Since it’s the weekends and also Labor day for US, let’s have some fun and play some really classic but very good PC game called Command & Conquer Red Alert. This PC game is one of the early computer game that I remembered enjoyed playing in my cousin’s Pentium 100Mhz PC. I played Dune 2000 on my 486 computer before but it wasn’t as fun as C&C Red Alert.

Today, August 31st, 2008 (US Pacific time) marks the 13th anniversary of the storied Command & Conquer franchise, which has sold over 25 million copies to date. And to celebrate this milestone and this October’s highly anticipated return to the world of Red Alert with Red Alert 3, Electronic Arts are giving away one of the original games that started it all, Command & Conquer Red Alert, for FREE.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a real-time strategy computer game of the Command & Conquer franchise, produced by Westwood Studios and released by Virgin Interactive in 1996. The second game to bear the “C&C” title, Red Alert is the prequel to the original Command & Conquer of 1995, and takes place in the early history of the alternate universe of Command & Conquer when Allied Forces battle an aggressive Soviet Union for control over the European mainland.

Red Alert was praised for its user interface, which claimed to be more developed than the competing games of its time. Players could queue commands, create unit groups that could be selected by a number key, and control numerous units at a time. The game was known to be easy to control, simple to learn and responsive to users commands. It also featured two factions that had differing styles of play. Red Alert is also hailed as one of the first games to feature competitive online play. The single player campaign also received high praise for its detailed story line and missions which often required the player to defeat the enemy with various sets of circumstances before continuing.

C&C Red Alert was initially available for PC (MS-DOS & Windows 95 versions included in one package), and was subsequently ported to PlayStation. Command & Conquer: Red Alert cannot be directly installed on either Windows XP or Windows Vista, with the notice “Red Alert can only be installed on Windows 95″ appearing if an installation is attempted on either of the two operating systems. It however remains possible to manually install the game and its expansion packs, by running Red Alert’s executables in Windows 95 compatibility mode, and by replacing the “Thipx32.dll” file which the game installs within its main directory with an updated version.

The Soviets’ vehicles have more hit points and firepower than Allied vehicles but are often slower moving. The Allies’ forces are generally cheaper, faster to build and are more agile. Their mine layers destroy enemy armor and their infantry can survive longer with good use of their Medic unit. Which force would you use? I’d go for Soviet! Enjoy!

Update: My bad, Command & Conquer Red Alert giveaway is not really today only. Did not mention when will this offer end. Anyway, just download it as soon as you can before the server overloads or offer expires.

[ Download Command & Conquer: Red Alert Soviet Disc | Allied Disc ]