My Current Top 5 RTS's

Published on June 19, 2009 By baldgye In PC Gaming

Ok, well over the last year or so I've been all about RTS's. Gaming seems to go with one genre for a few years, for the longest time I can remember PC gaming was all about FPS's with Quake, Doom, Unreal Tournament and Call of Duty, but recentally its been all about RTS's. So here's my list of most played and most loved RTS games.

5. Starcraft

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Now this dosn't go very high on my list for a number of reasons. Back in the day when this launched, and even with the launch of Brood War I never played SC. I'd heard of it but was too busy in FPS's and any RTS game I played was one of the many C&C games from Westwood. But with the recent anoucement of SC2, and the hype arround it I deceded to download SC and Brood War from the Blizzard store and have been playing through the single player. This was where I discovered that I'm really not about the single player RTS experiance anymore. While the single player missions where pretty good, pretty hard and long with the story being told with cut scenes and ingame voice over aswell as the breifing room I really just didn't care all that much and just wanted to see what crazy shit I could build. I tried the skirmish to try and check out the tech tree of each race, and it just was impossible for a n00b SC player to get anywhere as the AI will apprentally only attack you, and rush you at the soonest possible moment, which ends up being a very frustrating experiance. I've not played it online becasue without any friends that play it, I cant imagin I will do much better.

4. Command & Conqure 2: Tiberan Sun

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This is again a pretty old game, but is one of the best RTS's out there, this shows off what Westwood could really do. Not only did they build on C&C1 they added countless new units and structures and the graphial jump was huge (although granted it was relised along time after C&C1). Its maps where huge and had bigger battles that alot of current RTS's have. Its one of the best looking 2D RTS's to date.

3. Dawn of War

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Ok, I'm not a fan of DoW2 but DoW is one of the most fun RTS's out there. Its mechianic of capturing nodes was pretty fun and can be very fast paced. It also had a very low camera which meant it was very easy to micro manage huge forces in intence battles. Its also one of the best games to use races from Games Workshop which when I was a lad was all I cared about (sisters of battle hell yeah!). It even had an army painter which allowed you to make your side have the most repulsive battle colours, which was really... very cool.

2. Demigod

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This game rocks. It would be number one if it had more support. Yeah I know thats a little unfair as its a brand new IP from a company with a small gaming history but thats just how it is. This took the idea of DoTA and made it AWSOME. Every game is like an entire game of Diablo, but with co-op. AWSOME! I also love the fact that the game comes DRM free, and then when I got the Retail and download version of the game I got 2 serial keys so I can give it to a friend if I wanted! And I've not even mentioned the best bit... you can play as a massive upgradable castle with legs that can absorb buildings and thats armed with a massive hammer of dsetruction, a catapult, a light tower and a shoulder full of archers!..... AWSOME!

1. Red Alert 3

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At first, I didn't like RA3 at all, infact I hated it and I hated EA for killing Westwood studios. But, the more and more I played it online co-op or 'deathmatches' the more I loved it. You really have to let it grown on you before you'll get it, and even more so if you liked RA2 (which I did, alot). EA and whats left of Westwood really have taken Red Alert where it needed to go, and instead of it being a C&C3 clone with diffrent units its a totally diffrent game thats heavily focused on the micro and small scale battles. But, if your handly with your reasouse managment you can still achive massive armies. Not only this but EA actually seem to give a shit about support, which from what I can tell, is a 1st! Who knows what the future brings for RA3, all I know is they keep making it more and more ballanced and keep on updating the C&C site, which is all good as far as I'm consered.

Comments (Page 7)

SoFFacet

on Jun 29, 2009

SetarcosNous

reply 15

Homeworld games . Some of the best space RTS games, with outstanding visuals that really give you a huge sense of scale. Although they could've done without the "you carry your old fleet into the next level" stuff, which can sometimes kill you in the next level .That was only Homeworld 2, it liked to punish people for doing well. As far as the homeworld series goes, the original was the best. Carrying your fleet over to the next level was part of the pluses of the Homeworld series, not a minus; it added a continuity to the campaign lacking in other RTSes. The only problem I ever had with it was growing my fleet so big at one point that it couldn't get in formation to jump to the next level...the formation was wider than the level map. The sequels were an exercise in dumbing down the UI to make the game more "accessible"...though Cataclysm did use add subsystems, which was cool.

