Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I have been looking for a new RTS lately, and have been incredibly unimpressed with everything I have tried, I have 2 old favorites that I don't think have ever been surpassed for replayability and structure, certainly graphically they are slightly dated.  I was very hopeful, and yet incredibly disapointed by AOE3 lately, when I wrote that review, abnd also by Kohan 3 that came out this year.  I have never understood why some sequal developers change the mechanics of the games they write sequals to instead of just adding more, units/terrain/economics/better graphics/etc. to the system. ???

I'm not trying to incite flame on what the ultimate game is, but instead to understand if there might be a gem(s) out there I have missed. ?  What are your favorite RTS games? Why do you like them?  What set them apart from the horde?

My groups 2 favorites are:

KOHAN Immortal Soveriegns

Realistic morale, formation, leadership, supply, balance, versus combination mechanics, random map generator, mod ability and to a lesser extent, fantasy battles style theme

TOTAL ANNIHILATION

for its unit variety, intrinsic game play tactics, concise unobtrusive GUI, versus combination mechanics, dynamic resource system, 3d map type, massive scale play, mod ability, low system requirements and SQUARE JUSTICE ROBOTS (ok not really) although I love Krogoths, even though it sounds like a store...

Honorable mention also goes to Age of Mythology and the Titans expansion, Sudden Strike and its derrivatives and Combat Mission: Berlin to Barbarosa: and Allied Assault.  We have modern machines. Anyone try armies of Exigo? It caught my eye.

???

these may not rate in your book but I liked Disgea and the old Ogre Battles, and Starcraft.

 

Starcraft and Brood War are both classics.

My favorite so far would be Rome: Total War, though I'm a life long fan of any RTS that Blizzard produces.

The Disgae and Ogre battle games are not RTS, BTW.

Earth 2160 seems interesting, I tried the demo a little bit, but am always distracted by BF2, so I never got that far, although it did seem awesome.  Just try dling the demo. 

Blizzard:  Warcraft 3 and Starcraft are still the best though, nothing can beat marching 200 marines into a Protoss base   Warcraft 3 was also good, try going online and playing some of the new levels, some are like whole new games.

Relic:  Howeworld and Homeworld 2 were amazing games, gotta love the space tactics!  Dawn of War was also a surpise, its really fun to play online, the games get very intense!

I like all the ones mentioned.  I do think Dawn of War is up there. Even if you are not a 40k fan, there are a lot of cool inovations there.

And it's by the guys that did Homeworld...so no big suprise. 

Warcraft 3, and its expansion, The Frozen Throne, are some of the best online RTS gaming ever. I've played games where you are constantly trying to outthink and out manuever the other person.

And nothing beats Starcraft and Broodwar for good old time fun. A Protoss Carrier Fleet is great to run, and running some Corsairs againest it is a lot of fun.

Couple you should absolutley pay attention to based on ones you listed.

Out Currently:

Soliders: Heroes of WW2.  It has one of the most generic titles ever, but it's an amazing hybrid of RTS and action.  Emphasis is on units and tactics vs resource management.  Really well done game with a beautiful engine.  Take a look.

Coming soon:

Supreme Commader.  The guy that made Total Annihilation is making this, and it looks like it's going to be incredible.  It's not due out for a while, but keep your eyes peeled for it.

Total Annihilation. Ahead of its time in every way and still heaps of fun.

Honourable mention goes to Earth 2150 and Homeworld/Homeworld: Cataclysm, who took the RTS genre with a slight twist and added such things as persistent forces and persistent research.

BYE

 

Couple you should absolutley pay attention to based on ones you listed...

Soliders: Heroes of WW2.  It has one of the most generic titles ever, but it's an amazing hybrid of RTS and action.  Emphasis is on units and tactics vs resource management.

Coming soon: Supreme Commader.  The guy that made Total Annihilation is making this

Hmm, thanks, Soldiers: Heroes of WW2, I haven't heard of tht or tried it.  I will check it out, thank you!

I have to say total annihilation is still one of the best- its great to just have a quick game or 3

I've also been finding Dawn of War to be great fun, espeically since i finally got the expansion.But my favourite of all time has to be the close combat series, it can be a great game to play either alone (even if it is abit easy) or much better as a full campaign with a friend- many a weekend have been wasted playing that game all the way through as either the germans or allies

Total Annihilation and the Homeworld Series. TA because it was great, along with the addition of the user created unit pack made the number of different units to build reach past 1000. Homeworld, who doesn't love epic space battles?

More cudos for anything made by Blizzard.. Warcraft 3 and Starcraft will just eat away the hours of the day.

Posted By Jayden63 on 11/04/2005 11:43 PM
More cudos for anything made by Blizzard.. Warcraft 3 and Starcraft will just eat away the hours of the day.

And most of those hours are spent researching everything from scratch and mining gold. I hated those games. Them and Age of Empires. Any game with non-persistent research, especially when the tech trees are VERY long, just suck.

