RTS Games

Bandwagon_sl said:

So I'm going to be building a new computer, probably next month, and was wondering what good RTS games are out there? I've watched some "Top 10 RTS games" videos on youtube, but nothing looks that outstanding except for maybe Planetary Annihilation.

I really liked Battle for Middle earth and Command and Conquer: Generals, but the oldschool Total Annihilation was my favorite.


I own Supreme Commander and Starcraft 2, but my current computer doesn't handle them well, so I'll try those on the new one.

Does anyone know of other NEW RTS games that would be good to try on a new gaming computer?

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Generals and Zero Hour still have my heart and soul when it comes to fun in an RTS - I really havent played any since that time. I could never get into SC or WC much but i did enjoy TA. They tried to reboot CnC a year ago but pulled the plug after a while, which sucked but it was doomed to fail.

Planetary is alright. It isn't anything spectacular IMO. It is a complete macro management game. I absolutely love competitive Starcraft 2. The single player is a bit lack luster but it is, by far, the deepest modern RTS on the market in terms of MP. However RTS has kind of been swallowed up by MOBA/ARTS games recently. The genre may bounce back but mostly if developers want to make a competitive RTS game they lean towards action RTS instead of traditional RTS.

There's AoE 2 EE on Steam, but people say you are better served by getting the original "somewhere" and patching/modding to make it run on modern PCs, less bugs and more features. Age of Mythology and Rise of Nations also got recently re-released, but they are pretty much the same.

Dawn of War 2 is worth playing with all the expansions just for the single player, but you don't really build a base. It has the best mix of RPG and RTS since War 3 and watching your space marine squad plow through waves of enemies is beautiful.

You would be hard pressed to find anything better than Starcraft 2 right now, the single player is solid enough IMO and the multiplayer has almost endless depth, then there are custom maps, which, while not as popular as in WC 3 are still fun and people have remade SC1 campaigns in SC2 engine and they are really good, maybe a tad too difficult.

The genre has sort of died, and indie developers can't really save it, because the gameplay was perfected 15 years ago as far as I'm concerned and there's really no reason to play anything new if the old games are simply better. Either you cap the skill a lot and cripple the depth, or you end up with balance nightmare that is unplayable in multiplayer, because you have a part of playerbase that will figure out the perfect and broken way to play the game. The other option is to go for mainstream and invest into "epic" campaign ala SC2 and divorce it from MP.

Zaphid_sl said:

The genre has sort of died recently, and indie developers can't really save it, because the gameplay was perfected 15 years ago as far as I'm concerned and there's really no reason to play anything new if the old games are simply better.

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I don't know about that. An indie company can take risks that Blizzard really can't take. They can try and re-capture the skill ceiling that Brood Wars achieved that seems to lack in Starcraft 2. In SC2 there has never been a Flash. There have been people who have stuck around and done well but no one that completely curb stomped everyone in his path due to superior skills. If an indie team decided to try and bring RTS back to it's roots with a lack of MBS, limited selection groups and certain other advantages that you could only achieve with 400 APM I could see that doing well.

Tenks_sl said:

I don't know about that. An indie company can take risks that Blizzard really can't take. They can try and re-capture the skill ceiling that Brood Wars achieved that seems to lack in Starcraft 2. In SC2 there has never been a Flash. There have been people who have stuck around and done well but no one that completely curb stomped everyone in his path due to superior skills. If an indie team decided to try and bring RTS back to it's roots with a lack of MBS, limited selection groups and certain other advantages that you could only achieve with 400 APM I could see that doing well.

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Well, that game would have to take esports by storm and traditionally titles that went for mainstream first and esports second have done much better. There aren't many people like Flash around and at certain point they have to consider whether they should play a game that can let them show off skill for less money or a game where they aren't really dominant but make more. LoL vs Dota 2 etc.

