Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge is an expansion pack to Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 developed by Westwood Studios. The game was released in North America on October 10, 2001 by EA Games. The game is centered around the idea of a shadowy ex-Soviet figure named Yuri having established a secret army of his own and posing a threat to the free-will of the world.

Plot

In Command and Conquer: Yuri's Revenge, the story starts off assuming the Allies won in Red Alert 2. The plot is based around Yuri, the former head of the Soviet Psychic Corps, coming out of hiding to take over the world by using his Psychic Dominators. These devices have the power to mind-control everyone in the world.

The game begins with a presidential briefing in the White House concerning Yuri and how he has began to begin his take over of the world through mind control. Yuri interrupts the briefing to explain how he plans to take over the world, telling the American President Michael Dugan that he has a network of Psychic Dominators around the world, which he is now beginning to reveal. One of Yuri's Psychic Dominators is on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, which Yuri activates just before ending his transmission to the White House. The President immediately calls in an airstrike on the device, but all the attacking aircraft are shot down, although one crashes into the nuclear reactor on the island, causing the device to lose power and to not function. Despite this, Yuri activates his other Psychic Dominators around the world and the majority of the planet quickly succumbs to Yuri's mind-control.

Allies

The Allied story begins with the player being sent to San Francisco to protect Albert Einstein’s Time Machine, which the Allies plan to use to go back in time and prevent Yuri’s Psychic Dominators, devices with the power to mind-control everyone in the world, from ever coming online. But the Time Machine does not have enough power to operate, so the player must capture power plants in the city. Once enough power plants have been captured, the player successfully goes back in time, but arrives at the time that Soviet forces are first invading San Francisco. Despite this, the Allies repulse the Soviet invasion and destroy the Psychic Dominator on Alcatraz Island while it is still under construction. With this surprising victory, the plans of both the Soviets and Yuri are thrown into disarray and both factions are shocked.

The Commander then goes to Los Angeles, which has fallen under Yuri’s control. Allied intelligence has revealed that Yuri has not only mind-controlled most of the population but also has built several Grinders, which are structures that can break down any substance into its raw materials to fund Yuri’s war effort. The Grinders and the rest of Yuri’s forces in the city are destroyed and Los Angeles is freed. With this vital loss, Yuri is forced to look for a new source of income, and finds the chairman of the Massivesoft Corporation (parodies of Bill Gates and the Microsoft Corporation, respectively) in Seattle. After receiving a plea from the CEO, General Carville, who is still alive in this alternate timeline, orders the player to Seattle to free the Massivesoft Corporation and its CEO and to destroy the nuclear missile silo that Yuri had constructed in the city. The nuclear missile silo is quickly destroyed and the Massivesoft Campus is liberated. No longer being forced to fund Yuri’s war effort, the CEO of the Massivesoft Corporation makes a "healthy donation” to the Allied war effort as thanks.

In the midst of these great victories, Yuri has captured Professor Albert Einstein and is forcing him to work on the Psychic Dominator at a base near the Great Pyramid (although Lieutenant Eva Lee calls the Great Pyramid the “Large Pyramid” while briefing the player) so it can come online sooner. The Commander quickly goes to Egypt and frees Einstein before destroying Yuri’s Psychic Dominator and base there. Now in a very desperate situation, Yuri plans to kidnap several world leaders and replace them with mindless clones loyal to Yuri. By orders from General Carville, the player goes to Sydney, Australia, where Yuri’s cloning facility is located, and promptly destroys Yuri’s cloning facility and the rest of his forces.

Even though the Allies have been fighting two enemies on several fronts, the Soviets have been defeated and Yuri's armies are now beginning to fall back. Wishing to bring the war against Yuri to a quick conclusion, the Allies and Soviets are considering joining forces. In order for this to happen, though, a treaty must be ratified and signed by both sides, which will take place at a top secret location. But while informing the player of this, Lieutenant Lee falls under Yuri’s mind-control and tells Yuri that the top secret meeting will be taking place at the Parliament Building in London, England. With this critical information now known to the enemy, General Carville bluntly orders the Commander to go to London and defend the Parliament Building at all costs. With the Commander’s protection, the treaty is ratified and signed and Soviet forces soon join the battle and Yuri’s London base is completely destroyed.