With Starcraft I just got so tired of building the same base and researching the same crap in every mission that I just used cheats and skip ahead so that I could see the (actually interesting) plotline.

BYE

Thus is the fate of all RTS though.  For some reason all the research you did for the first mission never carries over to the second. Itrs all just part of the game.  I've not found an RTS that has ever gotten away from that.  But then again, who wants to play a 14 mission plot where all the good stuff came to you after mission 2.

At least blizzard stages the units you get and the upgrades you can research (in story mode).  It really helps give the feeling that the story is growing and not just progressing.

Posted By Jayden63 on 11/05/2005 5:10 PM

Thus is the fate of all RTS though.  For some reason all the research you did for the first mission never carries over to the second. Itrs all just part of the game.  I've not found an RTS that has ever gotten away from that.

Then you need to go and play Earth 2150, or Homeworld/Homeworld Cataclysm.

Dawn of War suffers from the same problem as well. It's insane that my Marines have to research Power Fists in every new combat zone they go to...

BYE

Herzog Zwei, the first RTS ever made

Posted By Augustus on 11/04/2005 5:07 PM

Hmm, thanks, Soldiers: Heroes of WW2, I haven't heard of tht or tried it.  I will check it out, thank you!

 

Hey Augustus, sorry, should have just linked it in the first place.  Check it out here:

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/outfront/index.html

 

Herzog Zwei

YES, I loved that game! Thanks for the reminder, it was superb, any idea where I can get that again? That's incredibly out of production for years now isn't it?

Thanks Kikkoman, I love you are picture, what is it?

Dude, I still have Herzog Zwei on my still working Sega Genesis - I remember paying $60 for it when it first came out - boy have I gotten my enjoyment out of that expenditure!

 

They released it on another platform?

On a cool side note, one of my other favorites has always been Populous.

Cheers,

Reodd

I'll have to echo the comments on Total Annihilation.

1. Realistic movement
2. Music that altered to fit the situation
3. Fixing balance issues by releasing units through download to counter it
4. Scalable gameplay: Quick 15 minute skirmishes to battles that could last several days (actual time).


It's too bad TA: Kingdoms wasn't as good (interestingly enough, sometimes you can find it in EB or other computer gaming stores for about $7, and last I checked the page to download the units from was still out there).

I really enjoyed Rise of Nations more than the Age of Empires
series.

Starcraft, T.A., and Homeworld are definantly at the top of the list.
Too bad T.A. Kingdoms was such a let down. I liked the unit types and the army themes, but something just wasn't right about it.

I love the Warcraft series!

Battlezone was kinda half in the RTS field and it had some pretty good elements, although I think most people just played it online as a Tank-battle. Remember the the Rave-Cannon packing Lunar-Lander? I can still hear the funky groove....*snipe*

With TA: Kingdoms I didn't feel like I was controlling living units. It felt more like I was controlling reskinned Total Annihilation K-bots, ships, or aircraft. I guess it just didn't feel "different" enough from TA in the same way that Starcraft felt different from the Warcraft series.

For the record, I also enjoyed:

Command and Conquer (the original was what got me hooked on RTS, wasn't too hot on the sequel though)
Red Alert 1 & 2 as well as Yuri's Revenge (I'm a sucker for alternate history)
Warcraft 2 and 3 (including expansions)
Starcraft (and Brood Wars)
Dawn of War (and Winter Assault)

I would say that Dawn of War is quite good, no need to build huge cities purely to be able to fight ala Starcraft. Good effects, graphics, gameplay and teams are balanced.

I would have to say that Homeworld is my favorite RTS ever. It was innovative in gamestyle, you kept your research, and the plot was fantastic. Also, the "Salvage" ability was lovely, I think at one point I had about 150 ion cannon frigates stolen from that giant hyperspace sink level. Starcraft was good, and DoW is good for multiplayer things as long as players don't drop. Other than those, I don't have too many favorites. Warcraft 3 was too frustrating, I greatly favor Warcraft 2. Command and Conquer, anyone? I didn't like the games, but some people persist...

Posted By djones520 on 11/03/2005 5:04 PM
My favorite so far would be Rome: Total War, though I'm a life long fan of any RTS that Blizzard produces.

 

 

RTW is by far the best RTS/Strategy game yet made.  It's micro-management, excellent battle system, it is easily modded so you can make your own army and units, and the graphics are fantastic are all selling points.  However the simple fact they have units like Naked Barbarian and Incendiary Pig should force people to want the game.  Figure in the expansion (you can play Attila leading the Hun horde) and I have wasted a few weeks of my life on this game. 

gotta love TA like everyone has said. im waiting for supreme commander.

for those, like me, who hate having to research everything again after every battle check out star wars: empire at war its all persistent.

I still have a place in my heart for the Command & Conquer series. I enjoyed the hell out of all of them.

TA best RTS ever.

DoW and R:TW are what I'm playing currently.