Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 vs Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is the latest installment of the real-time strategy game franchise, Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Despite the apparently intriguing storyline of a time travel gone awry and the brilliant live-action HD videos, the science fiction-themed narrative is somewhat weak in comparison to the previous titles. However, it's nice that this time around, you get to choose between one of three factions (Allies, Soviets, and the Empire of the Rising Sun, or the Empire for short) to play as rather than having only two. The campaigns are pretty fun as well and the game does have a rather nice co-command feature that links all the campaign missions together.Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 has a really nice take on the alternative world theme and the strategic gameplay is incredible as usual. If you're interested, you can try the game's demo before buying it on Steam.
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth lets you play as the leader of a pioneering group of spacefarers as you set off for the stars in hopes of creating a new civilization in space. The science fiction-themed in this game is a pretty far cry from the usually historical theme in the award-winning Civilization game franchise, but the game was pretty well-done mainly because it contains many of the features that had made Civilization 5 such a resounding success while changing things up a bit, such as replacing religion with affinity, just so everything is relevant to the overall theme of the game. There are also items that you can find on the alien planet that you're trying to colonize which will unlock nice storylines and quests for you to experience. And of course, there's the epic DLC, Rising Tide, which has elevated a mediocre but interestingly-themed game into an impressive one.If you're hoping for a game that's as amazing as Civ 5, Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth might end up disappointing some of you, but if you consider that this is the franchise's first attempt in doing a game that's not history-based, then well, this is a pretty good first attempt for an established, triple-A series.