The techs, the conflicts, the characters— it was unlike any of its contemporaries and, with only a few exceptions, nobody has really attempted to replicate it.
Not even when Firaxis literally made a Civ in space, which wasn't very good. Alpha Centauri is as fascinating and weird now as it was back in '99, when we were first getting our taste of nerve stapling naughty drones and getting into yet another war with Sister Miriam. More than 20 years later, some of us are still holding out hope for Alpha Centauri 2. Pick an Age of Wonders and you really can't go wrong.
If sci-fi isn't your thing, absolutely give Age of Wonders 3 a try, but it's Age of Wonders: Planetfall that's got us all hot and bothered at the moment. Set in a galaxy that's waking up after a long period of decline, you've got to squabble over a lively world with a bunch of other ambitious factions that run the gamut from dinosaur-riding Amazons to psychic bugs.
The methodical empire building is a big improvement over its fantastical predecessors, benefiting from big changes to its structure and pace, but just as engaging are the turn-based tactical battles between highly customisable units. Stick lasers on giant lizards, give everyone jetpacks, and nurture your heroes like they're RPG protagonists—there's so much fiddling to do, and it's all great.
Set in an alternate 's Europe, factions duke it out with squishy soldiers, tanks and, the headline attraction, clunky steampunk mechs. There are plenty of them, from little exosuits to massive, smoke-spewing behemoths, and they're all a lot of fun to play with and, crucially, blow up.
Iron Harvest does love its explosions. When the dust settles after a big fight, you'll hardly recognise the area. Thanks to mortars, tank shells and mechs that can walk right through buildings, expect little to remain standing. The level of destruction is as impressive as it is grim. To cheer yourself up, you can watch a bear fight a mech. Each faction has a heroic unit, each accompanied by their very own pet. All of them have some handy unique abilities, and yes, they can go toe-to-toe with massive war machines.
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 's cosmic battles are spectacular. There's a trio of vaguely 4X-y campaigns following the three of the Warhammer 40K factions: The Imperium, Necron Empire and the nasty Tyranid Hives, but you can ignore them if you want and just dive into some messy skirmishes full of spiky space cathedrals colliding with giant, tentacle-covered leviathans.
The real-time tactical combat manages to be thrilling even when you're commanding the most sluggish of armadas. You need to manage a whole fleet while broadside attacks pound your hulls, enemies start boarding and your own crews turn mutinous. And with all the tabletop factions present, you can experiment with countless fleet configurations and play with all sorts of weird weapons.
Viking-themed RTS Northgard pays dues to Settlers and Age of Empires, but challenged us with its smart expansion systems that force you to plan your growth into new territories carefully. Weather is important, too. You need to prepare for winter carefully, but if you tech up using 'lore' you might have better warm weather gear than your enemies, giving you a strategic advantage. Skip through the dull story, enjoy the well-designed campaign missions and then start the real fight in the skirmish mode.
Mechanically, Homeworld is a phenomenal three-dimensional strategy game, among the first to successfully detach the RTS from a single plane. If you liked the Battlestar Galactica reboot, or just fancy a good yarn in your RTS, you should play this. Thanks to the Homeworld Remastered Collection , it's aged very well.
The remasters maintain Homeworld and its sequel's incredible atmosphere, along with all the other great bits, but with updated art, textures, audio, UI—the lot. Everything is in keeping with the spirit of the original, but it just looks and sounds better. The different factions are so distinct, and have more personality than they did in the original game—hence Soviet squids and Allied dolphins. They found the right tonal balance between self-awareness and sincerity in the cutscenes, as well—they're played for laughs, but still entertain and engage.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak sounded almost sacrilegious at first. Over a decade since the last Homeworld game, it was going to take a game remembered for its spaceships and 3D movement and turn it into a ground-based RTS with tanks? And it was a prequel? Yet in spite of all the ways this could have gone horribly wrong, Deserts of Kharak succeeds on almost every count.
It's not only a terrific RTS that sets itself apart from the rest of the genre's recent games, but it's also an excellent Homeworld game that reinvents the series while also recapturing its magic. Only Total War can compete with the scale of Supreme Commander 's real-time battles. In addition to being the preeminent competitive strategy game of the last decade, StarCraft 2 deserves credit for rethinking how a traditional RTS campaign is structured. Heart of the Swarm is a good example of this, but the human-centric Wings of Liberty instalment is the place to start: an inventive adventure that mixes up the familiar formula at every stage.
In , Blizzard finally decided to wind down development on StarCraft 2 , announcing that no new additions would be coming, aside from things like balance fixes. The competitive scene is still very much alive, however, and you'll still find few singleplayer campaigns as good as these ones. Most notable today for being the point of origin for the entire MOBA genre, Warcraft III is also an inventive, ambitious strategy game in its own right, which took the genre beyond anonymous little sprites and into the realm of cinematic fantasy.
