Are you the kind of real time strategy fan that spent countless hours ejecting the Russian hordes from Europe in the first Red Alert, while watching the awesome, at the time, full motion cut scenes featuring Stalin and Einstein? Or are you just a new player interested in revisiting one of the classics of gaming?

 

It doesn't really matter, as Electronic Arts has something great in store either way. It is now saying that the original Command & Conquer: Red Alert will be released for free as the 13th anniversary of its initial launch is fast approaching.

 

(This should be read in slightly Russian accented English, preferably while listening to the anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) While the capitalist and money hungry behemoth that is Electronic Arts should be commented for touching the socialist ideals by freely releasing one of their titles to the masses of gamers hungry for some good real time strategy, the capitalists should also be chastised and sent to the gulag for making it hard to actually play the game.

 

It seems that you first need to log on to the Electronic Arts official page to download both game disks, one for the Allies and one for the Soviets. You then need to burn these two disks on CDs or install a program that can emulate a disk drive and finally install the game and get to play. It might have been easier if the package that you got from EA was actually a game in playable form, or at least a digital download that could be installed without the need for burning or disk emulators.

 

Still, the offer is too good to pass up, especially if you've never seen the original Red Alert in action. Electronic Arts is also making it easy to get Red Alert 2, the sequel to the first game, if you pre-order the third game in the series, which is set to arrive this fall.