C&C Red Alert vs. Total Annihilation - Which is better to buy today?

[darkjester]

Yes, I know they're both really old.
Yes, I know RA2 is out.
Yes, I know you can get both for under $10 nowadays.



Knowing all that, I was feeling nostalgic and gunning for an RTS so I went to my local mall today during lunch to see what games Best Buy had packaged together in their cheapy bundles. C&C RA with the Aftermath expansion was there. Cool!

But I took a quick spin over to Electronics Boutique to see if they had any similar bundles. Well, they don't. But they have the Total Annihilation Commander Pack (includes The Core Contingency expansion) on the real cheap also. So...

I was thinking of grabbing one of those two this evening after work. They both got AMAZING reviews, back in their day (which is long over now). I just need a new game to keep me busy for a couple of weeks. But I don't need two. Afterall, every dollar saved is another dollar towards a NEW game.

So what do you guys think? Which of the two should I pick up?

Thanks!

 

[sadb0i]

total annihilation yo!

but since they are both 10 bucks each....buy em both!!!!!

make sure u get TA core contingency!!!!

i still play TA...on zone...that game will live forever...

 

[bevancoleman]

I don't know about TA, but RA was a great game.

 

[sandorski]

Both are great, but TA has all the nice touches. Higher unit types, a build queue, useable air units.

TA's biggest advantage, IMO, is the build queue. Say you want 100 units, in RA you click the unit's box once, wait for it to complete, click again, wait...repeat until you have your 100 units. In TA you just click the unit's box 100 times and you go off and do something else. Later on in the game you come across a huge pile of units you forgot about and yell out, "Kickass!!!"

 

[crypticlogin]

I've always been preferential to RTS with realistic and/or believeable units so Red Alert gets my vote. Yeah, so the chronosphere's a little far off but hey, compare that to a gazillion bipedal and floating robots. And I agree that the build queue was one of the problems with the early C&C games but that never really bothered me -- I just kept an eye on the construction bars while I was roaming around the map.

 

[darkjester]

Well, I picked up a copy of Total Annihilation, and you guys were right: awesome! I had played the original C&C but never went beyond that, and I don't remember it being as fun as TA. Maybe by the time I finish the TA and TA-CC campaigns, RA2 and Yuri's Revenge will be packaged together for a lower price and I'll progress into something more contemporary. Besides, it's nice to be able to run a game at it's absolute highest settings and not even have my computer hiccup.

Thanks for the input and the resources.

 

[sadb0i]

good deal!

 

[yata]

TA runs circles around RA. Graphics and skill-wise. AI can really kick your ass.

 

[Kronos]

TA is an awsome game!! even now with all the new RTS games out there I think it is still a cool game. Terrible single player but otherwise the game is cool. get all the updates though and get TA-CC

 

[sadb0i]

TAUIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!