What has happened to the RTS genre?

[MammothBlade]

Really, I'm disappointed at the state of RTS today.

Once upon a time games such as Age of Empires, Rise of Nations, Warcraft, and Command & Conquer under Westwood, were staples of RTS. They had a great feel to them. Quite a few had decent campaigns balanced with multiplayer. They had some depth, a wide variety of units, but were also reasonably accessible to newcomers. It seems as if RTS has become a much more competitive, elitist affair, everything is neurotically balanced out, a lot of online RTS communities are very hostile to newcomers or less competent players, more so than others - though nothing has changed there, but elitism seems to be built into game mechanisms this time. Some former RTS series have turned into real-time tactics. Tiberian Twilight, how is that even C&C anymore without base-building? Or Dawn of War II, that was a massively disappointing change.

World in Conflict was ok, but I enjoyed Command & Conquer Generals far more whilst my copy was still functional.

 

[MercurySteam]

Tiberian Twilight was a fucking disaster and made me wonder how the same people that made C&C3: Tiberium Wars/Kane's Wrath came up with that disgrace. And I never found Supreme Commander to be any good either. Dawn of War II was disappointing with a lack of base building and constantly sending you on missions to stupidly hold on to worlds that you never had a chance at keeping, though surprisingly DoWII: Retribution was a masterpiece. Sure, it had a single campaign but you could choose to play it as Space Marines, Chaos Marines, Eldar, Imperial Guard, Orks or Tyranids. Each had their own characters, units, gear and motivations for hunting down Kyras but I never actually got bored of playing the same missions with completely different races. Also, Red Alert 3/Uprising were actually pretty good.

And don't forget SCII which is a genuine RTS gem and Heart of The Swarm which comes out next year.

 

[OneOfTheMichael's]

I'm not as interested by rts but I know that the only popular and most bought series still persist that may or may not be good.
And then crappy new rts follow.

 

[Tanis]

It's like anything else, it ebbs and it flows.
Maybe once RTS is released on the consoles...and sales...it'll make a resurgence.

At least you're not a 4X player.
Crap bro, it sucks.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Tiberian Twilight was a fucking disaster and made me wonder how the same people that made C&C3: Tiberium Wars/Kane's Wrath came up with that disgrace. And I never found Supreme Commander to be any good either. Dawn of War II was disappointing with a lack of base building and constantly sending you on missions to stupidly hold on to worlds that you never had a chance at keeping, though surprisingly DoWII: Retribution was a masterpiece. Sure, it had a single campaign but you could choose to play it as Space Marines, Chaos Marines, Eldar, Imperial Guard, Orks or Tyranids. Each had their own characters, units, gear and motivations for hunting down Kyras but I never actually got bored of playing the same missions with completely different races. Also, Red Alert 3/Uprising were actually pretty good.

And don't forget SCII which is a genuine RTS gem and Heart of The Swarm which comes out next year.

Most of the stuff people complained about with DOW 2 was fixed in Chaos Rising, and then like you mentioned, Retribution. I don't necessarily see anything wrong with Real Time Tactics games anyways, and DOW2 dominates that corner of the market.

 

[MercurySteam]

Most of the stuff people complained about with DOW 2 was fixed in Chaos Rising, and then like you mentioned, Retribution. I don't necessarily see anything wrong with Real Time Tactics games anyways, and DOW2 dominates that corner of the market.

I have wondered about getting Chaos Rising. I do remember that in DoWII that you had pressure to hold on to the sector and there was the same optional mission over and over to hold a specific planet, though it never really mattered in the end. The truly great thing about Retribution is that you can play as whichever race you want, and while the endgame is always the same, the game makes it clear that each different race is on the same path though with different motivations and characters driving each story.

Having different selection of characters, gear and units is probably what made Retribution better than the other DoWII games.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Most of the stuff people complained about with DOW 2 was fixed in Chaos Rising, and then like you mentioned, Retribution. I don't necessarily see anything wrong with Real Time Tactics games anyways, and DOW2 dominates that corner of the market.

I have wondered about getting Chaos Rising. I do remember that in DoWII that you had pressure to hold on to the sector and there was the same optional mission over and over to hold a specific planet, though it never really mattered in the end. The truly great thing about Retribution is that you can play as whichever race you want, and while the endgame is always the same, the game makes it clear that each different race is on the same path though with different motivations and characters driving each story.

Having different selection of characters, gear and units is probably what made Retribution better than the other DoWII games.

Chaos Rising is the middle step between DOW 2 and Retribution. There are no cut and paste missions, and you still use the Tarkus, Avitus, Thaddeus etc. squad setups. And it has some great setpieces, like a mission where you take a pair of Predator tanks to assault a Black Legion outpost, or an infiltration mission where you have to sneak through your ally's base to eliminate a traitor in their ranks without killing loyalist Blood Ravens.

 

[MercurySteam]

Most of the stuff people complained about with DOW 2 was fixed in Chaos Rising, and then like you mentioned, Retribution. I don't necessarily see anything wrong with Real Time Tactics games anyways, and DOW2 dominates that corner of the market.

I have wondered about getting Chaos Rising. I do remember that in DoWII that you had pressure to hold on to the sector and there was the same optional mission over and over to hold a specific planet, though it never really mattered in the end. The truly great thing about Retribution is that you can play as whichever race you want, and while the endgame is always the same, the game makes it clear that each different race is on the same path though with different motivations and characters driving each story.

