Its short, sweet, and shows to the basics. However, like most RTS', multiplayer is where RA2 really shines. Game play wise, this game rocks. All the units a fairly powerful, with battles being fast and furious. On a basic level the game revolves around counter units.
Some units are much much better at killing some then others.
This can create swinging battles, as you bring in reinforcements to counter enemy units, and also requiring anything other then harassing sneak attacks to consist of at least a semi-balanced force. This spills back to base defenses, as neglecting a aspect of your defense will almost certainly invite your opponent to spank you on open maps. Both units and building build fairly fast, make the loss of a structure not that critical, as long as you have the other requirements to replace it. While you aren't able to queue on the Structures and Defenses Tabs, no longer do you have to choose from moving up the tech tree against armoring your base. This is a welcome change for those like me who feel a good offense in a good defense.