recommend a RTS to introduce my 10 year old to the genre

Try with Red Alert 3. From what I remember RA 1 got me into RTSs when I was about the same age but that one's way too old and Red Alert 3 is more appealing for kids and people that don't take their games extremely "seriously".DanielDust

RA3 is garbage; if youre going to get your son started on RTSs, get him started on the classics. I recommend Starcraft, Age of Empires, and the entire Command and Conquer series (C&C: THe First Decade is an excellent deal)

You might want to have a look at World In Conflict, that is a fairly "simple" RTS. There is no base building and it is very action orientated. Another reason your son might like it is down to the interface it uses the classic FPS controls which is mouse to look around and the WASD keys to move the camera around the map.

[QUOTE="DanielDust"]Try with Red Alert 3. From what I remember RA 1 got me into RTSs when I was about the same age but that one's way too old and Red Alert 3 is more appealing for kids and people that don't take their games extremely "seriously".mrbojangles25

RA3 is garbage; if youre going to get your son started on RTSs, get him started on the classics. I recommend Starcraft, Age of Empires, and the entire Command and Conquer series (C&C: THe First Decade is an excellent deal)

Command and conquer, Command and Conquer Red Alert, and Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun/Firestorm.

Simplistic for a beginner, low system requirements and the best thing is its FREE.

http://www.commandandconquer.com/classic

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

[QUOTE="DanielDust"]Try with Red Alert 3. From what I remember RA 1 got me into RTSs when I was about the same age but that one's way too old and Red Alert 3 is more appealing for kids and people that don't take their games extremely "seriously".DanielDust

RA3 is garbage; if youre going to get your son started on RTSs, get him started on the classics. I recommend Starcraft, Age of Empires, and the entire Command and Conquer series (C&C: THe First Decade is an excellent deal)

oh, nothing...i was exagerating. Truth be told I enjoyed RA3 a little bit.

it just, idunno...didnt feel like a C&C game. Ive loved every C&C game up until Red Alert 3. First, they got rid of the whole idea of harvesting and ore fields.

Second, the "not so serious" tone of the game came off like the franchise was making fun of itself. Corny videos are a hallmark of the C&C series, but you always cared what happened...until RA3. In RA3 it just comes off as stupid and, to fans like myself, a bit insulting.

Third, I just feel it is wrong to recommend the worst installment in the franchise to a budding RTS gamer. No, I dont think you need to go back and play the first C&C game, but Red Alert 2 and C&C 3 are miles above Red Alert 3 imo, and the original Red Alert is a timeless classic.

Red Alert 3 isnt a horrible game, I just think there are a lot better and more appealing games for achild to play. I understand why you recommended it; it is a corny, cartoonish, light-hearted game full of amusing stereotypes of Russians and Japanese a child might find entertaining.

Command and conquer, Command and Conquer Red Alert, and Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun/Firestorm.

Simplistic for a beginner, low system requirements and the best thing is its FREE.

http://www.commandandconquer.com/

jedikevin2

yup, get your kid on these games ASAP

Red Alert 2.

I played it when I was about his age.

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

[QUOTE="DanielDust"]Try with Red Alert 3. From what I remember RA 1 got me into RTSs when I was about the same age but that one's way too old and Red Alert 3 is more appealing for kids and people that don't take their games extremely "seriously".DanielDust

RA3 is garbage; if youre going to get your son started on RTSs, get him started on the classics. I recommend Starcraft, Age of Empires, and the entire Command and Conquer series (C&C: THe First Decade is an excellent deal)

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

[QUOTE="DanielDust"]Try with Red Alert 3. From what I remember RA 1 got me into RTSs when I was about the same age but that one's way too old and Red Alert 3 is more appealing for kids and people that don't take their games extremely "seriously".DanielDust

RA3 is garbage; if youre going to get your son started on RTSs, get him started on the classics. I recommend Starcraft, Age of Empires, and the entire Command and Conquer series (C&C: THe First Decade is an excellent deal)

I started warcraft III at like eight, it's a great game to get started in.

With so many options he's gonna have to give up school and sports. Thankfully I've already played almost all these games mentioned and will be able to teach him for a little while, and then destroy him in LAN play.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]Throw him into the deep end with Company of Heroes. Its one of the best RTS games ever made. SF_KiLLaMaN

I say the best option is to buy Command and Conquer The First Decade. It has all of the greatest Command and Conquer titles. A must have for any PC gamer in my opinion. It's only $20

[QUOTE="SF_KiLLaMaN"]

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]Throw him into the deep end with Company of Heroes. Its one of the best RTS games ever made. biggest_loser

I say the best option is to buy Command and Conquer The First Decade. It has all of the greatest Command and Conquer titles. A must have for any PC gamer in my opinion. It's only $20

in case you havent noticed, modern society dictates that violence is ok, and nudity and swearing is bad

its ok to kill people, just do it politely and fully-clothed :D

Warcraft 3. It is one of the best games I have ever played, very cartooney, and very easy to get into.

[QUOTE="SF_KiLLaMaN"]

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]Throw him into the deep end with Company of Heroes. Its one of the best RTS games ever made. biggest_loser

I say the best option is to buy Command and Conquer The First Decade. It has all of the greatest Command and Conquer titles. A must have for any PC gamer in my opinion. It's only $20

Warcraft III. They streamlined the hell out of that game. For example, a lot of units have auto-casting for their abilities. You also never really have a gigantic army. It also has one of the better stories as far as RTS games go. If I'm not mistaken the campaign also has different difficulty settings.

As much as I love Starcraft I actually would not recommend that to start off, partially because the controls are so antiquated to some degree.

StopThePresses

I'd say this or wait a couple months for starcraft 2

[QUOTE="DanielDust"][QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

RA3 is garbage; if youre going to get your son started on RTSs, get him started on the classics. I recommend Starcraft, Age of Empires, and the entire Command and Conquer series (C&C: THe First Decade is an excellent deal)

mrbojangles25

oh, nothing...i was exagerating. Truth be told I enjoyed RA3 a little bit.

it just, idunno...didnt feel like a C&C game. Ive loved every C&C game up until Red Alert 3. First, they got rid of the whole idea of harvesting and ore fields.

Second, the "not so serious" tone of the game came off like the franchise was making fun of itself. Corny videos are a hallmark of the C&C series, but you always cared what happened...until RA3. In RA3 it just comes off as stupid and, to fans like myself, a bit insulting.

Third, I just feel it is wrong to recommend the worst installment in the franchise to a budding RTS gamer. No, I dont think you need to go back and play the first C&C game, but Red Alert 2 and C&C 3 are miles above Red Alert 3 imo, and the original Red Alert is a timeless classic.

Red Alert 3 isnt a horrible game, I just think there are a lot better and more appealing games for achild to play. I understand why you recommended it; it is a corny, cartoonish, light-hearted game full of amusing stereotypes of Russians and Japanese a child might find entertaining.

I've decided to install several and just let him play around with them. I started with Age of Empires 2 since that was my first RTS. He's lovin it. Currently installing Warcraft 3 and will try to get to some others later. Thanks for all the feedback. Also my wife saw this thread and got mad at me for getting his age wrong, he's actually 9 still.