My take on HW2:

+ Modules, Subsystems

+ Visuals, Audio

+ UI

+ Automated end-mission resource gathering

+ Hiig Destroyer

- Free reinforcement for strikecraft squadrons

- "Strike groups" instead of formations

- Meh story as compared to HW1, as unfair a standard as that is.

- Torpedo Frigate

Overall though, a very good game!

Annatar11

on Jun 29, 2009

That was only Homeworld 2, it liked to punish people for doing well. As far as the homeworld series goes, the original was the best. Carrying your fleet over to the next level was part of the pluses of the Homeworld series, not a minus; it added a continuity to the campaign lacking in other RTSes. The only problem I ever had with it was growing my fleet so big at one point that it couldn't get in formation to jump to the next level...the formation was wider than the level map. The sequels were an exercise in dumbing down the UI to make the game more "accessible"...though Cataclysm did use add subsystems, which was cool.

I still remember the first mission where the Taiidan destroyer first shows up.. capturing it was a huge pain, but so worth it

Hawawaa

on Jun 29, 2009

Good news I got my Homeworld Cataclysm to work... cleaned up the disk and I am running it in windows 2000 mode... Im having no problems and I had to screw around with the graphics settings too... On the 2nd to last mission and having a blast!

Star trek Armadas... now those were some fun games...

GeneralEtrius

on Jun 29, 2009

1. Medieval II: Total War. Annoyances aside, this is awesome RTS. I personally don't like to have to constantly deal with units streaming from factories. You have what you have, and you have to be a tactician instead of a spammer.

2. Sins of a Solar Empire. Yes, this is more of a spam game, but it is still amazing and very well done.

3. Star Wars: Empire at War. The land battles sucked, but the space battles were awesome and a lot of fun. All the Star Wars action without the annoying breaks for talking.

4. Command and Conquer 3 and the Battle for Middle Earth games. I put these into one number because they are basically the same game in different shells. You can tell by the gameplay and skirmish set-ups. I haven't played C&C 3 in ages because the big jump in difficulty between AI levels is really annoying.

5. Can't think of a fifth RTS, though I should try one. I might get Company of Heroes or something like that. I am also "trying" Homeworld 2.

Martok

on Jun 29, 2009

GeneralEtrius

reply 19

The Total War series doesn't really qualify as real-time strategy games. Given the majority of TW gamers play in campaign mode, it would be more accurate to classify them as turn-based.

GeneralEtrius

on Jun 30, 2009

The Total War series doesn't really qualify as real-time strategy games. Given the majority of TW gamers play in campaign mode, it would be more accurate to classify them as turn-based.

That is true, but the RTS elements are great, even though the AI is lame.

aeortar

on Jul 05, 2009

My favourites (based on how long I played them and how much I liked them):

1. Warcraft 3

2. C&C: Yuri's Revenge

3. C&C: Zero Hour

4. Dawn of War/Dark Crusade

5. Rome: Total war

Honourable mentions: Sins of a Solar Empire (wish it could've had a single player campaign) and Tiberian Sun (great fun, even if a bit dated)

XSive_Death

on Jul 06, 2009

1 - Total Annihilation - It broke onto the RTS scene as the zenith of perfection, and is still pretty much at the very top of the pile. It introduced so many new things that completely shaped modern RTS games...and they all worked!

2 - Supreme Commander - Ok mister Taylor, you are the RTS god. Any game that doesn't have strategic zoom just doesn't feel good enough to me now. Thousands of units for the closest true strategy game around.

3 - Dune 2 - Not the first, but definately the most memorable of all early RTS's laying the foundation for what was to come (eep, Sandworm, harversters to the rocks!!!).

4 - Sins - great graphics, large scale (with a strategic zoom!), all the best elements of 4x games such as research and tech trees etc but at a slower pace so you could actually think and strategize rather than spam clicking.

5 - Dawn of War - Took RTS games into the POC era. If only for the sync-kills this game deserves a place.

Honourable mention for the RTS cousins the RTT games. Mech Commander and World in Conflict especially. And Dark Reign... a forgotten RTS gem.

