano and a host of starlets including Jenny McCarthy, Kelly Hu, Autumn Reeser and Gemma Atkinson (speaking of which, my personal favorite extra is a look at the “Women of Red Alert 3” video we’ve included). Our Command & Conquer TV team also produced two episodes of the network’s favorite programs, BattleCast PrimeTime and Command School which are totally dedicated to the Ultimate Edition. And to top it all off, we’ve also included the entire Red Alert 3 soundtrack for your listening pleasure, including the theme song “Hellmarch.”

Red Alert 3 also brings another first to strategy games: a fully co-operative campaign. With the PlayStation Network, you and your friends will be able to play through the entire campaign together. There was a strong effort to make sure that each mission was designed for two commanders working together and in making sure that the experience was engaging and challenging. And with the extra time we were given,we were also able to fine tune and balance each mission specifically for the console to ensure that players have the best experience possible.

Of course all of this doesn’t matter if you don’t have a fun game and one of the most important aspects of a fun RTS is how you control your army. After all, you can’t conquer the battlefield, if you can’t get your tanks in first gear. The dev team here has been working on console RTS since Battle for Middle Earth II on through Tiberium Wars and Kane’s Wrath, all for the Xbox 360. Now we’re proud to be bringing what we think is the smoothest, easiest-to-grasp control set up we have ever designed to the PS3 with the CommandStick 2.0 interface. You’ll be able to easily group units, jump around the battlefield, stage attacks and defenses, and manage their bases, all with a couple flicks of the thumbsticks. Once you get your hands on it, you will be crushing noobs in no time.

We’re also planning on supporting Red Alert 3: Ultimate Edition through the PlayStation Store and with downloadable content. Even now as we are finishing the game, we have a team hard at work on content packages and live support for the PS3. We plan on releasing multiple map packs through the PS Store; in fact, the first one will be available for free right about the time the game comes out in March. Following that we should have some real cool content for you to download in the future, but for now check out the Red Alert 3 page on the PS Store for the Ultimate Edition Theme and our first sneak peak trailer of the PS3 version.

This is the first classic RTS for the PS3, and the first strategy game that the development team at EA Los Angeles has brought to this console. We are all proud of how it turned out and we can’t wait to hear what you, the fans, think of it. Please send us your comments and leave us feedback, we love hearing from you and your suggestions!

Check us out on the PS Store, or go to www.redalert3.com for more info.

Thanks again fellow Comrades, see you on the Battlefield!