Having different selection of characters, gear and units is probably what made Retribution better than the other DoWII games.

Chaos Rising is the middle step between DOW 2 and Retribution. There are no cut and paste missions, and you still use the Tarkus, Avitus, Thaddeus etc. squad setups. And it has some great setpieces, like a mission where you take a pair of Predator tanks to assault a Black Legion outpost, or an infiltration mission where you have to sneak through your ally's base to eliminate a traitor in their ranks without killing loyalist Blood Ravens.

Hmm, may be worth looking into then. Cheers.

 

[Nouw]

This thread makes me regret buying Dawn of War 2 haha. Anyway, I'm just waiting for Dawn of War III and Company of Heroes 2. And don't forget Heart of the Swarm!

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Most of the stuff people complained about with DOW 2 was fixed in Chaos Rising, and then like you mentioned, Retribution. I don't necessarily see anything wrong with Real Time Tactics games anyways, and DOW2 dominates that corner of the market.

I have wondered about getting Chaos Rising. I do remember that in DoWII that you had pressure to hold on to the sector and there was the same optional mission over and over to hold a specific planet, though it never really mattered in the end. The truly great thing about Retribution is that you can play as whichever race you want, and while the endgame is always the same, the game makes it clear that each different race is on the same path though with different motivations and characters driving each story.

Having different selection of characters, gear and units is probably what made Retribution better than the other DoWII games.

Chaos Rising is the middle step between DOW 2 and Retribution. There are no cut and paste missions, and you still use the Tarkus, Avitus, Thaddeus etc. squad setups. And it has some great setpieces, like a mission where you take a pair of Predator tanks to assault a Black Legion outpost, or an infiltration mission where you have to sneak through your ally's base to eliminate a traitor in their ranks without killing loyalist Blood Ravens.

Hmm, may be worth looking into then. Cheers.

Word of warning: if you're running on a 32bit system, Chaos Rising has a tendency to crash unless you have a strong graphics card.

 

[MercurySteam]

Hmm, may be worth looking into then. Cheers.

Word of warning: if you're running on a 32bit system, Chaos Rising has a tendency to crash unless you have a strong graphics card.

Well then I guess it's a good thing that I've got an i7 2600k, GTX 570, 8GB DDR3 and Win7 64-Bit.

 

[TKretts3]

I've tried various RTS games, old ones and new ones, free ones and paid one, and I honestly just don't find any of them too exciting. The style of RTS just makes me feel so detached from what's going on.

 

[skywolfblue]

It seems as if RTS has become a much more competitive, elitist affair, everything is neurotically balanced out, a lot of online RTS communities are very hostile to newcomers or less competent players, more so than others - though nothing has changed there, but elitism seems to be built into game mechanisms this time.

Starcraft 2 has been pretty good to me. So far, most of the people have been nice (sure some rotten apples, but as a whole I haven't met very many openly malicious people). The mechanics are even more newbie-friendly then SC1/BW was, while still maintaining it's pro-level balance.

 

[Duffeknol]

World in Conflict is more than 'ok', it probably is one of the best RTS games ever made. And how was DoW II disappointing? Alright, no more of the super gigantic massive battles and base building, but what they changed made the game actually a whole lot more unique and fun.

I hear you, though. The old fashioned 'build a base, poop tanks, kill everything' RTS games are kinda dead. And I DEFINITELY hear you on the neurotically balanced out thing. If there's one thing I can't stand it's people who whine about a .04 melee dps bullshit whatever thing, games are not science, just go play and have fun. I bet it's even more fun to win with a .04 melee dps underpowered army.

 

[jovack22]

starcraft 2 has carried the torch well

good online quick match system, good campaign, good custom maps

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Hmm, may be worth looking into then. Cheers.

Word of warning: if you're running on a 32bit system, Chaos Rising has a tendency to crash unless you have a strong graphics card.

Well then I guess it's a good thing that I've got an i7 2600k, GTX 570, 8GB DDR3 and Win7 64-Bit.

...... I think you're good.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

People don't have the patience or intelligence for complexity anymore. Everything is meant to be played faster. Just look at how dumbed down Starcraft 2 is compared to Starcraft: Brood War. All the changes to the game are made to have it be more accessible and also play MUCH faster. Games shouldn't be more than 15 minutes.
They are Real Time ACTION games. Not strategy.

 

[Stravant]

The first video game I ever bought was Age of Empires II (Gold Edition) when it was first released.

And I still play it now with some friends in the library at school during breaks.

Having played relatively few newer RTS games, other than StarCraft (Which I never actually bought only borrowed from friends), I still prefer Age of Empires II because of the massive Tech Tree, and the wide variety of different scenarios you can make with the map editor.

 

[Rabish Bini]

Go out and get Warlords Battlecry II.

Play endlessly for hours.

Victory.

 

[Alphonse_Lamperouge]

i was going to passionately and whole heartedly scream SSSHHHOOOGGGUUUUNNNN 2!

but its probably just about the most elitist RTS there is, with the exception of SC2.

personally, i wouldn't have it any other way. there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of beating someone alot of people generally agree is really good at something. even better when you put that proof on youtube

500 hours this year already, and im off for some more!

This thread makes me regret buying Dawn of War 2 haha. Anyway, I'm just waiting for Dawn of War III and Company of Heroes 2. And don't forget Heart of the Swarm!

is company of heroes 2 really happening? if so then i will shit in my pants, the first one is probs a very close second to my fav RTS of all time