History VideoGame / CommandAndConquerRedAlert

** The Mammoth Tank is expensive ($1700), too slow to dodge enemy fire or move around quickly enough to establish map control. Unfortunately, it's the Soviets' ''only'' mobile anti-air.

** The second-last Soviet mission requires the player to capture the Chronosphere within the Allied base and prevent its subsequent destruction. Except capturing the Chronosphere produces the comically frustrating "Objective Reached. Mission Failed." voiceover, presumably due to a bug where the game counts the Chronosphere falling out of Allied hands in any way - even capturing like the game tells you to do - just the same as if you blew the thing up. The only way to progress is through a roundabout solution that essentially requires you to capture an Allied Barracks and then use your combined units to KillEmAll.

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler: The Soviet campaign ends like this, with everyone you meet dying in a convoluted series of back stabs and paranoia. Well, everyone except the adviser, that is.]]

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: It is highly unlikely that the Dark Horsemen atomic missiles would be able to be disarmed in mid-flight as after launching an [=ICBM=], the point of no return is already crossed. The Allies aren't implied to have the ability of even ''intercept'' an [=ICBM=], but if they did, then the resolution would be from successfully knocking the nukes out of the air.

** The Mammoth Tank is expensive ($1700), too slow to dodge enemy fire or move around quickly enough to establish map control.

* AnachronismStew: Although the game is set in the early 1950s and features characters like Stalin and Einstein, it also features modern and even futuristic military technology alongside older technology (for example, the Soviet airforce is a mix of Yakovlev airplanes from the 1940s, Tupolev bombers from the 1950s, and [[MiG MiG]] jets from the 1970s). A good example which personifies this is the trio of soldiers who find Stalin in the Allied ending, who are dressed in World War II era uniforms yet carry [=M-16s=] (one of which even has an underslung grenade launcher) despite the in-game purchase icon for the 'Rifle Infantry' unit being instead shown wielding a WWII-era M1 carbine.

* BombardierMook: The Soviet Mig is a jet bomber that drops all its bombs on the same target, and is fast enough that it can avoid most fixed AntiAir defenses. The Yak deals less damage, but does so over a wider area, making it a better infantry killer.

** [[spoiler:Kane]] is very fond of Orwell's ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'': "He who controls the past, commands the future.". The quote was also paraphrased in ''Videogame/DuneII'', the spiritual predecessor of C&C.

Red Alert, the first game of the [[CommandAndConquerRedAlertSeries series]], provides a contrast with its successors thanks to a serious and mostly camp-free tone. Released by Creator/WestwoodStudios in 1996 for DOS and Windows (in 640x480 VGA resolution, a major improvement from its predecessor) platforms. It later spawned its own sequels, each taking place in an ''alternate'' alternate timeline; for a while, an explanation some fans came up with was that the Allied ending of ''Red Alert'' led to ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2 Red Alert 2]]'', and the Soviet ending of ''Red Alert'' led to ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianDawn Tiberian Dawn]]''. [[WordofGod Word of God]], however, says that the Allied ending is canon in both timelines, meaning that something must have happened ''after'' Red Alert's conclusion to cause the timeline split.

A prequel to the original ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'', using the same engine and gameplay to tell a story of an AlternateHistory WWII fought between the European Allies and [[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla]]-powered [[RedScare communists]] bent on [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]]. Red Alert provides a contrast with its successors thanks to a serious and mostly camp-free tone. Released by Creator/WestwoodStudios in 1996 for DOS and Windows (in 640x480 VGA resolution, a major improvement from its predecessor) platforms. It later spawned its own sequels, each taking place in an ''alternate'' alternate timeline; for a while, an explanation some fans came up with was that the Allied ending of ''Red Alert'' led to ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2 Red Alert 2]]'', and the Soviet ending of ''Red Alert'' led to ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianDawn Tiberian Dawn]]''. [[WordofGod Word of God]], however, says that the Allied ending is canon in both timelines, meaning that something must have happened ''after'' Red Alert's conclusion to cause the timeline split.

* BilingualBonus: The exchange between Hitler and Einstein in the introduction is in German [[RealityHasNoSubtitles without subtitles]]:

** The Tesla Tank borrows its design from the rather useless Radar Jammer unit in this game. Later games would give it a proper design with tesla coils for tank barrels.

'''Assistant:''' Congratulations, professor! With Hitler removed-\\

** The Allied pillbox, camouflaged pillbox, and gun turrets. While the gun turrets aren't as damaging as the Soviet Tesla Coil, they are cheaper, consume less power, and fire more quickly. They also pack a decent punch. Also, the two pillboxes use machine guns that are more accurate than the fireballs used by the Soviet flamethrower turret and are still frighteningly effective against infantry.

** Joseph Kucan (who played Kane in the Tiberium Series) shows up as Stalin's advisor. [[spoiler:This is not a coincidence, as the character in question is Kane himself.]] Kucan also plays the aforementioned spy who chokes Klepacki's guard character.

* SwirlyEnergyThingy: If you use Chronosphere-related abilities too much, there's a 20% chance of a [[TheDreaded Chrono Vortex]] to manifest somewhere on the map that takes the form of a vortex that bends the environment around it. While the vortex is slow, it is '''completely invincible''' and decimates '''any unit or structure''' in its way with reddish-orange lightning similar to Tesla Coils. The only choice one has is to [[RunOrDie evade it like the plague]] as it dissipates over time. There's even a small cutscene that shows it.

