Looking for RTS

[Champ]

I honestly grow tired of shooting at things and would like a game where i can sit back and have the events unfold. I read an interesting debate about COH2 and MOF2. Some said COH2 was worst than COH1 and vastly unrealistic. Like COH2=COD and MOW2=BF. Strcraft is kinda appealing to me to, but i don't understand all the different version you must buy to this game. I was also looking at the other popular RTSs at the moment, but I've never played them before. Any recommendations on a good or couple of good RTSs?

 

[Vario]

If you want single player, just buy Starcraft: Wings of Liberty. Skip the Heart of the Swarm expansion. It sucks. WOL is pretty good. HOTS is useful only for multiplayer, the single player campaign has you playing as an Infested Kerrigan with PMS.

The multiplayer is pretty good though. However, its very difficult to do well as a noob, the skill matching is terrible.

 

[Fourstaff]

Civ 5. Sit back and relax, the game is not too difficult to learn and play. Turn based lets you take your time.

 

[RCoon]

Civ 5. Sit back and relax, the game is not too difficult to learn and play. Turn based lets you take your time.

The new Meridian game on Early Access is pretty amazing for a single dev job. Civ V and the newly released Age of Wonder III is supposed to be the dog's bollocks too. They're TBS though, similarly along those lines are XCOM Enemy Unknown. If you're dead set on RTS, the Starcraft II campaign and HotS campaign are AMAZING. I literally couldn't put the game down for that single player campaign. Dawn of War series with expanalones and Dawn of War 2 expandalones are also pretty fun for single player, but the multiplayer is now non-existant.

Also HoM&M V with Tribes of the East expansion is pretty much my second favourite TBS behind XCOM.

 

[mafia97]

I also want to know about good RTS after Age of empires.
I have tried civilisation 5 and settlers 7 , didnt like settlers much but got addicted to civ 5(played 6 hours continous).
But I still want a RTS game.

 

[MustSeeMelons]

You could wait for AoM:Extended, if I'm not mistaken it's due May 8th. CoH2 has it's flaws - terrible & cheap campaign, no lobby system for online and rough on the performance. It does fix one major issue with CoH, you can order your tanks to go backwards!

 

[Vario]

CIV III > CIV II > CIV IV > CIV I > CIV V

 

[Easy Rhino]

I highly recommend CoH. I have played it for hundreds of hours and it is still fun to pick up and game. I have not played CoH2 but kidswithguns here on TPU has and says it is not as good. I take his word for it since we played together countless times.

 

[Ahhzz]

AoM extended does look good, but it would have to be some Mythological pricing to get me to get it from Steam.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Recommend COH (not COH2), and various Total Wars (Original Rome Total War, if modded), Medieval2 TW, and Shogun 2 Total War are all highly fun. Also, I've not played it, but my son swears Starcraft II is the best game he has ever played (both single player and MP), and he's mostly a console kid!

 

[Champ]

Good stuff guys

 

[Kursah]

I honestly grow tired of shooting at things and would like a game where i can sit back and have the events unfold. I read an interesting debate about COH2 and MOF2. Some said COH2 was worst than COH1 and vastly unrealistic. Like COH2=COD and MOW2=BF. Strcraft is kinda appealing to me to, but i don't understand all the different version you must buy to this game. I was also looking at the other popular RTSs at the moment, but I've never played them before. Any reconciliations on a good or couple of good RTSs?

Starcraft 2 is great, both current releases are a lot of fun SP and MP imho. I prefer SP and AI skirmishes when as I don't have time to hop on to MP much anymore.

I've honestly been really really enjoying Planetary Annihilation, but it has no storyline. But it's like Total Annihilation and SupCom had a Borderlands-sorta-art-style-ish baby that allows you to take over planets, moons, etc...also smash said moons into planets. Right now it's in Beta...err...Gamma phase, and there's no pause or save feature, the Easy AI is easy...the Normal AI is insane (to me)...but it's A LOT of fun.

C&C Tiberian Sun is an oldie, but is now a freebie. I've made it work on WIndows Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1 also.

C&C 3 + Kanes Wrath is a lotta fun...yes it's getting old but has aged gracefully imho.

CoH1 is good...but I get tired of it quickly now. Though it did a good job of mixing tactics and strategy...I prefer the Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War series more...Dark Crusade is a blast.

Supreme Commander Gold off of steam is totally a blast...large scale, some storyline, missions unfold, you can save anytime, the scale is massive...yes missions and matches can drag out for hours too. This is more grand scale than quick in and out.

