expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game or collectible card game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, or an ...
Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in 1985 as Brelous Software, but got changed after 2 months into Westwood Associates and was renamed to Westw ...
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
. Retrieved March 28, 2010. by
EA Games
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
. The game is centered on a shadowy ex-Soviet figure named Yuri who has established a secret army of his own and poses a threat to the free will of the world.
Plot
In ''Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge'', the story starts off assuming that the Allies were victorious in ''Red Alert 2''. The game begins with the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
announcing
DEFCON
The defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. (DEFCON is not mentioned in the 2010 and newer document)
The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and unified and spe ...
2 status, as Yuri, the former head of the Soviet Psychic Corps, plans to take over the world through mind control, accomplished by activating a secretly built network of Psychic Dominators around the world. The U.S. launches an air strike on the Psychic Dominator on
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...
. Despite heavy casualties, the device loses power after its power plant is destroyed. But Yuri activates the others, and the rest of the planet quickly succumbs to Yuri's mind control.
Allies story branch
The Allied commander is sent to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
to defend and activate a time machine; the Allies plan to go back in time and prevent Yuri's Psychic Dominators from ever coming online. Once enough power plants have been secured, the player goes back in time, arriving at the time that Soviet forces are first invading San Francisco. The Soviets, caught by surprise, are defeated and the Psychic Dominator under construction on Alcatraz island is destroyed.
The Allied commander is deployed to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
where Yuri is slaughtering the city's population, converting them to raw materials. The commander liberates Los Angeles with the aid of heavily armed celebrities. Next, the commander is deployed to Seattle after receiving a plea from the chairman of Massivesoft Corporation (parodies of
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
and the
Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
): Yuri has taken control of the Massivesoft campus for funds and development of genetic software. The commander engages in urban warfare to control local power stations, preventing Yuri from powering his nuclear silo while powering the Allied superweapon instead. Following these victories, Yuri captures
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
, forcing him to work on his Psychic Dominator near the
Great Pyramid
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, ...
in Egypt. The Allies commando Tanya Adams, however, frees Einstein, who has sabotaged the Psychic Dominator. The commander gets to use it once before it blows up. The Allied forces then attack Yuri's cloning facility in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Yuri intends to kidnap world leaders and replace them with mind-controlled clones.
Wishing to bring the war against Yuri to a conclusion, the Allies and Soviets leaders meet in the Parliament Building in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to sign a peace and joint cooperation treaty. Under Yuri's mind control, Allied Lieutenant Eva divulges the location of the meeting. The Allied Commander is forced to defend the building against Yuri's onslaught long enough for the treaty to be ratified before destroying Yuri's London base with some assistance from the Soviets.
Lieutenant Eva traces Yuri's mind-controlling transmission, exposing his home base on
Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...
. A joint Soviet-Allied invasion is launched, eradicating the base and capturing Yuri, who is locked away in a Psychic Isolation Chamber, where he "won't be able to mind-control a fly". Just as General Carville congratulates the commander, the two timelines began to merge. In the new timeline, instead of Yuri, it is Carville himself who interrupts the emergency meeting at the White House, much to the shock of President Dugan. Meanwhile, Tanya invites the commander to the victory gala, just like she did in the previous timeline. She is, however, interrupted by Lt. Eva this time, who also invites the commander to attend. Tanya complains to Einstein that he didn't get the timeline straight, and asks to be sent back to two hours ago. She then, with a wink, tells the commander that she'll catch him on the replay.
Soviet story branch
A Soviet strike team manages to capture the Allied time machine. After a misuse, which takes the Soviets to the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
era, the Soviets arrives at San Francisco during the Soviet occupation and destroys Yuri's still-incomplete Psychic Dominator. To prevent a future in which the Soviet Union loses the war to the Allies, the Soviet commander is put in charge of the assault on the Allied Chronosphere prototype in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
, Germany. This assault would have otherwise failed, as seen in '' Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2''. Without the Chronosphere, the Soviet Union becomes the ''de facto'' world superpower and focuses on destroying Yuri.
Yuri has occupied London. Having mind-controlled the Allied forces there, he starts slaughtering its citizens for raw materials and building a Psychic Dominator. To stop this, the Soviet forces infiltrate London and destroy a Psychic Beacon there, freeing the local Allied military from Yuri's mind control. A joint Allied-Soviet force then razes the Psychic Dominator minutes before it becomes operational.