The pioneering inclusion of RPG elements in the form of heroes and neutral monsters adds a degree of unitspecific depth not present in its sci-fi stablemate, and the sprawling campaign delivers a fantasy story that—if not quite novel—is thorough and exciting in its execution.
Shame about Warcraft 3: Reforged , it's not-so-great remake. Some games would try to step away from the emotional aspect of a war that happened in living memory. Not Company of Heroes.
Age of Empires gave us the chance to encompass centuries of military progress in half-hour battles, but Rise of Nations does it better, and smartly introduces elements from turn-based strategy games like Civ.
When borders collide civs race through the ages and try to out-tech each other in a hidden war for influence, all while trying to deliver a knockout military blow with javelins and jets.
It was tempting to put the excellent first Dawn of War on the list, but the box-select, right-click to kill formula is well represented. In combat you micromanage these empowered special forces, timing the flying attack of your Assault Marines and the sniping power of your Scouts with efficient heavy machine gun cover to undo the Ork hordes. The co-operative Last Stand mode is also immense.
If you need a 40K fix, we've also ranked every Warhammer 40, game. Like an adaptation of the tabletop game crossed with the XCOM design template, BattleTech is a deep and complex turn-based game with an impressive campaign system. You control a group of mercenaries, trying to keep the books balanced and upgrading your suite of mechwarriors and battlemechs in the game's strategy layer.
In battle, you target specific parts of enemy mechs, taking into account armor, angle, speed and the surrounding environment, then make difficult choices when the fight isn't going your way. It can initially be overwhelming and it's undeniably a dense game, but if that's what you want from your strategy games or you love this universe, it's a great pick.
A beautifully designed, near-perfect slice of tactical mech action from the creators of FTL. Into the Breach challenges you to fend off waves of Vek monsters on eight-by-eight grids populated by tower blocks and a variety of sub objectives.
Obviously you want to wipe out the Vek using mech-punches and artillery strikes, but much of the game is about using the impact of your blows to push enemies around the map and divert their attacks away from your precious buildings.
Civilian buildings provide power, which serves as a health bar for your campaign. You have to learn new technologies and fight in real time. Strategize your battles using the different soldier types.
European troops can make the phalanx while Chinese troops can build a smoke screen to protect from arrows. Construct fortifications and adopt diverse strategies to win. Another strategy game, squad-based with a strong focus on tactics. This game is about medieval European history, so it brings to life four nations and their conflicts. It combines resource management with base building and vast battles.
Four playable nations in an extensive single-player campaign inspired by historical events. Intense multiplayer battles. Outstanding visual fidelity powered by Unreal engine 4. Call of War is set in WW2. It is an MMO strategy game in which you can conquer provinces, forge alliances and build up your economy.
In this game, you can have up to real opponents per map. With many different maps and scenarios. Regular updates with new content. Foxhole is a massively multiplayer game where you will work with hundreds of players to shape the outcome of a persistent online war.
This is the ultimate war game of cooperative strategy and tactics. Every action you initiate can cause a powerful and lasting effect across a vast world in a constant state of war. This game is a sandbox in which every player influences the outcome. Every soldier is one player, and players are the content. You influence the story of the game.
Squad wants to bridge the gap between military shooters and arcade shooters. Prepare for large scale squad-based combat combined with base building. This is a visceral gaming experience with split-second decision-making in realistic world-scale firefights. Teamwork and communication are extremely important if you want to take out the enemy.
You can accompany your friends to many war locations that are constantly changing and evolving. Join millions of players in naval, land or sky combat and choose from thousands of vehicles. Game modes are divided into three based on support to the player and type of maps and missions played. Players can be in ground forces or may choose to operate planes only in air fights. They can also control ships and naval forces in sea battles. Arma 3 is a massive military sandbox game with over 20 vehicles and 40 weapons.
Authentic, diverse, open world, Arma sends you to war. Defeat your enemy on a richly detailed battlefield spanning over km2 of Mediterranean Island terrain. Altis and Stratis are two islands that host the war. Simple, strategic, epic! Do you know which year this game is taking place?
Year In China. Smart AI is also a big plus in this game, it will literally plot to kill you. Welcome to Hearts of Iron 4, here you will be able to put your favorite political ideology into use. Start as Germany and exterminate everyone - or as the Soviet Union, which will peacefully liberate countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, etc. But seriously, this game is awesome in terms of strategy - you have to manage your manpower and establish 5-year plans, discover new technologies, make alliances, nuke Switzerland - this game has it all.
Fight off nazis and commies as Poland at the same time! Have warships, planes, jets, tanks in form of units to defeat your enemy. This is by no means a casual RTS - here you get rewarded for being a proper strategist and get punished for making mistakes. Engage in aerial, land, or naval battles in what you can call World War 3! This game is Africa in a nutshell. Various warlords are rivaling each other for plots of land and equipment - become a leader and build your army in a hostile land where everyone wants to kill you.
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