Frequently Asked Questions

New Updates:

1.When will Yuri's Revenge ship to stores?

Yuri's Revenge will hit stores shelves on October 12th. Check with your local software retailer to reserve your copy.

2.Are we still only limited to 640x480 in Quick Match with Yuris?

No, we have added the ability to play in any screen resolution you choose.

3.Will the Allies get to build the Navy SEAL in Multiplay?

Yes! By popular demand the Allies can now build the Navy SEAL in multiplay. Watch out for this guy, he's one of the best units around, next to Tanya that is.

4.Have you made any improvements to the Hospital?

Yes, players no longer have to order their infantry units to enter the Hospital. Infantry units will now auto heal.

5.Will players receive any bonuses for garrisoned buildings?

Units inside garrisoned buildings will now go up in vetrancy as they destroy units.

6.What does the new Force Shield do?

Once a battle Lab is built (doesn't matter which side) the Force Shield will automatically begin charging. Once charged, the Force Shield can be used to protect friendly structures, including those of an ally. The only drawback comes from the strain to your power structure, so power within your base will go offline for a short duration.

General Information:

7.When did the planning begin for Yuri's Revenge? Were you already thinking about it when you were developing RA2?

We knew we would do an expansion pack early in the development of RA2, but we didn't know what it would be. We started working in earnest on it right after RA2 was completed and as usual, came up with so many new ideas, that it would take years to incorporate them all. Starting in January, we focused on the key elements that we wanted to introduce and have been working hard on making them come to life. Yuri was such a key component to RA2 that we wanted to raise his level of involvement with the expansion pack and decided to create a whole new side devoted to his new units and tactics.

8.Why did you decide to create a new player side for the expansion pack?

We want to give our fans more of what they love. Adding a third side is a huge undertaking for us. It seemed crazy at first, but looking back, it was worth the effort. The third side and all the new units and technologies add so much to the gameplay. There are so many new tactics and cool possibilities.

9.Who is working on the pack? Is it all the original Red Alert 2 team?

We've got some great people on the project. The artists, designers and programmers on it all worked on RA2.

10.The words 'Red Alert 2' have been dropped from the title of Command & Conquer Yuri's Revenge. Does that mean Yuri's Revenge might have its own sequel or be playable independently?

The official title of the product is "C&C Yuri's Revenge, an RA2 Expansion Pack". You will need the original RA2 to play this game. Any future sequels or follow-up titles will work similarly.

11.Is there anything in the expansion pack the team has found difficult to implement?

Nothing terribly difficult, considering it's the same engine that we used for Red Alert 2. However, this is the first time we've added an entirely new side with an expansion pack, and balancing all of the new units and structures is always a challenge.


12.What is the release date for Yuri's Revenge?

Our current plans call for a late September release.


13.Any plans at all that you can hint at concerning further C&C: Red Alert games?

Let's just say that the Red Alert franchise is alive and kicking.


Gameplay:

14.What does the new Force Shield do?

Once a battle Lab is built (doesn't matter which side) the Force Shield will automatically begin charging. Once charged, the Force Shield can be used to protect friendly structures, including those of an ally. The only drawback comes from the strain to your power structure, so power within your base will go offline for a short duration.

15.Have you made any improvements to the Hospital?

Yes, players no longer have to order their infantry units to enter the Hospital. Infantry units will now auto heal.

16.Will players receive any bonuses for garrisoned buildings?

Units inside garrisoned buildings will now go up in vetrancy as they destroy units.

17.What will the storyline of the expansion be like? Is it a continuation of the full game's story or a parallel storyline?

We've continued the RA2 story with the expansion pack. At the end of RA2, Yuri had disappeared and was presumed dead by the Soviets and Allies. Actually, Yuri went underground and began assembling his own psychic army to make a bid for world domination. When the story begins, Yuri has already put together a large force, complete with mind-control weapons of mass destruction. It is up to the player to thwart Yuri's plans and restore peace to the world.

18.Will there be any technical differences between RA2 and Yuri's Revenge?

We're making some enhancements and changes to the RA2 engine, but the majority of the technical work will involve getting a fully functional and independent third side working in the game. "Yuri's Revenge" is the first C&C game with an independent third side so we've got some challenges to overcome.

19.What units will the player get to use in the new player side. Will there be any additions to Red Alert 2's original player side?

We have added over 30 new units, structures and tech buildings in the expansion pack, some new ones on the Soviet and Allied sides, but mostly on the new side -- Yuri's psychic army. Of the new units, there is the Virus, a sniper that shoots poison darts at the enemy. The enemy unit will blow up to twice his original size and explode in a cloud of noxious gas. There is also the Brute. This is a huge, genetically-created infantryman that can crush tanks with his bare hands. Also, there is the slave miner, a mining vehicle that automatically deploys five little slaves to collect the ore. If the harvester is killed the slaves give a little cheer and then join whoever killed the Miner using their shovels as clubs. These are just a few of the many diverse units we've added to the game.

20.Can the player actually play Yuri?