Meanwhile, Allied intelligence has determined that Yuri has one last Psychic Dominator and a massive base on the Antarctic Peninsula, which he plans to use to launch a final assault on the world. The Allied forces quickly para-drop a team of engineers into Tierra del Fuego to repair an abandoned Soviet base there. Once a Soviet radar is set up at the base, a small Allied force is teleported into Antarctica using the Chronosphere, a device with the ability to transport troops anywhere in the world. An Allied base is set up in Antarctica and Yuri’s base is totally annihilated and every last one of Yuri’s forces are destroyed.

With Yuri now defeated, he is locked away in a specially designed cell that Albert Einstein created, a Psychic Isolation Chamber, where he "won't be able to mind-control a fly”. At that moment, the timelines of Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge begin to merge. As Professor Einstein explains, “One series of events must take precedence over the other.” The alternate timeline becomes the new reality, and General Carville is still alive and Yuri's attack never takes place.

Soviet

The Soviet story begins with the remnants of the Soviet leadership discovering of the Allied plan to go back in time. The Soviet high command realizes that if they capture the Allied Time Machine in San Francisco, the Soviet Union could regain its former power. A Soviet strike team goes into San Francisco and manages to capture the Allied Time machine. But the Time Machine does not have enough power, so the player must capture four power plants in the city. Once enough power plants are under Soviet control, the player goes back in time, but due to the efficiency of Soviet engineers the machine travels back in time too much, to the time of the dinosaurs. The player must defend the Time Machine from attacking Tyrannosaurus Rexes until it recharges. After the Time Machine is recharged, the player arrives at the time that Soviet forces are first invading San Francisco. The player quickly assumes command of the Soviet base in the city and then destroys the Psychic Dominator, a device with the power to mind-control everyone in the world, while it is still under construction on Alcatraz Island.

After the successful time shift, the Soviet forces from the future take special papers back to Moscow to inform the Soviet leadership of how the Soviets lost the war and of the threat Yuri poses. Premier Alexander Romanov tells the Commander to go to the Black Forest in Germany and destroy Einstein’s laboratory and prototype Chronosphere, a device with the ability to transport troops anywhere in the world. The Commander promptly destroys this potential Allied threat before it can become a real problem, causing the Allies to retreat on all fronts.

Meanwhile, Soviet intelligence has discovered that Yuri has built a Psychic Beacon, a device that can mind-control the population of entire cities, in London, England and, as a result, the Allied forces there now fight for Yuri. To stop this, the player goes to London and frees the Allies from Yuri’s mind-control. It is revealed that Yuri has created a base and Psychic Dominator in London, but the player soon destroys Yuri’s forces in the area.

Soon after this victory, Premier Romanov’s plane was shot down over Casablanca, Morocco. The “Comrade General” is sent to the city to locate and rescue Romanov before Yuri does. Romanov is found, who appears to be having a great time, and is brought to the only airport in the area after it is brought under Soviet control. With Romanov rescued, the Commander then proceeds to an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean where Yuri has set up a submarine base. After landing on the island, the Commander destroys Yuri’s submarine base and all his remaining forces.

After the battle is over, it is revealed that Yuri also had a launch facility on the island, which still has a rocket ready for launch that is programmed to go to the Moon. The Soviets use this rocket to send forces, led by the player, to the Moon where they destroy Yuri’s base, which he planned to go to after he was in control of the world.

After losing on all fronts, Yuri has taken refuge in a castle in his ancestral home of Transylvania. Premier Romanov orders the player to Yuri’s hideout and to “crush him beneath the stones”. Once in Transylvania, it is discovered that Yuri has built two Psychic Beacons, which he uses to control captured Allied and Soviet troops. The player then sets up a base and launches a massive attack on Yuri’s forces. The castle is successfully destroyed and Yuri is assumed to have been defeated once and for all.

However, Yuri had survived the destruction of his castle in the dungeon. A special transmission from Yuri shows that he had captured the Time Machine, and now it seems that “the world and all its history is [Yuri’s] to command and conquer”. But this is thwarted by Lieutenant Zofia, who quickly changes the destination of the Time Machine to the time of the dinosaurs and depleting all the power reserves of the Time Machine. Yuri is stranded in time and is implied that he is eaten by a Tyrannosaurus rex. With Yuri's destruction assured, the Soviets take complete control of the world and begin to expand communism into the far reaches of space.