After rescuing the
Soviet Premier
The Premier of the Soviet Union (russian: Глава Правительства СССР) was the head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The office had four different names throughout its existence: Chairman of the ...
, whose plane was shot down over
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, the Soviet commander is deployed to an uncharted island in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
where Yuri has set up a large base. After an extensive battle, the base is captured. It is revealed to be a launch facility hosting a spacecraft programmed to fly to the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
, which Yuri intends to use as a refuge when the Psychic Dominator network goes online. The Soviets use this rocket to send a specialized task force there, razing and looting Yuri's bases.
Yuri is discovered in his ancestral home of
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
, where he has combined his own forces with mind-controlled Allied and Soviet forces around his stronghold. Despite his strength, however, the Soviet commander defeats Yuri's forces and razes Yuri's castle. In a last ditch effort, Yuri activates the time machine which he has stolen from San Francisco. Soviet Lieutenant Zofia interferes, causing Yuri to travel to the early Cretaceous with depleted power reserves. Stranded in time, Yuri is eaten by a
Tyrannosaurus Rex
''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...
. The Soviet Union, having imposed communism over the entire world, begins to build its space program, ready to spread its glorious cause to the far reaches of space.
Gameplay
The core gameplay for ''Yuri's Revenge'' is very similar to that of its predecessor, ''Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2''. The objective of the game is to gather resources while training an army to defend the player's base and attack the player's enemies.
Additions
The expansion presents two new campaigns, one for Allies and one for the Soviet Union, each consisting of seven missions. A new faction, Yuri, is introduced in ''Yuri's Revenge'', which is the main antagonist in both campaigns and is playable in multiplayer mode, but lacks its own single-player campaign. Yuri's faction consists of mostly new units and buildings, as well as Yuri's Clones and Cloning Vats previously available to Soviets. His units generally rely on unconventional tactical elements such as their characteristic mind control.
The factions of ''Red Alert 2'' also receive new features. Allies gain the new Guardian GI anti-tank infantry. Their new Robot Tanks are immune to mind control, and the Battle Fortress mobile bunker can crush enemy vehicles. Their commando, Tanya Adams, can now destroy vehicles. The Soviets receive the Battle Bunker defensive structure from which garrisoned infantry can fire. Their new commando unit Boris (which replaces Yuri) is capable of defeating most ground units one-on-one and calling air strikes on buildings. Their new helicopter gunships can land and deploy artillery guns. Their new Industrial Plant (which replaces Cloning Vats) reduces the cost of produced vehicles.
All unit types now have unique voices. In ''Red Alert 2'', this was restricted to infantry and aircraft; vehicles shared the same per-faction voices.
Various support abilities were also added: Force shields, available to all factions, make buildings temporarily invulnerable at the cost of the faction losing power. Soviets have access to spy planes that can explore territory. Yuri can use his psychic radar to reveal territory, and has access to the genetic mutator and psychic dominator, the latter of which is as powerful as the weather control device of the Allies and the Soviet nuclear missiles.
The concept of "tech buildings" present in ''Red Alert 2'' was expanded on in ''Yuri's Revenge''. As in ''Red Alert 2'', capturing tech buildings gives the player access to various bonuses, but new buildings were added and some of the old ones were modified to be more beneficial. New tech buildings include power plants, machine shops for automatic healing for vehicles and ships, and secret laboratories for unlocking weaponry otherwise not available to the player's faction.
Reception
''Yuri's Revenge'' has received mostly positive reviews.
GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
reports an average score of 85% based on 30 reviews. ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' gave the game 8.6 out of 10, saying that it "gives a really excellent game some really impressive enhancements".Butts, Steve (October 9, 2001) "Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge"
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
. Retrieved March 28, 2010. The lack of a single player campaign for Yuri's army was noted as a weakness. ''
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' 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.
The editors of ''
PC Gamer US
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games mag ...
'' named ''Yuri's Revenge'' the best expansion pack of 2001, tied with '' Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal''. They wrote that it "reinvigorates an already excellent game, and is yet another reason to purchase ''Red Alert 2''".