Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 - Free on EA's Origin service

Did you ever play the board game Stratego as a kid?

Did you dream of commanding armies against an enemy bent on your destruction?

Command and Conquer from Westwood studios fulfilled that dream for gamers in the late 90's.  In 2000 EA bought the development studio and produced what was then and still is one of the most entertaining Real Time Strategy games in the genre, Command and Conquer Red Alert 2. 

If you're a fan of games like Syndicate, Company of Heroes or Starcraft then this latest freebie from EA is right up your alley.  That's right, Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 is the current offering from EA's "On the House" promotion.

If you don't know anything about Real-time Strategy Games then this may be a good introduction for you.  Set against a backdrop of a cold war gone hot, your goal is pretty simple.  Wipe out the other guy by destroying or taking over his stuff before he does the same to you.  

At your disposal are troops, buildings and vehicles.  That is, assuming you've got enough of an economy to afford them.  Lest we forget, this is war so don't be surprised if the enemy is constantly attacking you hoping to cripple your ability to fight.

Your perspective is somewhere between 2D and 3D ( most call it 2.5D ) meaning you look at the game world from a diagonal perspective hovering over the playfield.

Unlike most properties that EA buys, they somehow managed to not screw this one up.  The game is more lighthearted than its predecessor and keeps you engaged with amusing dialog and well acted video clips. 

BTW, Kari Wuhrer never looked better than she did playing Special Agent Tanya Adams in this game.

The interface is simple and the gameplay fairly intuitive.  It's primarily a single player game but there is an Internet (online) option in the main menu although it's doubtful there are any active EA servers.

For a game that EA's giving away, this is one of the better deals they've offered up since Syndicate or Battlefield 3.  

They're also including the 2001 expansion, Yuri's Revenge.

All it takes is 1.5 GB of hard drive space and a bit of patience.  When EA offered up C&C 2 they found their download servers besieged and had to temporarily take them down to deal with the demand.  So if you open your Origin Client and find Theme Hospital instead of C&C2, know it's only a stand-in till EA can ramp up the servers.

Get your copy while you can.  I've never been a big fan of RTS games but so far this one's got me hooked and who can argue with the price?

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 with the Yuri's Revenge expansion is available now (soon as the servers are back up) on EA's Origin service.

Here's an example of what to expect...