Supreme Commander 2 however is a good mix of speed and scale imho. It's not as indepth as SupCom 1 or FA (both part of Gold), but is a lotta fun. Me and my 12-year old play it a lot as a team and vs. It's not for everyone...but honestly I choose SupCom2 over StarCraft 2 most times. Though both are excellent, and are well worth owning. I've put many more hours into SupCom2. The storyline sucks, but the missions themselves are decent. Skirmishes are quite fun. The map selection is also decent...just too bad modding never really took off...though there is a 2013 mod that makes SupCom2 more like SupCom1.

Hmm...what else...Oh I started playing Star Wars: Empire at War Gold (Steam) again. It's pretty fun. It mixes ground and space battles. It's more tactical on the ground at least early game and during the story. Been quite a bit of fun. definitely showing it's age.

One of the best RTT (real-time-tactical) is World in Conflict. It's old, but still good. I think MP is dead unfortunately. Still good story, a lot unfolds, plenty of action. Once you get past the initial learning curve it's a blast.

When you beat that and you're ready for more, look into the Wargames series...amazing cold war era RTT titles. The newest one is set to be released soon...I just prepurchased and got into Beta. Their SP isn't the best...but MP is quite fun. The Skirmishes with AI are a challenge because the AI is omnipresent by design, but this game is as much about recon as it is about battles...which look and sound amazing. Great games.

Dawn of War 2 is a good RTT...but even though I bought all the sequels to the original DoW2 I barely put any time into them...I had my fill after beating the first one.

There's a freebie called Zero-K that's fan-created and similar to Total Annihilation in 3D. It's pretty good and has TONS of missions, options, etc.

Hmm...what else... well it depends on what else you might be after. If you can't tell I prefer my sci-fi and cold war. There's plenty of fantasy and other wartime options available too.

SupCom2 can be had for around $7 on steam sales regularly and is easily worth $15 imho. It's fun and gives a lot for a small investment imho. If you don't find that kind of RTS fun, then steer clear. Starcraft 2 is a pricey investment, but is very well polished, regularly updated and a lot of fun offline. MP can get rough as people perfect their builds and run over the less competitive players...the matchmaking does work well though. I prefer private matches with friends.

I hope that helps a little!

 

[mlee49]

I've literally put in thousands of hours into Starcraft II WoL. I was tired of FPS's and action genre so I tried something new and really enjoyed it.

I would suggest buying the newest Heart of the Swarm package since WoL is quite old. HotS will be relevant for another year or so before the next expansion, Legacy of the Void comes out.

You could try a MOBA or Multi Online Battle Arena game style too. Dota 2, League of Legends, and Smite are free to play with the option of investing if you are interested. There's tons of tutorial videos to get you started, but I would recommend Smite-Battlegrounds of the Gods. Check out Drybear Gamers and his Youtube channel for tons of great gameplay vids and tutorials. For a free game its a lot of fun and has components of Real Time strategy with skill shots, build itemization, and positioning/map awareness. If you download it, feel free to add me in game: MLee49.

 

[Vario]

Ground Control 2 is decent (10 years old though, great game engine and graphics for its age)

 

[JC316]

Starcraft 2 is one of the best IMO. Mussels and I probably have 5K hours, maybe more into it. Supreme Commander is good too, if you like a large scale warfare style. Much slower, more macro focused than micro. I never could get into Company of Heroes, the learning curve is steep, as is the difficulty. Age of Empires 2 HD is on steam and Age of Mythology is coming. Both of those are outstanding.

 

[XSI]

C&c generals zero hour + shockwave mod i like this one a lot. best rts for me.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

How about Command and Conquer The Ultimate Collection? I don't really like anything past Generals though. See how it was done last millennium!
The one that I liked the most, the one that had the best UI, was Warzone 2100. It is now open source so you can download it. We're talking about something from 1999 though.

 

[hellrazor]

Red Alert 2.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Also, as an addition, and more a turn-based Strategy/tactical hybrid, I found the UFO series (UFO Aftermath; Aftershock, and Afterlight) to be very addicting. No they aren't x-com, but are pretty well done. Downside is they had Starforce Protection, but are now DRM-free on GOG.com.