And death to Starcraft. It was imbalanced on release, offered nothing new to the genre and took years to get working well...by which time it was out of date. Fun sure, but popularity doesn't equate to all time greatness.

regabond

on Jul 06, 2009

ah, its good to see some people still have some sense with RTS games

100

Whiskey144

on Jul 06, 2009

here's mine-

1. Sins

2. Dune 2000 (it's old and the campaign is short for all 3 factions, but it's great fun)

3. DoW/- DK (demo, as I've only played that and the Space Marines/Tau are awesome)

4. I have to say that I enjoyed the CnC3 demo, so I think that it would certainly be a good skirmish game.

5. probably additional CnC titles, as I haven't played much RTS, mostly just FPS like the Battlefield series (Vietnam was the best if you ask me), and CoD4 (which I thought was scanty for the SP), and a couple of others, like the OLD Quake 2 (DIE STROGG!! LOL), and then I've played a couple of arcadish-style space flight sims that were fun.

101

bl00gername

on Aug 05, 2009

- Original War

- Ground Control

- Antaeus Rising

- Imperium Romanum

- Celtic Kings

102

zigzag

on Aug 05, 2009

All chosen on the basis of 'fun' had while playing. If I had to choose a list of the 'best' games in the genre, it would look differently. (Although Starcraft and C&C Generals would still make the top five.)

1. Starcraft / Brood War

This game ate up years of my life. It's still the best RTS I've ever played. Great singleplayer campaign, great multiplayer. Unmatched polish.

2. Dawn of War

Not as revolutionary as sometimes claimed, but a still very fun game. I usually dislike games with low lethality -- this is the exception. Expansions slowly declined in quality. Much better than the sequel. Vibrant modding community.

3. Dark Reign

Classic, Command & Conquer-style gameplay combined with unique factions and placed in an engaging sci-fi universe. Plenty of interesting unit mechanics. Also experimented with sophisticated unit-AI settings.

4. Command & Conquer: Generals

EA's concession to Blizzard's dominance in the RTS genre. Easily the best out of all the EA-made Command & Conquer titles. The expansion broke the balance, but remained plenty of fun. Has an extremely vibrant modding community as well.

5. Sins of a Solar Empire

Fully deserved its accolades. The best space empires game in a while. Excellent support. It's good to see a team of developers stick with their game instead of rushing towards a sequel.

Special mention. Battlezone

This would have been a sentimental choice. It was the game that introduced me to the genre. That said, it's still one of the better attempts to make an RTS/FPS hybrid. Plus, what better enemy than the Russians?

Games that almost made the cut: Command & Conquer, Emperor: Battle for Dune, Red Alert, Red Alert 2, Sim Ant, Warcraft II, Warcraft III.

103

the_hunger

on Aug 06, 2009

Top 5:

1. Dawn of War (with expansions): One of the best video game ever made. Every single mechanic--including squads, leaders, morale, cover, animations, the resource system, etc.--works beautifully. Also, the game has a great deal of personality.

2. Battle for Middle Ear th 2: Fantastic skirmishes and good use of the Tolkien material. I wish that more games would copy its create-a-hero system.

3. Rise of Nations (+ expansion): The best history-based RTS game available. Takes the Age of Empires formula and improves upon it.

4. Age of Empires 1&2: pure classics.

5. Dragonshard: An extremely under-rated RTS game based upon the Dungeon & Dragons license. I really wish that this game had generated a modding community.

Honorable Mentions:

--Warcraft 3: great campaign, but just didn't hold my interest long.

--Universe at War: diverse factions and great gameplay, but another game that never produced a viable modding community.

--Demigod: well, it really depends on what happens next with this game. A great expansion which adds more demigods, maps, and items could propel this game into my top 5. Actually, a strong modding community with some ongoing developer support could do this.

104

Mauxe

on Aug 07, 2009

1) Lords of Everquest

105

lazear

on Aug 07, 2009

If we are able to lump Real-Time Strategy with Real-Time Tactical games, then here's my list:

1. World in Conflict

2. Demigod

3. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War (Dark Crusade)

4. Sins of a Solar Empire w/ Entrenchment

5. Company of Heroes

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