C&C: Red Alert 3 Exclusive Beta Impressions!

C&C: Red Alert 3 Exclusive Beta Impressions!

 

And now for the in-depth information. First, let’s take a look at the Empire of the Rising Sun:

  • Engineers are amphibious.
  • So are their Sudden Transports, which can assume the identity of other vehicles to fool enemies into thinking a transport full of Engineers is actually something different.
  • The Japanese also must upgrade tech levels (1 and 2 for each type of unit–infantry, land-based, and sea-based–there are no aircraft for the Japanese army, as their other units often double as such) before they can build many of their units.  These are the aforementioned nanotech upgrades.
  • Descriptions of the Japanese’s Top Secret Protocols:
    • Fortified Fleet makes your naval units faster with stronger defense and better naval scanners.
    • Point-Defense Drones provide extra defense to any area of the map, absorbing some enemy fire.
    • Final Squadron sends a swarm of Sunburst Drones to an area to cause significant damage.
    • You can also upgrade Final Squadron to Final Squadron X and Final Squadron Omega for added effect.
    • Honorable Discharge straps explosives to your infantry that detonate after they’ve been damaged heavily.
    • Emperor’s Rage slows your forces but emblazons their sense of strength.
    • Emperor’s Revenge and Emperor’s Retribution provide added effect.
    • Robotic Assembly reduces build times for all production structures.
    • Advanced Rocket Pods provide stronger, more deadly rockets for any unit that attacks using them.
    • Sleeper Ambush brings Tankbusters out of the soil to attack where desired.
    • Balloon Bombs sends small bombs raining out of the sky.
    • Balloon Bomb Blowout and Barrage provided added effect.
  • Some primary/secondary abilities of Rising Sun troops:
    • Tankbusters slice through enemy armor, specifically meaning tanks and other vehicles, of course; secondary ability burrows them into a spider hole to avoid being crushed and provide additional defense.
    • Burst Drones provide reconnaissance and can also detect cloaked or disguised units nearby; secondary ability performs a sort of apoptosis of sorts–the unit self-destructs and creates minor collateral damage as well.
    • Japanese Engineers’ secondary ability allows them to run with “Shameful Abandon” for a short while, which provides them with extra (very dangerous) speed.
    • Imperial Warriors’ (Japanese basic infantry) secondary ability is Banzai Charge, which allows them to power on a beam katana to quickly slice through nearby infantry.
    • Defender-VX turrets can switch on the fly from anti-air to anti-surface defense via their secondary ability.
    • Shinobi can throw a smoke bomb with his secondary ability to vanish briefly from enemy sight (lasts for around 10 seconds).
    • Wave-Force Towers (Japan) can fire powerful superheated blasts at foes, or secondarily, they can initiate a Premature Discharge to fire rapidly but less powerfully.
    • The Tsunami Tank can traverse land or sea, and its secondary ability, Nanodeflectors, expels numerous nanobots from its cannon to protect it with higher defensive strength for a short period
    • Yari Mini-Subs can execute a secondary ability called Last Voyage, which sends them barreling Kamikaze-style toward an enemy structure with intent to destroy it.
    • Japanese Ore Collectors can flip their cargo hold to reveal a defensive gun.
    • Rocket Angels’ Secondary Ability: Paralysis Whip, which disables a target temporarily.
    • Naginata Cruisers target other naval units; their secondary ability sends a fan of torpedoes out in front of them.
    • Shogun Battleships fire from respectable distances with stunning effect; secondary ability Ramming Speed provides just that.