I'm actually surprised no titles have tried to teach you how to play RTS properly, Starcraft sort of tries that with challenges, but it's only a small part of the whole game. There's a campaign, sometimes at least with the same rules and units like MP and that's it. I'd love to play a custom map where you have to keep up 200 APM, because I can take that skill to a real match. Otherwise it's all sink or swim and MOBAs have at least people playing with you. Something where the game really holds your hand so you absolutely nail let's say the first 10 minutes down to the last worker. Think extended QTE boss fight

Zaphid_sl said:

The genre has sort of died

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QFT. I still play the oldies but goodies when I get the urge :/ Nothing else comes close these days.

The first Dawn of War game (With the buttload of expansions for it) has game somewhat like Battle for Middle Earth. In that it is a campaign where you gain starting units/buildings/resources depending on the areas you control and you invade other territories/defend your own to expand.

Company of Heroes is an amazing RTS worth checking out if you haven't. I really enjoyed the campaigns.

Zaphid_sl said:

Well, that game would have to take esports by storm and traditionally titles that went for mainstream first and esports second have done much better. There aren't many people like Flash around and at certain point they have to consider whether they should play a game that can let them show off skill for less money or a game where they aren't really dominant but make more. LoL vs Dota 2 etc.

I'm actually surprised no titles have tried to teach you how to play RTS properly, Starcraft sort of tries that with challenges, but it's only a small part of the whole game. There's a campaign, sometimes at least with the same rules and units like MP and that's it. I'd love to play a custom map where you have to keep up 200 APM, because I can take that skill to a real match. Otherwise it's all sink or swim and MOBAs have at least people playing with you. Something where the game really holds your hand so you absolutely nail let's say the first 10 minutes down to the last worker. Think extended QTE boss fight

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SC2 doesn't bake any of this stuff in but in the Arcade there is the Multi Task Trainer that forces you to keep a probe alive against slow zerglings while building a base to defend an attack (and eventually defeat the base) while commanding a dropship to evacuate someone. However I feel it doesn't teach you much outside of how to keep your first scout alive while macro'ing your base.

Zaphid_sl said:

Well, that game would have to take esports by storm and traditionally titles that went for mainstream first and esports second have done much better. There aren't many people like Flash around and at certain point they have to consider whether they should play a game that can let them show off skill for less money or a game where they aren't really dominant but make more. LoL vs Dota 2 etc.

I'm actually surprised no titles have tried to teach you how to play RTS properly, Starcraft sort of tries that with challenges, but it's only a small part of the whole game. There's a campaign, sometimes at least with the same rules and units like MP and that's it. I'd love to play a custom map where you have to keep up 200 APM, because I can take that skill to a real match. Otherwise it's all sink or swim and MOBAs have at least people playing with you. Something where the game really holds your hand so you absolutely nail let's say the first 10 minutes down to the last worker. Think extended QTE boss fight

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SC2 doesn't bake any of this stuff in but in the Arcade there is the Multi Task Trainer that forces you to keep a probe alive against slow zerglings while building a base to defend an attack (and eventually defeat the base) while commanding a dropship to evacuate someone. However I feel it doesn't teach you much outside of how to keep your first scout alive while macro'ing your base.

Warcraft II yo, I'm like 80% certain your current computer can handle it.

Ritley_sl said:

Warcraft II yo, I'm like 80% certain your current computer can handle it.

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WC2 was pretty shitty as far as RTS games go.

an accordion_sl said:

WC2 was pretty shitty as far as RTS games go.

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All about dat bloodlust yo

The last RTS I had any fun with was Dawn of War(1).
I Highly recommend the campaigns if you never played it. expansions are nice also.

wish the 2nd one was not so awful

Tenks_sl said:

SC2 doesn't bake any of this stuff in but in the Arcade there is the Multi Task Trainer that forces you to keep a probe alive against slow zerglings while building a base to defend an attack (and eventually defeat the base) while commanding a dropship to evacuate someone. However I feel it doesn't teach you much outside of how to keep your first scout alive while macro'ing your base.

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I know, but the map is buggy as hell. When I play it with protoss my APM almost doubles

Main problem with Dawn of War II is that they tried to remake the entire game, rather than just going with worked previously. Should have made DoW2 it's own series.