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I want to get into RTS games... Where should I start?
DeadDevotion
Member Posts: 26
I've played a little bit of Age of Empires III and Warcraft III here and there, but that's really about it as far as Strategy games go...
I don't care what "theme" they are, it can be WWII, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, whatever,
recommend be a good game to start me off into the world of RTS.
Comments
I absolutely love the Total War series.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Warcraft3's story is probably one of the best ever for RTS's. However, its graphics are dated.
Age of Mythology was good for its mythological story and creatures.
Rise of Nations was a good RTS too because your nation went through the ages up to present day (if I recall).
However, if you're wanting more recent titles, Empire Total War is good if you're more interested in actual battles between massive armies than resource collecting.
However, I would personally recommend Company of Heroes. A WWII RTS. The graphics are great, the tutorials are worth doing, and it already has 2 expansions out. If you live in the UK, you can buy the whole COH anthology via play.com for £10. Plus THQ are developing Company of Heroes Online (though what the difference is between COHO and COH with its online lobby is beyond me).
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
Sins of a Solar Empire is the best 4x RTS made to date ..imo.. http://www.sinsofasolarempire.com/
Galactic Civ 2 is also excellent .. but turn based...
http://www.galciv2.com/Index.aspx
Reign :Conflict of Nations is a Brand new and excellent RTS .. bit of a learning curve but a deep strategic game you will find...
http://www.1cpublishing.eu/game/reign-conflict-of-nations/overview
Or if you want a taste of a future Instant Classic i highly recommend Elememntal:War of Magic, i have been testing this game since its infant stages . It is just about to enter Beta 3B any day now priming for its Aug-Sept realease , If you Preorder now you get access to beta ... this is one of the deepest 4x RTS i have ever seen an instant classic not to be missed..
http://elementalgame.com/
Well Starcraft 2 is coming out soon.
For classic base building RTS games, Age of Empires II Age of Kings.
Avoid Starcraft, its a bit too simple and insanely overrated.
For turn based econ building massive scale tactic sims, Total War
I'd definitely start with Supreme Commander
Hey DDevotion,
Hi all,
Frankly I think both Age of Empires 1 and 2 (much more polished) are better than 3. In 3, the maps are very predictable; there are good elements but it just doesn't seem to have that 'touch'. Make sure you get BOTH with their expansion sets!
To my own surprise (I once tried it and junked it - bad idea Lucas) I recently re-tried 'Empire Earth' (1 and 2; 3 I have not tried I hear it's 'dumbed down' and that's not my favorite development in RTS) and still have oodles of fun. I like co-op play with friends (on big random map vs the computer AI) and these games are perfect for that. Note that Empire Earth is quite a bit like the aforementioned 'Rise of Nations', which *also* has a good expansion pack. Only prob with RoN: I cannot for the life of me find out how to LOAD (I can save them just fine) a multi-player game. The other 4 I mentioned allow for that.
I fully agree Sins of a Solar Empire, with 2 mini expansions (this greatly enhances depth-of-gameplay) is another outstanding RTS *but* I have to warn you that if the Impulse platform does not work for you (if it does, you're in good shape) you may have trouble getting updates. 3 of the 7 people I 'sold' the game to dfid not get Impulse to work and never want to hear from Stardock again. Pity...it really is a good fun game, with excellent MP options (including Ironclad Online).
A rare gem that few appear to know of is the old 'TZAR: the Burden of the Crown'. This willl take some getting used to because the human players HAVE to take a different tactic from the AI players. The AI does not build walls (you must; use the ALT and CTRL keys for orientation) but it sure as hell plays mean tricks on you.
Another one of my personal favorites is Close Combat (WW2, 2 AI layers one programmed by a NASA guy). Y"ou have to be of the 'gameplay before graphics' persuasion to enjoy it thought. Note that only 4 and 5 are similar; 1, 2, 3 and 4/5 all have major differences. And good enemy AI
Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns (not sure if that's the expansion or not) is also quite interesting.
Age of Mythology has been mentioned.
Antoher fine title (which really surprised me) is Officers: Peter Games but I think the Matrix Games variation has a more-or-less essential patch built in; might want to check that one.
Finally, I am a big fan of both SF and Fantasy but like I said: gameplay before graphics so I like Warcraft and Starcraft just fine, but I willl trade every version of them for Warlords': Battlecry (especially part 1 and 3).
Well, ought to keep you off the streets a bit
Lucas.
PS None of these are MMORTS just RTS but it appeared to me that was what you were looking for? MMORTS (simple buf fun for a bit) you could try Navyfield or Blitz 1941; both free. Don't go Evony it's all fake; very bad gameplay (although the start can be ok - just make darn sure you get out when they start to milk you).
* I say, there is no
* darkness but ignorance.
-
* Twelfth-night; or, What You Will
http://www.worldofbattles.com/
Recently I found this game and it seems to be quite good game. Imo worth giving a try
For the more in depth type of RTS I would suggest Sins of Solar
For a more easy acces arcade RTS I would say C&C or StarCraft
But also can suggest Age of Empire's, kinda a cross between arcade and in depth type of RTS
For the more relaxed type of RTS type of game I would say Anno aka A.D games
Black & White and B&W 2 are the absolute best rts i've ever played, they are part civilization builders such as simcity and stuff too.
