This thread was inspired when I finally finished RA3. Where I rank it should say everything(I'm only ranking the ones I've played).

1 - Zero Hour
2 - Tiberium Wars
3 - Red Alert
4 - Generals
5 - Red Alert 2
6 - Firestorm
7 - Tiberian Sun
8 - Yuri's Revenge
9 - Red Alert 3

1-5 were hard to rank, since I really like all of them. I picked Zero Hour as the first because I just think it's fun as hell even outside of the single player campaigns, even more so than the other ones. The different generals you could be/fight against with widely varying strengths and weaknesses really added some flavor to it. I put Tiberium Wars second, but it's an extremely close second. Not only was it fun, but I really liked the story and acting in it. The only reason Zero Hour is number one and Tiberium Wars isn't is because I put a little bit more importance on gameplay than storyline and acting(either one can single handedly sink a game, though). I ranked Firestorm and Tiberian Sun where they are because they were good, but I didn't enjoy them as much as 1-5.

Yuri's Revenge can go jump off a cliff. I HATED that game. The story was stupid and I hoped that they never tried to make a story out of time travel again....oh wait, HI RA3! Personally, I believe there should only be one instance of time travel, and that is when Hitler is taken out. That's it, no more time travel. But evidently the writers are so ****ing stupid that time travel has become a crutch for them. The graphics are ridiculously cartoony and some of the storyline was ridiculous. Some other C&C games had some elements of sexiness(RA2 most notably), but it was an underlying element. It wasn't smashed into your face like a stripper giving you a lap dance. The game starts revolving around showcasing barely concealed cleavage and ridiculously short skirts. That's probably why I liked the Empire campaign most: it wasn't focused on whores. I honestly didn't think I'd ever see a C&C game worse than Yuri's Revenge. Boy was I wrong.

Alright, your turn.

edit: oh, also, thanks Frank Klepacki, for raping Hell March and HM2 with those horrible remixes. HM3 wasn't bad, but definitely the lesser of the three. That and about half the tracks, including Grinder 2, are the only things I liked. Then the other half of the soundtrack is just horrible. Feast or famine.

edit2: Oh, speaking of music, that's actually another reason Zero Hour beats Tiberium War and Generals beats RA2: the soundtracks to those are so awesome that I listen to them while playing many other games. Most of the other soundtracks aren't bad, but their style is something I don't enjoy outside of C&C and I don't think play well with other games. The Zero Hour/Generals soundtrack, on the other hand, is good for any game. It just feels more authentic, as opposed to the electronica-type music of the other games.

Thank god for that, I was thinking of diving in the deep end the other day and actually just buying RA3 without reading anything.

I've only really played RA2, I'm not a big RTS fan. But I liked it.

Anyhow, I think I beat C&C 95 once but besides that I've mostly played the skirmish campaigns in Red Alert, RA2 and Tiberian Sun + Firestorm. RA is still my favorite in all regards.

Red Alert was the only one I played and got into, because I loved the AoE series so much. But that's about it.

Nothing is better than Tiberian Dawn.

NOTHING

1. Red Alert
2. C&C
3. Tiberian Sun


I've not played any others.

Why's there no love for Renegade (which I've never played)?

IMO C&C 95 and RA1 are the best, followed by TS. The storylines were at least plausable and the games took themselves seriously. After that it just became stupid cartoon crap. I also thought that 95 had the best soundtrack by far.

It's too bad that the RTS genre has moved so far from those two games - Red Alert 1 and C&C Gold/95/Tiberian Dawn are basically unplayable now.

1) Red Alert 2
2) The Rest.

I would say:

1. C&C 3
2. Red Alert 2
3. Generals / Zero Hour
4. Red Alert
5. C&C Tiberian Sun
6. C&C

I don't remember much about the expansions for C&C or Red Alert. I haven't played more than the first level of Red Alert 3 yet.

Covert Operations is basically a series of single-player puzzle missions. Aftermath/Counterstrike add a few new units, but IIRC are basically the same deal.

They aren't that great.

I enjoyed whichever of those two added the demolition truck.

Mostly for multiplayer skirmishes that ended with driving an armada of demolition trucks into the enemy. Or the first time I thought of said strategy, I had just built a bunch then one of them got hit by some MiGs and an arseload of nukes went off in the middle of my own operation.

;_;

I actually enjoyed Yuri's revenge, I thought the 'mind control' army was a really interesting and unique faction compared to the usual 'really weak yet fast/sneaky!' and 'really strong but slow/expensive!' and 'really technological yet quite uninteresting!' cookie-cutter factions just with different names. I realise that balancing power of different factions is really difficult, but it's a shame that all RPGs seem to have the same factions.
I did like the suicide bombers in Generals, though, they were such a genuinely useful tactical unit, great for base defense. Also Zero Hour is the most impressive add-on to any game I've ever seen, it gave so much new content and gameplay. awesome.

Is RA3 not all it's cracked up to be? I can't buy it yet because the internet activation thing doesn't work through my University internet connection, is it not worth buying at all?

By the way, there's a mod for RA2 called DeeZire, that unlocks a lot of unfinished content, as well as adding more. There's a Russian surface-to-land submarine called the Oktober Sub, and a Soviet subterrainian, mobile war factory. With a rocket launcher. You can actually bury underground and come up inside enemy bases.

1) Original C&C (Tiberian Dawn, whatever)
2) Red Alert
3) Tiberian Sun

...who cares about the rest.

I have some very fond memories of wasting my nights away playing C&C in the late 90's. I found Red Alert at some cheap game rental outlet later for the Playstation and played it constantly for months. Then a friend gave me a copy of Tiberian Sun (a friend that I had introduced to C&C some years before) and I played it until by eyes bled.

I haven't played the others. Can't say I've had the desire. Every once in awhile I get out my copy of Tiberian Sun and play a few skirmish maps, but I dont have the patience anymore to actually beat any of them on any difficulty.

As for the music;

1) Tiberian Sun
2) Original C&C
3) Red Alert

Hell March was great, but I honestly think Mud was better, and as a whole, the Tiberian Sun soundtrack was better. Call me crazy.

1. Renegade
2. Red Alert 2 + Yuri's Revenge
3. Tiberian Sun
4. Generals + Zero Hour
5. C&C 3 / Red Alert / C&C

Epic love for Renegade as I still play it. I find it interesting that the same engine used for Dune and Earth & Beyond was used for Renegade, and then re-adapted for Generals and onwards.

I actually despise subterranean units.

I never used the one from Tiberian Sun, but the DeeZire one is awesome. It isn't very powerful.

Tiberian Sun underground Flame Tanks are horrible in multiplayer.

I didnt mind Red Alert 3, but thats because it was a good laugh. It wasnt as good as RA2 and Red Alert.

Yuris was a pain in the *** as half yuris defences and units good sodding take control of yours. And his gatling stuff was dammed annoying. RA3 Went too far with the silly plotlines (and shot itself spectacularly because how the hell could the chronosphere exist without einstein)

I'd get Red Alert 3 but I refuse to support EA's insistence on putting Securom in everything these days.