OpenRA

Like Tiberian Dawn, the game has split routes for most missions. The objective stays the same but the map layout differs. The single-player campaign is complemented by live-action cinematic sequences.

Players can queue commands, create unit groups that can be selected by a number key, and control numerous units at a time.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert takes place in a parallel universe. At the Trinity Site in New Mexico in 1946, Albert Einstein prepares to travel back in time. He activates his experimental time machine and returns to Landsberg, Germany, on December 20, 1924, where he meets Adolf Hitler just after the latter's release from Landsberg Prison. Following a brief conversation between the two, Einstein shakes Hitler's hand, which erases the latter from the timeline.

Hitler's death prevents him from rising to power as leader of Nazi Germany, effectively creating a new timeline. Without Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union (USSR) grows powerful under the rule of Joseph Stalin. 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 war against the invading Soviet Army. Over the course of the game's story, the Allies and Soviets fight for control over the European mainland in an alternate World War II:

In the United States, Command & Conquer: Red Alert debuted at No. 2 on PC Data's computer game sales chart for November 1996, behind Microsoft Flight Simulator. Following a third-place finish in December, it became the United States' seventh-best-selling computer game of 1996 as a whole. 5 million.

In 1997, Red Alert held a position in PC Data's top 3 for the first four months of the year, peaking at No. 2 in April. It was ultimately the fourth-biggest seller of 1997's first half in the United States, after finishing at No. 4 in May and June.