-->'''Gradenko''': Let's see how [[NonEntityGeneral you]] handle this. Go at once to Toruń, destroy everything and everyone. No prisoners, no survivors. (continues to get back to his work, but after a moment he pauses as the That is all.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The game's box art shows a Soviet Hind helicopter using a missile to destroy a tank. In the game, Hinds only have machine guns and are nearly useless against tanks. This is probably just a simple case of gameplay-story segregation.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The game's box art shows a Soviet Hind helicopter using a missile to destroy a tank. In the game, Hinds only have machine guns and are nearly useless against tanks. This is likely a case of gameplay-story segregation.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The game's box art shows a Soviet Hind helicopter using a missile to destroy a tank. In the game, Hinds only have machine guns and are nearly useless against tanks.

** After the Allies start pushing back the Soviets, Stalin realizes that he can't win a conventional conflict anymore and puts all his effort into completing the Soviet nuclear program in time to start bombing enemy cities with them. This mirrors Nazi Germany's putting its faith into vaunted ''Wunderwaffen'' (wonder weapons) towards the end of the war that would turn the tide in Germany's favor. The difference is that Stalin can actually back up his threat, with an entire mission revolving around infiltrating a missile silo to destroy it.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: It is highly unlikely that the Dark Horsemen nuclear missiles would be able to be disarmed in mid-flight as after launching an [=ICBM=], the point of no return is already crossed. The Allies aren't implied to have the ability of even ''intercept'' an [=ICBM=], but if they did, then the resolution would be from successfully knocking the nukes out of the air.

* NukeEm: Employed by the Soviets in the Allied campaign. As the Allies turn the tide of the war and are steadily advancing across Europe into the Soviet Union, Stalin decides to destroy the primary capitals and cities of the European Allies with the nuclear weapons his scientists have recently developed, while using his own forces as a sacrificial lamb to draw attention away from the missile sites. The player has to capture and then infiltrate the facility to safely disarm the weapons.

* AnachronismStew: Although the game is set in the early 1950s and features characters like Stalin and Einstein, it also features modern and even futuristic military technology alongside older technology (for example, the Soviet airforce is a mix of Yakovlev airplanes from the 1940s, Tupolev bombers from the 1950s, and [[MiG MiG]] jets from the 1970s). A good example which personifies this is the trio of soldiers who find Stalin in the Allied ending, who are dressed in World War II era uniforms yet carry [=M-16s=], one of which even has an underslung grenade launcher, despite the in-game purchase icon for the 'Rifle Infantry' unit being instead shown wielding a WWII-era M1 carbine.

* AnachronismStew: Although the game is set in the early 1950s and features characters like Stalin and Einstein, it also features modern and even futuristic military technology alongside older technology (for example, the Soviet airforce is a mix of Yakovlev airplanes from the 1940s, Tupolev bombers from the 1950s, and [[MiG MiG]] jets from the 1970s). A good example which personifies this is the trio of soldiers who find Stalin in the Allied ending, who are dressed in World War II era uniforms yet carry [=M-16s=], one of which even has an underslung grenade launcher, despite the in-game purchase icon for the 'Rifle Infantry' unit being instead shown with an M1 carbine.

* AnachronismStew: Although the game is set in the early 1950s and features characters like Stalin and Einstein, it also features modern and even futuristic military technology alongside older technology (for example, the Soviet airforce is a mix of Yak airplanes from the 1940s, Badger bombers from the 1950s, and [[MiG MiG]] jets from the 1970s). A good example which personifies this is the trio of soldiers who find Stalin in the Allied ending, who are dressed in World War II era uniforms yet carry [=M-16s=], one of which even has an underslung grenade launcher, despite the in-game purchase icon for the 'Rifle Infantry' unit being instead shown with an M1 carbine.

** Despite being an alternate World War II in the '50s, ''Red Alert'' features plenty of military hardware developed decades later in our timeline. Some of this can be explained as Westwood reusing art and graphic assets from ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianDawn'', but it's quite unsettling to see tanks and aircraft which were cutting edge in 1997 suddenly appearing forty-plus years earlier.

* AnachronismStew: Although the game is set in the early 1950s and features characters like Stalin and Einstein, it also features modern and even futuristic military technology alongside older technology (for example, Yak airplanes from the 1940s and [[MiG MiG]] jets from the 1970s). A good example which personifies this is the trio of soldiers who find Stalin in the Allied ending, who are dressed in World War II era uniforms yet carry [=M-16s=], one of which even has an underslung grenade launcher, despite the purchase icon for the 'Rifle Infantry' unit being instead shown with an M1 carbine.

* AnachronismStew: Although the game is set in the early 1950s and features characters like Stalin and Einstein, it also features modern and even futuristic military technology alongside older technology (for example, piston-engine Yak airplanes from the 1940s and third-generation [[MiG MiG]] jets from the 1970s). A good example which personifies this is the trio of soldiers who find Stalin in the Allied ending, who are dressed in World War II era uniforms yet carry [=M-16s=], one of which even has an underslung grenade launcher, despite the purchase icon for the 'Rifle Infantry' unit being instead shown with an M1 carbine.