Favorite Strategy games?

[Frick]

Speaking of Civ: The only one I really played was Civ III, but that I played the heck out of. Civ IV just felt weird, and Civ V ... I never grasped. I have it, but I just cannot be bothered playing it. I have Endless Legend (thanks, whoever gave it to me in a TPU giveaway!), and that's great. I want the space version of Civ V, I can't remember the name right now (port wine is really nice). The demo was excellent. Oh yes. I've played Alpha Centauri a bunch.


And how in the world could I forget the Paradox games? The first one I really played was Havets Vargar (when they were still Target), in which you built fleets and traded things, or pirated. I have Svea Rike the board game, that also became a computer game. Europa Universalis I never got into until game number three, and that was really quite excellent. The only other Paradox games I got into was EU IV and Crusades Kings II, both of which you really should play.

I only played Shogun, the first one, of the Total Wars. The board game is excellent too.

 

[Vayra86]

Speaking of Civ: The only one I really played was Civ III, but that I played the heck out of. Civ IV just felt weird, and Civ V ... I never grasped. I have it, but I just cannot be bothered playing it. I have Endless Legend (thanks, whoever gave it to me in a TPU giveaway!), and that's great. I want the space version of Civ V, I can't remember the name right now (port wine is really nice). The demo was excellent. Oh yes. I've played Alpha Centauri a bunch.


And how in the world could I forget the Paradox games? The first one I really played was Havets Vargar (when they were still Target), in which you built fleets and traded things, or pirated. I have Svea Rike the board game, that also became a computer game. Europa Universalis I never got into until game number three, and that was really quite excellent. The only other Paradox games I got into was EU IV and Crusades Kings II, both of which you really should play.

I only played Shogun, the first one, of the Total Wars. The board game is excellent too.

Be wary of Civ: Beyond Earth. It feels incomplete and rushed all the way through and just copies the gameplay elements of Civ V while offering far less than Civ V does with its expansions. If you didn't grasp Civ V, don't get into Civ BE, really. Just play good old Alpha Centauri and you have a much better game all around except for graphics (although in terms of actual graphical content, Alpha Centauri has tons more to offer!).

 

[SaltyFish]

Warcraft III - The small unit limit means it's a micro-heavy game. Nice if you didn't like the mass unit swarming of Starcraft or the Command & Conquer games.
Civilization V - I prefer the hex grid.
King's Bounty: Crossworlds - Re-tuned version of Armored Princess with extra scenarios and an editor. Heroes of Might and Magic with a real-time map. There's a lot of dialogue for a game of its time (2010)... nice if you hate how modern games assume everyone playing them has ADHD.
Dominions 4 - Don't be put off by the graphics. It has a lot of mechanics and a somewhat steep learning curve. It's one of the best selling games on Desura.
Dawn of War 1 & 2 - The first is a squad-based RTS, the second one drops the base building and becomes more of a real time tactical game
Kohan - An older squad-based RTS with Zone of Control and entrenchment mechanics; has an expansion and a sequel as well. Give it a try if you liked Company of Heroes and/or Dawn of War.
Majesty 1 & 2 - An interesting take on the genre as you don't have direct control of your units
Disciples II - It's Heroes of Might and Magic, but as a small band of individual units rather than army stacks. Surprised there aren't as many of such.
King Arthur the Roleplaying Wargame - One of the less talked about Paradox games; it's a Total War style RTS with magic and some old-school text-based RPG segments
Alpha Centauri - Unit customization was a nice touch. Faction differences were more pronounced than in the Civ games which was nice too.
Grim Grimoire - Yes, it's a PlayStation 2 game. But it's a console RTS done well and probably the only one I can think of... mostly because it doesn't try to do something it can't (trying to copy the overhead view of PC RTS games)

Disciples III lacked polish. Strategy First outsourced development to Akella (who would later put out the disastrous Postal III after years of development hell) which didn't turn out too well. To Akella's credit, they put a lot of effort in trying to fix the game but eventually went bankrupt (Dwarf faction remains unplayable). Regardless, it probably means there won't be a Disciples IV anytime soon.

 

[Cvrk]

Age of Empires 2 ..and now the HD edition,got so tired of the old maps. The HD edition was a very welcoming new title.

I don't understand why these huge companies like Microsoft, Blizzard would not put money into a remake of AoE or Warcraft. Similar units but still new designed ones (that at least would fool the eye) continue the story for single player campaign (you can drag the story on and on for as long as you like) and new maps. Graphics like League of Legend are always good. If you have the pc turn it to max if not you can still play it. A new continued title of the games people still love and play would make them so much money,and i think for these huge companies the effort would be minimal.

 

[rooivalk]

Age of Empires 2 ..and now the HD edition,got so tired of the old maps. The HD edition was a very welcoming new title.

I don't understand why these huge companies like Microsoft, Blizzard would not put money into a remake of AoE or Warcraft. Similar units but still new designed ones (that at least would fool the eye) continue the story for single player campaign (you can drag the story on and on for as long as you like) and new maps. Graphics like League of Legend are always good. If you have the pc turn it to max if not you can still play it. A new continued title of the games people still love and play would make them so much money,and i think for these huge companies the effort would be minimal.

haha

 

[Kvsmms]

You say RTS, I think Supreme Commander. Love this series. However, 2 was much better IMO.

 

[Drone]

Back in the day played a lot Age of Empires, C&C and Stronghold. Pretty addictive games but in the end they get old too fast. It's the moment when you realize that they're all about quantity. The more units you got the faster you'll win. Just keep your "conveyor belt" busy.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

Red Alert 2 best game ever , Free on Origin at the moment

 

[MadClown]

Rushing Quad Cannons and C&C Generals will always have a special place in my heart.

