When comparing 0 A.D. vs Command & Conquer: Generals, the Slant community recommends Command & Conquer: Generals for most people. In the question“What are the best RTS games for PC?” Command & Conquer: Generals is ranked 7th while 0 A.D. is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Command & Conquer: Generals is:
While Command & Conquer: General's Multi-Player is a solid addition to the series, it is heightened greatly with the addition of Zero Hour. In this expansion, each faction has different generals the player can choose from, with specific specializations and drawbacks. One Chinese general specializes in infantry, allowing them certain upgrades to increase their effectiveness, while a Global Liberation Army general has an advantage with toxins, giving their vehicles the ability to have Anthrax-laced explosives that deal extra damage. With this addition, Zero Hour gives players the freedom to choose whichever general that fits their playstyle.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Free, Real-Time Strategy title actively being developed
Still currently in development, 0 A.D. is currently in Alpha stages and completely free. For those willing to wade through the multiple bugs, essentially testing the title, this game will scratch the itch of any RTS fan on a shoestring budget.
Pro Multi-platform support
The game will run on any Operating System, whether it be Linux, OSX, or Windows, which is great for people who dual-boot or use multiple OS's across their devices. No matter the OS used, one can install and play this game.
Pro Addictive Age of Empires style gameplay
This game can be seen as a spiritual successor to Age of Empires, thus it will provide similar gameplay to those who are familiar with the AoE series.
Pro Straightforward RTS gameplay
0 A.D. brings recognizable, straightforward, Real-Time Strategy gameplay to the players. With a mini-map in the bottom corner, resources shown in a bar at the bottom, and unit selection through double clicking, all of the major elements found in most RTS games is here, making for a very familiar game for those that are used to the genre.
Pro Code is open-source
Even if the current developer team chooses to no longer work on the game, others can keep contributing to the source code and modify it.
Pro Active development
By being in active development the game allows for frequent bug fixes as well as frequent new content. While it is still in alpha, the state of the game playability is pretty good with new features being added all the time.
Pro The Zero Hour expansion adds even more ways to play Multi-Player
While Command & Conquer: General's Multi-Player is a solid addition to the series, it is heightened greatly with the addition of Zero Hour. In this expansion, each faction has different generals the player can choose from, with specific specializations and drawbacks. One Chinese general specializes in infantry, allowing them certain upgrades to increase their effectiveness, while a Global Liberation Army general has an advantage with toxins, giving their vehicles the ability to have Anthrax-laced explosives that deal extra damage. With this addition, Zero Hour gives players the freedom to choose whichever general that fits their playstyle.
Pro Classic Command & Conquer gameplay reimagined with moderate realism
The staple of the Command & Conquer series has always been its resource gathering, base building, and large armies, all of which return in this Real-Time Strategy classic. While most Command & Conquer titles feature bombastic and over-the-top units (and storylines), Generals reigns in the franchise to tell a semi-realistic story with semi-realistic infantry and units. Gone are the signature wildly imaginative units from series like Red Alert, replaced with the United States' M1A1 Abrahms tanks, Chinese APCs and the GLA's Vehicle-Based IEDs.
Pro Many fantastic mods for this game
Just an awesome game because it reinvents itself through the many good mods that's out there. Mods like Contra 009, Shockwave or C&C Generals Untitled. The last one of these has an amazing AI.
Pro Three factions with different stories
Command & Conquer: Generals features three playable factions: The United States, China, and the Global Liberation Army, each with their own unique storyline. Every storyline tells a concise and mostly cohesive story, with most of the encounters taking place in the Middle East.
Pro Satirical portrayal of factions
All the factions are exaggerations of current real-world countries or organizations, in the case of the GLA, which adds quite a bit to the experience.
Cons
Con Currently in alpha
0 A.D. is an ongoing open source project that is as of yet feature complete.
Con Slow development
0 A.D. is an ongoing open source project that is as of yet feature incomplete. This game is still in Alpha version 23 Ken Wood as of September 2020.
Con Slightly dated graphics
While great for their time, the graphics in Command & Conquer Generals have not withstood the test of time, thus those who did not play it when the game first came out may find the graphics and art style too appealing and not to their liking.
Con Near-offensive portrayal of factions
While it can easily be viewed as a satirical take on possibly then-current views of each culture represented in Command & Conquer: Generals, some players might take offense to how each faction is portrayed. The United States includes units that state they are doing what's right, the Chinese army units worship the Red Dragon, and the Global Liberation Army are shown as terrorists and near-barbaric. It is because of these tongue-in-cheek depictions that some may be turned off from this title.