Basic starter RTS are ussually Command&Conquer/Warcraft/Starcraft, I know the first in those series (1-2) were what introduced me into the genre, they have pretty straight forward gameplay so you might want to start there if you can bare the graphics lol.
Dungeon Keeper was another I remember playing a lot way back.
But still my personal favorite of all time is the B&W series, you'd probably be better off skipping the first one though, since B&W2 has more refined features (controls/gameplay), they made it a lot easier to manage everything too.
The RTS genre is pretty damn huge, it ranges from micro management games such as well DOTA(warcraft3) to Age of empires/TA were you control hundreds of units..
But Id say warcraft 3 custom games are kinda entertaining, mostly because its so easy to get into.. that and stick with, its so hmm.. different each map is basicly a new game. If your into more standard type of gameplay then Id recommend Supreme commander, or Company of Heroes.
For offline gameplay tryout the total war series, Im a true fan of Shogun and Rome total war
Starcrraft 2 is out in a week, 30 mission single player campaign with around an hour of Blizzard quality CGI and ingame cinematics. Ingame multiplayer training maps and tutorials, if your competative a league/ladder based multiplayer system so you wont be up against the pro's when in multiplayer.... theres a reason 100,000's still player Starcraft 1.
Others I recommend (released in the last 5 years) in this order.
Company of Heroes
Warcraft 3
Dawn of war 1 (not DOW2 - that's junk)
Other older games, in no perticular order
Homeworld 1/2
Starcraft 1
C&C Tibiran sun (now FREE http://www.commandandconquer.com/classic )
Honestly I would start with Dawn of War 2. The old style RTS's are pretty much all the same. You will have people that have played 40 hours a week for the last 12 years of almost the exact same game with updated graphics and skins. You will get WTFStomped repeatedly going online with Starcraft 2 and games like this.
Dawn of War 2, Company of Heroes, Red Alert 3 are some great ones. I would still definitely pick up Starcraft 2 for single player and co-op fun. If you want to get good at SC2 online and actually beat people and you have the time then go for it. If you liked SC1 then you will like SC2. It is pretty close to the same game in terms of picking it back up.
If you just want base management & combat, then any of the games mentioned already will be good value for money.
I enjoyed playing through Spellforce 1/2 which adds an RPG element to the standard rts fare, and Ground Control (Free D/L link
)which replaced base building for unit management.
XCom series (I didn't like the UFO series as much), Mech Commander are older titles, but were good at the time.
Just hit an online store like Game, and browse through the RTS section, see whats available, check a few write ups and then make a self informed decision.
Happy gaming.
Any of the Total War series of games are good. Age's of Empire and Civilization aswell.
Ever since I played Company of Heroes.... every single RTS game I've played seems shallow in comparison... it's just years ahead in every single aspect.. graphics/ 3D destroyable world/ unit strategy/ board control/ resource control/ every single unit is useful etc etc
the first and last RTS game you'll ever need
..Cake..
Civilization is not an RTS
..Cake..
Wait until the 27th, and start with Starcraft 2. The singleplayer campaign will be excellent, and the multiplayer is relatively simple and well balanced, which makes it great for beginners.
Starcraft and Warcraft are good ways to ease yourself into the genre.
Steam: Neph
I would say DOW 1 with the exp up to dark crusade thats the rts i have had most fun with
but its a matter of taste
I concur. Whatever you do, don't give this one a miss. It's also a refreshing experience compared to the continuously rehashed C&C series.
Alot more tactical and fun than your average generic base builder.
Something similar would be the dawn of war series, the 2nd game is much closer to how CoH plays than the first, but i've enjoyed both. Give that a try if you're familiar with the Warhammer 40k IP especially.
Don't bother with the 2nd expansion for CoH... Relic lost it with that but be sure to pick up the original and 1st expansion.
Multiplayer is good fun and there are over 7k people online most time so no waiting, Does get a bit unbalanced late game when the germans start to mass tanks and long range arty.. but thats probably just me.
DoW2 is a cheap rehash of CoH so don't bother with that.
I am waiting for Relic to return to greatness with Homeworld 3.
I still have a soft spot for Total Annihilation. It was probably the best RTS that I've played. I also enjoy Myth (debatable to consider it an RTS) and some of the Total War games. I enjoyed the StarCraft story, the gameplay is pretty nice but thought others were better.
I think AoE II is the one to start with, and Warcraft III, to see two bit sifferent kind of RTS games. From there you could continue to Rise of Nations or Starcraft. After that, Sins of Solar Empire, Europa Universalis III and Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance.
Other good ones, like already mentioned, Total Annihilation and Total War series, Homeworld.
I can't really recommend Company of Heroes or Dawn of War games, they are even more tactic heavy than Starcraft and Warcraft.
In any case, the must have ones are AoE II, Rise of Nations, Sins of Solar Empire.