 

[Vario]

X3 has some strategy elements, you might like it. Its usually $5 or less. Its hard to categorize that game but I played a good amount of it, its pretty enjoyable if you like space themes.

also heard that Sins of a Solar Empire is good but I haven't played it personally

 

[Easy Rhino]

Starcraft 2 is one of the best IMO. Mussels and I probably have 5K hours, maybe more into it. Supreme Commander is good too, if you like a large scale warfare style. Much slower, more macro focused than micro. I never could get into Company of Heroes, the learning curve is steep, as is the difficulty. Age of Empires 2 HD is on steam and Age of Mythology is coming. Both of those are outstanding.

yup

 

[rooivalk]

CoH is never about realistic (maybe the graphic or sound). If you want realistic, you could play Faces of War or Close Combat, but remember too much realistic could spoil the fun.

I played CoH1 (200+ hrs I think) and CoH2 (currently just ~100 hrs), I think there's three big complaints about CoH2:
- general tree is simplified and make less impact in gameplay than in CoH1, but you get lots of options. I personally like CoH1 style.
- there's less factions (currently 2) versus CoH1 + expansion (4). In June we'll get 2 more factions in CoH2 for about $20 (no campaign AFAIK). I think it's not fair to expect a game will always be bigger than its predecessor.
- too much of DLC. General? DLC. Skin? DLC. Co Op Mission? DLC. Friggin plate? DLC.

but on the other hand, other than stuff like new campaign or new units, you'll get:
+ Co-op Mission. It's fun, and sometimes challenging.
+ Blizzard system, snow track, thin ice cap, and true sight system is giving you new possibilities. I love to sink a Tank with just mortar.
+ More challenging AI if you like to play with them. It's a bit cheating actually but I heard much have been fixed in the last patch (It's been weeks since I last played CoH2).

In the end I have fun with both.

Starcraft 2 is one of the best IMO. Mussels and I probably have 5K hours, maybe more into it. Supreme Commander is good too, if you like a large scale warfare style. Much slower, more macro focused than micro. I never could get into Company of Heroes, the learning curve is steep, as is the difficulty. Age of Empires 2 HD is on steam and Age of Mythology is coming. Both of those are outstanding.

CoH learning curve is not very easy but I think it's not hard either, you'll get the hang of it in few days. Starcraft II is simpler but I think to be competitive it took more effort than CoH and with so much micro and no time, I don't think it's a relaxing game. What I like about CoH, many of damage calculation is probability, so you may get luck/bad roll from it and it makes the game a bit slower (so you can plan something before your unit vanish unlike in SC).

AoE II is outstanding but the HD version seems to be missing original music? I hate the new music.
I also love AoE III, the graphic is quite good and feels fluid. I love those big ship.

Age of Mythology is good but lately I think the interface feels sluggish, dunno the extended version.

Rise of Nation! It's really long upgrade of civilization and city based combat. The only downside is in modern era it seems war is just about who could spam more.

Civilization V is also good. But I got bored after winning several maps, dunno why.

Act of War : High Treason! A forgotten game. It's simple like CnC but with good graphic (still good even now and you can zoom quite close like CoH), nice gameplay (prisoner, stealth, CQB garrison, medic) and naval warfare (only in some maps). The acting is terrible though.

how bout CnC series? the learning curve is easy and not too demanding, it's fun.
- Generals : my personal fav, cool and lots of Mods, but unbalanced in multiplayer. Really love the personal character of generals in general's challenge.
- Tiberian Sun : slow paced. Cool CD cover and units bro.
- Red Alert 2 : fast paced.
- CnC3 : I think it's rather fast, but I think RA3 is better.
- Red Alert 3 : fast paced too, rather multiplayer focused, funny, but maybe too cartoony for some.

other than that, maybe Heroes of Might and Magic III/IV/V/VI? or Age of Wonders? It's turn based strategy, leave you with time to think but wrong move could cost you deeply. Learning curve is steep though but it's plenty of fun when you get hooked.

 

[lyndonguitar]

If you want to sit back and relax, don't even consider Starcraft (the multiplayer part at least), imo it is even more stressful than FPS games.

play some non-competitive Strategy games, like city/town/empire/civilization building games, especially games with emphasis on singleplayer experience. Even more relaxing are Turn-based 4X games because you can stop, think about everything and take your time.

If I had to pick one RTS I would play now I would say, Sins of a Solar Empire. you should try that also, if you like Space and things.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I would give Homeworld a shot.

It is still my favorite game of all time.

 

[Solaris17]

I love SC2 and while it isnt necissarily an RTS and more of a SIM if you want to critically think and practice APM Anno2070 will bust your balls for that in big areas.