We won't have to dig like madmen for any scans of some Hungarian preview, after all, because Electronic Arts have just announced Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 in a nice big press release, complete with screenshots and a trailer. The first surprise we get is that EA's Los Angeles studio is developing this RTS sequel not only for the PC and Xbox 360, but also for the PlayStation 3. Next up, Red Alert 3 boasts a fully co-operative campaign set in "a breathtaking alternate future spawned by time travel run amok", while adding "an astounding new faction that will shake-up the Red Alert universe as we know it", and "bringing naval combat into the heart of the game design". Not to mention they're already hinting at the beta! But let's take them one at a time, right after these pics.

"In Red Alert 3, the desperate leadership of a doomed Soviet Union travels back in time to change history and restore the glory of Mother Russia. The time travel mission goes awry, creating an alternate timeline where technology has followed an entirely different evolution, a new superpower has been thrust on to the world stage, and World War III is raging. The Empire of the Rising Sun has risen in the East, making World War III a three-way struggle between the Soviets, the Allies, and the Empire with armies fielding wacky and wonderful weapons and technologies like Tesla coils, heavily armed War Blimps, teleportation, armored bears, intelligent dolphins, floating island fortresses, and transforming tanks.

Red Alert 3 asks the question “What If?” What if every bizarre research project and technology experiment for the last 70 years had actually borne fruit? What if the Philadelphia Experiment, time travel theory, teleportation, invisibility, Tesla technology, and a hundred other intriguing research projects had all paid off and gone mainstream? What if the Soviet Union survived and thrived; what would it look like 10 years in the future? What if the Japanese Empire had never fallen and instead became the ultimate high-tech military superpower? The end result is an imaginative and playful vision of an alternate future filled with possibility."

Now... about that beta. The actual dates will only be announced later this summer, but EA is already luring die-hard fans to secure themselves a spot in the Red Alert 3 beta, by purchasing a copy of Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath when it's released next month (think of last year's Crackdown keys for the Halo 3 beta).

As for the trailer, that's actually the least interesting part of all this whole charade. It's just the latest episode of EA's BlattleCast Primetime web show discussing this announcement, without any in-game footage. But, if you insist, it's right this way...

Tags:  PC, PS3, Xbox 360, sci-fi, strategy, Electronic Arts