Cast and characters

In Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge, there are a wide array of characters portrayed through Full Motion Videos. The main characters in the game are Lt. Eva, Lt. Zofia, Premier Alexander Romanov, Professor Albert Einstein, President Michael Dugan, General Carville, Yuri, and Agent Tanya Adams. All of the characters on the Allied and Soviet sides have a hatred for Yuri and do all they can to assist in the demise of the madman. As they go back in time, Yuri tries to either capture or mind control several characters to do his bidding and compromise that sides defences. However, every time a response is able to swiftly ensure no damage was done.

In their role in the game, Premier Alexander Romanov and President Michael Dugan are the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States of America. Lt. Eva and Lt. Zofia are the debriefing and intelligence gatherers of both sides. Their mission is to assist the commander (the player) in knowing what exactly the mission is and where. General Carville and Tanya Adams are both in the military of the United States. Carville is a top ranking General who is a major force against Yuri and Tanya Adams is a special forces agent. Their efforts are key to the demise of Yuri. Lastly, Yuri is the main antagonist of the game. In both campaigns, he is defeated, in one by a dinosaur, and he is captured in the other one by combined Allied and Soviet military might.

However, Yuri is the main character in the game.

Gameplay

The gameplay for Yuri's Revenge is very similar to that of its predecessor, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. The object of the game is to gather resources while training an army to defend the player's base and attack the player's enemies. This game, like real-time strategy games in general, requires much multi-tasking to ensure a victory.

Several new units have been added to the Allied and Soviet armies, and an entirely new set of units and buildings have been created for Yuri's army. His units generally rely on mind control abilities and cunning rather than brute force. The multiplayer community has established Yuri to be superior to the other factions at all levels of play, due primarily to his unique ability to immobilize entire advancing armies with Magnetrons and Masterminds. Many have gone so far as to ban Yuri's forces from matches altogether for their unbalancing effect. The Allies gain some key units, the anti-tank Guardian GI, the versatile Battle Fortress, and the Navy SEAL. (a mission unit from Red Alert 2) The Soviet additions have only a small impact on their overall strategy, but the game now allows them to produce their heavier tanks at the same speed as the Allies and Yuri, rather than a rate relative to price.

Reception

Yuri's Revenge has received mostly positive reviews. IGN gave the game 8.6 out of 10, saying that it "gives a really excellent game some really impressive enhancements." The lack of a single player campaign for Yuri's army was noted as a weakness.Gamespot said that "All its new features combine to make Yuri's Revenge ideal or even downright necessary for anyone who enjoyed Red Alert 2." , and awarded 8.5 out of 10. GameRankings reports an average score of 85% based on 31 reviews.

Modifications

Mental Omega

Mental Omega is an unofficial expansion modification (mod) of Command and Conquer: Yuri's Revenge. It adds a number of new units to the game, as well as three new campaigns, one for each of the armies present in the game. It also makes changes to the game's A.I., making it behave more human. The plot centers around the return of Yuri and his attempt to conquer the world using a new weapon called the Mental Omega.

DeeZire

Deezire is another expansion mod for Command and Conquer: Yuri's Revenge. Like other mods, it adds many units to the gameplay and makes changes to the games A.I. A notable change made by Deezire is the inclusion of the Volkov unit, not used in the retail game - despite being the main feature of the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 retail box cover art.

Being multiplayer (or skirmish) oriented, Deezire does not add any single player missions, so it has no accompanying story line. It does, however, offer background info on each new unit added to the game, such as the circumstances that led to the units creation and introduction into the Command & Conquer universe.

See also

• Yuri
• Command & Conquer series
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

References

1. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/commandconqueryurisrevenge/index.html?tag=tabs;summary "Command & Conquer Yuri's Revenge" Retrieved on 11-6-07
2. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/476890.asp
3. http://mo.cncguild.net/
4. http://www.cncarchive.com/deezire.shtml

External links

• Command & Conquer : Yuri's Revenge on the official website of Westwood Studios