You can play as Yuri in multiplayer and in coop games, but not in solo play. We made the creative decision to make Yuri our main antagonist, or big bad guy. It just made more sense in the story design to have the Allies and Soviets fighting against an all-powerful villain.

21.The Command & Conquer series has always been based in real-world environments, for example San Francisco. What were your reasons for creating environments that would be familiar to the gamer?

We used real world cities and environments because people like seeing cities from around the world in the game. Our experiences is that protecting or destroying the landmarks in a well known city is more fun than having a battle in unrecognizable settings so we did more of this in Yuri's Revenge.

22.Are there any particular elements that are new or have been added to Yuri's Revenge that the team is particularly proud of, gameplay additions or AI design?

We've think adding a full set of units so that Yuri could have his own army and become the third side is a great thing. Yuri's Revenge is the first C&C to feature three distinct sides and we're really proud of that.

23.Will the player be able to play any new countries?

Currently we don't have any brand new countries. A whole new side is a pretty tall order as it stands. When you capture one of the new tech buildings though, you're rewarded with a unit from a country other than your own.

24.Will any of the existing units be benefiting from new skills or weapons?

After watching people play RA2 for almost a year now, we've noticed some tweaks and changes that needed to be made to existing units. Those will show up in Yuri's Revenge. Overall though, we know it's going to be great fun taking your old favorites up against the new units we've added to the Yuri side, so we haven't made any radical changes.

25.Can you tell us anything about the three new neutral tech buildings that will appear in the game?

One of the things people liked about RA2 was capturing buildings, especially the tech buildings. In Yuri's Revenge, we've got three new ones. The first is the "Secret Lab" that, when captured, gives you the technology from a random nation that you don't currently have. The next is the "Hospital" that, when captured, causes your infantry's health to regenerate. The last is the "Machine Shop" that, when captured, regenerates the health of your vehicles.

26.What kinds of maps and missions will there be for the expansion?

We've added 14 new solo campaign missions to the expansion pack, played on familiar and exotic cities, such as San Francisco, Hollywood, Seattle, London, Cairo, Transylvania, and even the moon. In all of them, the player will be charged with defeating Yuri and his psychic army before they take over the planet.

27.How big will mission levels be?

The missions are the same size as in RA2.

28.How will the fourteen missions in the solo campaign be broken up between Allied and Soviet forces?

There are seven solo missions for each the Soviet and Allied sides. You will play one side at a time. There are 10 co-op missions and you can play either the Soviet, Allied or the Yuri side through each of those missions.

Multiplayer:

29.Are we still only limited to 640x480 in Quick Match with Yuris?

No, we have added the ability to play in any screen resolution you choose.


30.What is multiplayer looking like for the game?

It's shaping up to be just as much fun as the original RA2. We will have the traditional skirmish game against the computer or over the Internet. Also, we've added 10 new co-op missions to play with a buddy. Players that want to play Yuri's Revenge on Westwood Online will also have their own dedicated tournament and ladder system.

31.How will the 10 co-op missions relate to the events played out in the single player missions?

The fiction for the co-op missions will be in the same world as the main missions for Yuri's Revenge.

32.The 10 co-op missions are broken down into three sets of three missions, with an additional single co-op mission. In the first set, you play the Allies fighting against Yuri and the Soviets. In the second set, you play the Soviets fighting against the Allies and Yuri. In the third set, you play as Yuri against the Soviets and the Allies. In the last single co-op mission, you can choose to play as either or both the Allies and Soviets against Yuri.

33.Will Yuri's Revenge be compatible with your recently released FinalAlert 2 map and mission editor?

Yes, we are planning to do that.

34.Have you made any changes to the way ladder games are played?

Yes, quick match will be the only way to play ranked games now.

35.How many disks will Yuri's Revenge come on - will two or three players be able to play the multiplayer game on a LAN with only a single purchase?

There will be one CD ROM for Yuri's Revenge. You will have to purchase a copy for each person playing in the game.

Unit Specific:

36.Will the Allies get to build the Navy SEAL in Multiplay?

Yes! By popular demand the Allies can now build the Navy SEAL in multiplay. Watch out for this guy, he's one of the best units around, next to Tanya that is.

37.How do the Robot Tanks compare to other more powerful units (Grizzlies, Rhinos)?

As a robotic remote controlled unit, it doesn't have the ability to sport a heavy gun or armor as the other tanks, but we compensated by giving it complete resistance to mind-control and radiation.


38.Can Boris use an air strike on tanks?

No, Boris can only call in airstrikes on buildings.

39.How much land can the Soveit Spy Plane uncover?

This is still being balanced...but currently it opens up a swath of land along the planes route of its target about 40 tiles long and 12 tiles wide

40.Can the Soviet Siege Chopper attack air units?

Yes!

41.What are some of the unique features of Yuri's Floating Disc?

The Floating Disc will auto target and shoot any base defenses that are powered (i.e. Prism Tower and Tesla Coil). However, the Floating Disc will not auto target and shoot any base defenses that are not powered (i.e. Pillbox and Sentry Gun). It can also fire at land and airbased units.

Also, the Floating Disc is allowed to drain off teammate's power plants and refineries. This is a useful way to transfer/share energy and money in team games.