 

[yogurt_21]

Age of Empires 2 ..and now the HD edition,got so tired of the old maps. The HD edition was a very welcoming new title.

I don't understand why these huge companies like Microsoft, Blizzard would not put money into a remake of AoE or Warcraft. Similar units but still new designed ones (that at least would fool the eye) continue the story for single player campaign (you can drag the story on and on for as long as you like) and new maps. Graphics like League of Legend are always good. If you have the pc turn it to max if not you can still play it. A new continued title of the games people still love and play would make them so much money,and i think for these huge companies the effort would be minimal.

They can't make a strategy Warcraft without messing with WoW's story lines. They're afraid how the gamers will respond to that so until WoW goes belly up, there won't be another Warcraft strategy game. (It is their cash cow after all)

Age of Empires 3 flopped hard, it would be difficult to make decent money on a sequel when most fans would wait for reviews before buying and reviews of games have not been as kind as they have been in the past. Glitches used to be a norm in releases, so they were given a pass until they could patch it. Now people crucify any game that's not perfect at launch. So a decent sequel following a flop is akin to winning the world cup a year after you lost every single game.

I would love a new Warcraft more akin to 2 and the original but that isn't going to happen. I also never bought AoE 3, reviews scared me away, permanently it seems.

 

[rooivalk]

They can't make a strategy Warcraft without messing with WoW's story lines. They're afraid how the gamers will respond to that so until WoW goes belly up, there won't be another Warcraft strategy game. (It is their cash cow after all)

There're 2 solutions:
a. Make spin off Warcraft games (maybe at Aegwyn's era or at the first invasion of Burning Legion). The lore is already exist and it's long time ago, it could be expandable. I bet people would pay a lot to see the 'reenactment' of the great sundering.
b. Make the continuation of WoW story from when Garrosh travel back in time (essentially there're two different timeline right?).

Age of Empires 3 flopped hard, it would be difficult to make decent money on a sequel when most fans would wait for reviews before buying and reviews of games have not been as kind as they have been in the past. Glitches used to be a norm in releases, so they were given a pass until they could patch it. Now people crucify any game that's not perfect at launch. So a decent sequel following a flop is akin to winning the world cup a year after you lost every single game.

I wonder about two things:
1. Why AoE 3 flopped when it was one the best selling PC game at that year? It's even outselling AoE2.
2. Why video game companies like to reinvent their games at the height of their popularity? Commandos, Trine, AoE, all flopped when they're trying to reinvent it. *to be honest I'm not really against milking games*

I would love a new Warcraft more akin to 2 and the original but that isn't going to happen. I also never bought AoE 3, reviews scared me away, permanently it seems.

I'm not a competitive player but I really like 3. The combat feels far more fluid than the clumsy 2 and the Havok physics is pretty nice for its time. The ships are also gorgeous. The stories are inferior and the map feels smaller though.

 

[Dent1]

There're 2 solutions:
a. Make spin off Warcraft games (maybe at Aegwyn's era or at the first invasion of Burning Legion). The lore is already exist and it's long time ago, it could be expandable. I bet people would pay a lot to see the 'reenactment' of the great sundering.
b. Make the continuation of WoW story from when Garrosh travel back in time (essentially there're two different timeline right?).


I wonder about two things:
1. Why AoE 3 flopped when it was one the best selling PC game at that year? It's even outselling AoE2.
2. Why video game companies like to reinvent their games at the height of their popularity? Commandos, Trine, AoE, all flopped when they're trying to reinvent it. *to be honest I'm not really against milking games*


I'm not a competitive player but I really like 3. The combat feels far more fluid than the clumsy 2 and the Havok physics is pretty nice for its time. The ships are also gorgeous. The stories are inferior and the map feels smaller though.

I liked AOE3 too and would welcome a sequel.

I think the major issue with publishers and RTS is the limitation of reach due to poor User Experience. With other genres the User Experience can scale across to all three major consoles and thus generate more revenue. RTS games, especially ones with lots of micromanagement typically only work well on keyboard and mouse environment which limits it to a PC exclusive and thus less revenue potential. Publishers make more money if a title is spread across multiple platforms.

The User Experience argument can be said with MMORPGs as well, but they are often subscription based so publishers can continue making revenue for many years to come. There is also side revenue from costume upgrades, new weapons, hidden content etc.

 

[SaltyFish]

I wonder if there will be a Red Alert 4 any time soon.

Also, has anyone tried RTS games on an x86 tablet (e.g. Microsoft Surface 3)?

 

[Enterprise24]

Battle Realms + Winter of the wolf (Hope BR2 coming soon.)
Red Alert 2 + Yuri & Red Alert 3 + Uprising (several people says RA3 suck but I don't think)
Empire Earth 1
Command & Conquer Generals
Total War Shogun 2
Total War Rome II (although optimization is really crap but I still spend several thousand hours play this game.)
Total War Attila (combine good things from Shogun 2 + Rome II and introduce some new mechanism.)
Simcity 3000 & 4 (2013 version is Simshitty)
Cities Skylines (Truly successor of Simcity 4)

 

[Enterprise24]

I wonder if there will be a Red Alert 4 any time soon.

Also, has anyone tried RTS games on an x86 tablet (e.g. Microsoft Surface 3)?

RA3 receive several negative feedback (although I like it). I don't think RA4 will come.
EA ruin several good game. Simshitty 2013 is disaster , Sims 4 is like facebook game with dinosaur DX9 + 32 bit (they didn't learn anything from Sims 3 ?) , C&C 2013 was canceled.