I'm escaping to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism: A fanmade browser version of the best Command & Conquer

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 might be a hell of a lot sillier than even the original Red Alert, but it still holds up all these years later. If you never hopped off the classic RTS train, I have horrible news for your productivity at work: there's an impressive fanmade browser version of Red Alert 2, easily squeezed between Slack and Google Sheets tabs.

Called Chrono Divide, it released in pre-alpha in October 2020, and has continually received updates through this year. While you might expect it to be a solo novelty, it's actually got its own leaderboard, boasts cross-platform play with Android and iPhone users, and even has limited mod support. It's all being maintained by solo developer usestrict, who goes by El Presidente on the project Discord.

After importing my Red Alert 2 files and futzing around with it for a minute, it certainly seems like an impressive recreation. It's a little janky and the solo AI is a work-in-progress, but it's a way to play ranked Red Alert 2 on the toilet, which is better than anything I've built in the last five years. The leaderboard reveals quite an active community: player Milk is dominating the playing field with 105 wins and an 85.4% win rate.

I'm more of a campaign guy, so for me, this is ultimately a novelty until more singleplayer functionality is added—still, it's an utterly cool sight and decently popular, if the Discord server with over 17,000 members is any indication. It's free to try, but the developer accepts donations on the Chrono Divide website.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - Intro, Opening Cinematic 4K - YouTube

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Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...

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