Play Command & Conquer: Red Alert Online

Command and Conquer: Red Alert is a real time strategy game released in 1996 for MS DOS. It was developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment. The game presents an alternate history scenario set in the 1950s, where the Allied nations face a global threat from the Soviet Union.

Players command military forces from either the Allied or Soviet faction across a series of missions viewed from a top down perspective. The core objective is to build and manage a base, gather resources, produce combat units, and eliminate the enemy's forces and structures. Gameplay involves constructing various buildings for unit production and base defense, harvesting ore and gems for funds, and commanding a mix of infantry, vehicles, and naval units. Missions take place across diverse outdoor environments and occasionally indoors, with some scenarios restricting the player to infantry only, adding variety to the strategic challenges.

The narrative framework establishes the game's setting. In this timeline, scientist Albert Einstein used a time machine to erase Adolf Hitler from history, intending to prevent World War II. This action inadvertently allows Joseph Stalin to rise unchecked, leading the Soviet Union to launch a campaign for European domination. The single player campaign primarily casts the player as an Allied commander tasked with halting the Soviet advance, though a separate campaign allows players to lead the Soviet forces through their own perspective of the conflict.