It's been a while since we've seen a true Red Alert sequel for the PC but now EA have taken over where Westwood studios left off and it's crazier than ever...

The plot is what you've come to expect from a Red Alert game: The Russians go back in time and kill Einstein, therefore depriving the West of their super weapons and putting the Soviets back in the running for world domination. Unfortunately by not bombing Japan the Soviets and Allies now have the Empire of the Rising Sun to contend with.

The cinematics are just as good (or bad) as ever, with eccentric generals, cheesy dialogue, naff CGI and lots of totty. I really did feel a little bit guilty watching Hollyoaks' Gemma Atkinson strutting about the shop with a tiny skirt and a cleavage you could park and aircraft carrier in, and felt a little bit like I should have been watching it in a booth in Soho. But then I justified it with classic performances from Tim Curry, George Takei, Jonathan Pryce and J.K. Simmonds amongst others.

On the battlefield things have been turned up a notch from hectic to insane. The skirmishes in Red Alert were always a tense affair but EA have made sure you're never sitting around just watching your refineries with tons of new additions.

Firstly, gone are the days when building and troops were limited to the ground (except for the Allied cruisers which used to pound enemy bases from long distances.) New dimensions have been added which inextricably link air, land and sea and make the rock, paper scissors gameplay of Red Alert even more complex. Bases can now be built on the sea, including airfields, which already add a new element to base-building. But to compliment this a lot of the units for all sides can move between two fields: APCs are amphibious (as are some tanks), most troops can swim and a few Rising Sun vehicles can 'transform' from land or sea to air units - Holy flying subs Batman!

This means that you can take a multi-tasking assault force with you when you attack - half will cross the water over it and the other half on it, and less reliance on vulnerable transports is a good idea. However the enemy will try and do the same to you by sending a mixture of air, land and sea units at you, and if you're not prepared you can quickly find yourself overwhelmed.

Luckily every unit in the game has a secondary function to help you fight back against the different classes of enemies! The Rising Sun units' transform is their special ability and Soviet conscripts can destroy buildings with molotov cocktails. The best use of this is the lightly armoured anti-air hydrofoil unit, which is great against air units and its second function disables the weapons of any one unit, so can protect your aircraft carriers from air attacks and pacify base defences so they can take them out.

If that isn't enough there is also a small bonus technology tree that unlocks during each level as you kill enemy units. These range from free airstrikes and time bombs to tank and aerial upgrades for your units. These are much easier to handle and help to soften up targets before 'the big push'.

Just when you realised RA3 has more innovation in it than the last ten EA releases they throw another one at you, and this one's a biggie: Co-op. Every mission you play for each faction in the single-player is designed to be played online with a fellow commander. You get two base spots, usually next to each other, share credits and can build base defences on each other's base. You'll need to time attacks carefully in order to break the tough defences and given the complicated units it's best for one to stick to land and sea and the other to air units, which works to surprising effect.

EA LA really have surprised me with Red Alert 3, with more than just an update of the prequel with more maps and missions and some great innovations. However some of the changes make combat very fiddly and very rarely did I use the secondary functions. It's also a shame that they have gone along the 'silly' route so far, with outrageous super weapons and very few militarily plausible units, which is a massive departure from the semi-realistic Red Alert. It feels a little too camp in places, more like 'Carry On Commanding' and unless they reel in the comedy Red Alert 4 could feature spies that act like Kenneth Williams and shock troops armed with tickling sticks and silly walks.