Your favorite jewel of Real Time Strategy Game

[Turtleboy1017]

Why is there only one vote for Starcraft or Starcraft 2?

I mean seriously, Dawn of War, CoH, Total War, all very good RTS games, all games I have played many hours of, but none that even hold a candle to what I believe is the greatest RTS ever made, bar none.

In case you were wondering it's Starcraft.

 

[Tanakh]

I would call both Blood line a RTS as well, Magicka leans on it a bit. WoW share some likeness in terms of tactics choice, but doesn't propose enough alternative and doesn't have the focus on zone control. Monday Night Combat I would call a Tactical shooter and possibly add a /MOBA.

"at least i will never see it that way" Are you trying to end the discussion, as posting something like this makes it seem your attempting to kill the convo DEAD .

No, i am just saying that we have different PoV on the issue, I got your point but will die contending that PvP games with focus on single player avatars are not RTS.

ALSO HoN FTW! Trololol.

 

[Wereduck]

Earth 2150 - absolutely loved being able to start missions with my choice of custom-built battle-hardened veterans rather than starting off with just a handful of weak units, a factory truck and my ass hanging out in the wind.

 

[Dutch 924]

Stronghold

One of the first RTS games I played, and it's always been my favourite

 

[Pikey Mikey]

Dawn of War II: Retribution.
Fantastic game that discards all the menu-driven micromanagement motherfuckery of base-building (had to write that) and lets you focus on the skirmishes/battles of the match instead. The multiplayer is awesome (when playing with friends) except that, it might just be for us, but one of my friends (same guy nearly every time) has a tendency to get kicked when one of our opponents are lagging in 3v3. So that's very annoying, still a very good game.

 

[JaceArveduin]

I'm going to go with BFME2:RotWK because the heroes were generally epic feeling, lots and lots of units everywhere, and the power points are generally satisfying to use.

*enemy army is fighting yours*
*red glowing circle appears under there army*
*a f**king Balrog just came up with a pillar of fire and knocks around or kills everything*
*you think you won? I just summoned the army of the dead*

Yeah, BFME2 was fun. How many other games are there where you can have hundreds of goblins and orcs running around the field?

 

[latiasracer]

Homeworld. Frikkin' awesome.

 

[Pikey Mikey]

Total Annihilation is good and original. Armies of 500 units each battling each other all at once. Awesome.

Also, I personally love Red Alert 2, mainly because the cinematics are so cheesy and fun.

I still have the Total Annihilation CD that my brother bought many (many) years ago, great game.

I haven't played RE 2, but I have played RE 3, and those cinematics are also very cheesy =)

 

[agent_orange420]

star wars rebellion. has many issues, but love being able to be the evil empire, and win! just needs a better sequel than empire at war

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

You probably already know Company of heroes, but if you haven't played it I'm sorry do you want a hug? you missed an awesome game.[...]

Didn't like it, tinkered with the first mission but the magic didn't connect, maybe have to try again...
And thus, I have to admit, you are entitled to hug me...

Why is there only one vote for Starcraft or Starcraft 2?
[...]

Probably because some took my first post seriously enough and understood that I do very much appreciate Starcraft but I'm looking further than "OMG the Best RTS FUKING GAM3 on PLANET" ...

And yes,

The Command and Conquer series. Primarily Red Alert 2. The original Command and Conquer games revolutionized the genre, but it was Red Alert 2 that not only expanded the tactical depth of the series but also added a kind of B-movie charm that made it a tad more light-hearted than previous installments

that was hilarious. Playing NOD in Command in Conquer 1 was really TOP NOTCH entertainment, especially hearing the GDA Soldiers suffer from any kind of hazardous death on the field.
Oh and talking about Red Alert 3, I played that game for the ladies only AND it was well worth it - mind you. Who needs Miranda's false boobypromises when you can flirt with these girls:

If I knew the female military personel would look like this I would volantarily have joined the force and be General by now...

 

[Spartanmk1]

World in Conflict. I am so disappointed that Sierra closed their doors. To me, the game is screaming for a sequel. I found the story excellent, the game play fun, and the the destruction awesome.

Empire Total War. Yes, I prefer it over Medieval, Shogun, and Rome. I love the Colonial warfare. Something about using Muskets and cannons just makes me happy.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Age of Empires II/III and World in Conflict are the only RTS games I've actually liked.

 

[Uzi-Bazooka]

Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, and its expansion pack, Clone Campaigns.

It's basically the same as Age of Empires II (which was also a good game, though not as good as the third, in my opinion), but better, and more...y'know...Star-Warsy. First of all, it fixed the major balance issues of AoE II, where a few Janissaries could take down pretty much anything. Each civilization is distinct and unique, not just in graphics (although that was a major step forwards), but also in abilities. For example: the Galactic Empire has fantastic mechs (AT-ATs and the like), but their airships are like throwing paper airplanes, whereas the Royal Naboo has fantastic airships but troopers who might as well be holding empty water pistols.

The second reason I think it's better than AoE 2, or even AoE 3, is the extra dimensions added by the Star Wars universe. Spaceships that can only be attacked by anti-air units and buildings, Jedi and Sith who can convert enemy units (as well as having awesome attacks), mighty assault mechs that crush all resistance...it's just so much MORE than the historical games, where it's basically people on land vs. other people and land and occasionally some boats.

You can still buy it used, but I must say, it's a real pain in the fundament to try to get it to work on anything higher than Windows XP. Still an excellent game, though.

 

[FireSpore]

Sins of a Solar Empire for sure.

 

[Vorlayn]

Majesty-TFKS ofc

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

Empire Earth definitely. I used to spend countless hours on a single match and the campaign was so fun. There's just so many time periods!

 

[King Pest]

id say europa universals 3 its hard but once you get the hang of it its really fun.
dawn of war series, total war series, stronghold are some of the other notable ones ive played and loved over the years

 

[Futureman]

Black and white all the way

 

[JFrog84]

I think Supreme Commander is worth noting. Especially for the late endgame Superunits that really drain the ressource and are a very fun to command. Like the huge green Flying Saucer with Independence Day dumbassobliterationyoufoolgotpawned Ray of Death or the superduperhalfwayacrossthemaprange Artillery Siege Cannon. Oh on a side node, huge Ships with Spiderlegs and an armored Tank that is a moving Vehicle Factory are nice too.

Listen to this guy

You've probably heard of this game since you mentioned Supreme Commander, which is the spiritual successor to TA.

The first RTS where you really could really have battles on a massive scale. More than 1000 units fighting on each side. 1st game to use active radar on the mini map allowing units within range to be seen, unless they're stealth units or cloaked. Resources are streaming in instead of collected by a "harvester" unit. it has a physics engine allowing the 2d terrain to affect projectiles with hills and other obstructions. As well as say increasing sight distance and range if you put units on top of a hill.

TA's creator company Cavedog folded years ago, so now it's all run by the fans. Theres thousands of mods to the game to.

Another interesting piece about TA is it's reincarnation to a more modern system, the Steam engine. Which was created by some Scandinavian folks. Dubbed TA Spring, or just Spring. It's fully 3D, no fixed camera angles. Still full of all the stuff that made the original TA great. And fully run by the fan community.

I've played nearly all of the C&C games, both SC's, and afew others, but Total Annihilation stands above them all.

I prefer how it plays over supreme comander and it has loads of unit types, everything from basic infantry to super long range artilery to cloaked sniper robots to gigantic walking machines of destruction (last two only with the addons which really are a must)

Check it out I've found it on GOG.com it comes with both expantion pack's for like £5 well worth a try.

 

[Twad]

Age of Empires 2. Homeworld. Warzone2100.