[8] On August 31, 2008, Electronic Arts, who acquired Westwood Studios in 1998, rendered Command & Conquer: Red Alert freeware.

[9] The Command & Conquer Remastered Collection, released on June 5, 2020, through the services Origin and Steam, contains a graphically rebuilt Red Alert, the expansions Counterstrike and The Aftermath, additional missions and briefing videos that were exclusive to the PlayStation's Retaliation port, and an unlockable gallery of unused and "making-of" materials.

In addition to the single-player campaign and a multiplayer mode, Red Alert includes a map editor and the bonus software Westwood Chat.

They also have a wide selection of air units for assault; the Yak-9 plane armed with machine guns for strafing infantry and light structures, MiG-23 strike fighter (though erroneously depicted as a MiG-29 in cut-scenes) whose missiles are suited for heavily armored vehicles and buildings, and Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship whose YakB rotary gun is effective against light and heavy targets; the unprotected Yak-9 and MiG are designed for hit-and-run attacks as they release their payload all at once, while the armored Hind can remain in combat longer and unleashes its firepower more gradually.

In addition, the Soviets also have access to periodic map revelation through spy planes, and can deploy infantry by air through paratroopers.

The Soviets' secret weapon is the Iron Curtain, a device that renders a selected unit invulnerable to attacks for a short period of time.

The Soviet 'tank rush' was a popular strategy online, involving building many heavy tanks and overwhelming the opponent with sheer numbers.

Allied defenses against ground assaults — pillboxes and turret emplacements — are less powerful than the Soviets' Tesla Coil, but cheaper and better protected while also less dependent on electricity.

On maps with water, Allies possess a major advantage in naval power thanks to the Destroyer, a versatile medium-sized warship armed with guided missiles capable of engaging all targets on land, sea and air, and the Cruiser (erroneously depicted as an Iowa-class battleship in cut-scenes), a large warship for shore bombardment equipped with turret-mounted 8-inch naval guns giving it the longest-ranged and most powerful surface-to-surface attack in the game.

The USSR seizes land from China and then invades Eastern Europe, to achieve Joseph Stalin's vision of a Soviet Union stretching across the entire Eurasian landmass.

In response, the countries of Western Europe (including an already-rearmed Germany) form the Allied Nations and start a guerrilla war against the invading Soviet Army.

During the course of the Soviet's campaign, Kane is seen to make infrequent appearances as a mysterious counselor to Joseph Stalin, and the story implies that he has in fact been the instigator of the world war between the USSR and the Allied nations in order to further the long-term goals of the Brotherhood of Nod.

[16] This task force is heavily implied to have been "Special Operations Group Echo: Black Ops 9"—the covert and international peace enforcing unit of the United Nations and the precursor of the Global Defense Initiative,[17] one of the two main and iconic factions of the Tiberian series alongside the Brotherhood of Nod.

If the Soviet campaign were to be completed in Red Alert, the USSR would emerge as the dominant Eurasian power and Kane and the Brotherhood of Nod would subsequently take control of this new empire.

However, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn has the Brotherhood of Nod start out as an underground terrorist organisation, not as a political force in control of the late Soviet empire.

This is further confirmed by former C&C designer Adam Isgreen, who confirms that Tiberian Dawn in fact follows on the conclusion of Red Alert's Allies campaign,[18] while Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge take place in a second parallel universe, created by a new attempt to alter history in "Tiberian Incursion",[19] the working title of Westwood Studios' cancelled version of Command & Conquer 3.

[20] Isgreen also implied that Nikola Tesla may have been responsible for inadvertently having attracted the attention of the Scrin through his experiments, and thus for the arrival of Tiberium on Earth.

[21] When the Command & Conquer: The First Decade compilation pack was released in February 2006, Electronic Arts adopted the policy of considering the C&C franchise to consist of three distinct universes, with this decision apparently violating the storyline connections between Red Alert and Tiberian Dawn established by Westwood Studios.

He concluded that "in a holiday season swamped with C&C clones, discerning gamers won't go wrong by sticking to the real thing.

"[58] Vince Broady of GameSpot also commented on the saturation of real-time strategy games in the 1996 holiday shopping season and concluded Red Alert to clearly be the best choice.

Additionally complimenting the level design, cutscenes, graphics, sound effects, and music, he judged that, "Red Alert belongs in the same category as Civilization II and Quake, games that followed legendary predecessors and immediately eclipsed them.

"[12] In a review for PC Games which was also published in its sister magazine GamePro, Rob Smith summarized, "The new units, the great story, and the variety of mission styles make up for the limited improvement in the A.I."

[56][66] GamePro ultimately recommended it, though only to those for whom the PC version is not an option, citing the addictive gameplay, engaging cutscenes, "both exciting and subtle" music, and improved A.I.

[56] Electronic Gaming Monthly's team of four reviewers all gave it an 8.5/10 or better, particularly noting its strategic depth and high quality FMV cutscenes, with Kraig Kujawa concluding, "Although Red Alert isn't as good as its PC counterpart, you won't find a better realtime strategy game on the PlayStation.

[67] In 1998, PC Gamer declared it the 14th-best computer game ever released, and the editors called it "a perfectly balanced and action-packed epic that functions brilliantly in both the multi-play and the solo campaigns".

On August 28, 1998, Westwood Studios released Command & Conquer Red Alert: Retaliation for the PlayStation, a compilation of the two PC expansion packs, including the secret Ant Missions.

The Command & Conquer Remastered Collection officially includes the Retaliation cutscenes, linking them to their respective expansion missions in the same way the mod does.

[75][76] Coinciding with the release of Command & Conquer Remastered Collection in 2020, Electronic Arts released the original source code for both Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert through GitHub under the GNU General Public License in collaboration between EA and the Command & Conquer community to aid in the development of mods.

[81] The games are remade for modern computers with updated gameplay, new campaigns, user-created and curated maps, and online play.