Grizzled Ghost
Member
If you're down with squad based space RTS Aliens Dark Descent is a good one. And it's half off right now.
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Just starting to dive into RTS games. Could use some recommendations
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Newari
Member
And add this https://www.faforever.com/
Gp1
Member
The Holly trinity (ageless and perfect):
Warcraft 3
Company of Heroes (1, but the other 2 are awesome games too)
Warhammer Dawn of War
Goty material (In order):
Starcraft 1 and 2
Age 2/4/Mithology
Homeworld (1, 2 and, just a notch down, Deserts of Kharak)
Rise of Nations
Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 and Generals
Shogun Total War
Warhammer Total War 3
Very good games IMHO, somewhat recent, and that i'm always playing here an there:
Steel Division 2 / Wargame: Red Dragon
Regiments
WARNO
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
And that will give you at least a year in playtime.
Warcraft 3
Company of Heroes (1, but the other 2 are awesome games too)
Warhammer Dawn of War
Goty material (In order):
Starcraft 1 and 2
Age 2/4/Mithology
Homeworld (1, 2 and, just a notch down, Deserts of Kharak)
Rise of Nations
Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 and Generals
Shogun Total War
Warhammer Total War 3
Very good games IMHO, somewhat recent, and that i'm always playing here an there:
Steel Division 2 / Wargame: Red Dragon
Regiments
WARNO
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
And that will give you at least a year in playtime.
Hudo
Gold Member
Alright:
The "Command & Conquer"-style of RTS is what I would call the "arcade"-take on RTS. It's my favorite.
(You should also check out the Dark Reign and KKND games. Many people like them. But I rather play C&C instead, tbh)
Then we have the Blizzard-style of RTS, which is a lot more micro-heavy. Armies are usually smaller (especially in WarCraft) but units are more important and the counters aren't as clear-cut as in the C&C-style. It's also a lot less forgiving in terms of build order and all that stuff:
The Spellforce series is essentially a "sub-category", since it took the concept of the hero unit of WarCraft 3 and extended it more. It's almost a mixture of RPG and RTS
Then we've got the Age of Empires-style of RTS. Which has a far more pronounced building part. And the interesting Age-mechanic. It's less micro-heavy on the unit abilities. But more heavy on army composition.
And expect the building part to be part of your offensive strategy. Like castle dropping somewhere in the map is a legitimate strategy. In Blizzard-style RTS, buildings/bases stay "topolgically compact", if you will.
Then we have different takes on RTS. Relic have established the "Capture-key-points with squads"-RTS. Where you command and compose squads of units and go after (and hold) certain key areas on maps to get resources.
The building part is the shallowest here.
We also have more experimental RTS games
E.g. where you essentially don't build but rather you've got a "mobile base" that you can move around the map
Where the faction mechanics are so different that it affects core gameplay
A mixture of RTS and action game, where you control a unit from a 3rd-person perspective:
I dunno where to put it:
Then we have the Chris Taylor style of RTS. Which is much more macro-heavy. In the sense that you need to figure out your resources income and production pipelines because you'll be producing a lot of units constantly
An indivdual unit isn't important. Your armies and how you move them around the map are. So it's like the C&C-style but taken to an extreme.
Maybe also worth mentioning are the Sins of a Solar Empire games. Which are a mixture of 4X and RTS. So it's a lot heavier on the macro stuff in the form of 4X mechanics that you would expect in Civilization and the like. But it's not too deep because it is still an RTS.
The modding community is really something else here. In fact, mods is how I usually play these games:
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion recommended mods:
Sins of a Solar Empire II upcoming mods that look cool:
Keep in mind that I took the liberty of only mentioning the games worth playing IMHO. There are a lot of mediocre/bad clones out there.
Edit:
It might also be worth mentioning that I don't consider games like World in Conflict or Myth RTS games. But more real-time tactics games since, at least to me, some form of base building or base-management with resource collection is an essential part of RTS*. However, there are also cool RTT games:
These are more "micro-heavy" where individual units count:
Then we've got the "macro-heavy" stuff, where a bigger group of units is the elementary "play block", so to speak. Eugen Systems are dominating this niche:
* "But what about Homeworld, then, huh?" Yes, Homeworld doesn't really have a "base". You have a unit that acts like a base, which is your mothership. But you still collect resources. So you could make an argument against it. I don't.
The "Command & Conquer"-style of RTS is what I would call the "arcade"-take on RTS. It's my favorite.
(You should also check out the Dark Reign and KKND games. Many people like them. But I rather play C&C instead, tbh)
- Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
- Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
- Command & Conquer: Generals
- Command & Conquer 3
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
- Dune 2000
- Emperor: Battle for Dune
- Halo Wars
- The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth
- The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth II (I actually don't really know whether to put it here on in the Blizzard-style category...)
- Earth 2150 (Never played it, but the Polish would kill me if I omitted them. They say the Earth games are good. YMMV)
- Earth 2160 (Never played it, but the Polish would kill me if I omitted them. They say the Earth games are good. YMMV)
Then we have the Blizzard-style of RTS, which is a lot more micro-heavy. Armies are usually smaller (especially in WarCraft) but units are more important and the counters aren't as clear-cut as in the C&C-style. It's also a lot less forgiving in terms of build order and all that stuff:
- StarCraft Remastered
- StarCraft II
- WarCraft II: Battle.net Edition
- WarCraft III (STAY AWAY FROM REFORGED)
- Battle Realms: Zen Edition
- Metal Fatigue
- Submarine Titans
The Spellforce series is essentially a "sub-category", since it took the concept of the hero unit of WarCraft 3 and extended it more. It's almost a mixture of RPG and RTS
- Spellforce
- Spellforce 2
- Spellforce 3
Then we've got the Age of Empires-style of RTS. Which has a far more pronounced building part. And the interesting Age-mechanic. It's less micro-heavy on the unit abilities. But more heavy on army composition.
And expect the building part to be part of your offensive strategy. Like castle dropping somewhere in the map is a legitimate strategy. In Blizzard-style RTS, buildings/bases stay "topolgically compact", if you will.
- Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
- Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
- Age of Mythology: Definitive Edition
- Rise of Nations: Extended Edition
- Empire Earth
- Rise of Legends
- Stronghold: Definitive Edition
- Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition (upcoming; releasing Jul. 15th 2025)
- Stronghold 2
Then we have different takes on RTS. Relic have established the "Capture-key-points with squads"-RTS. Where you command and compose squads of units and go after (and hold) certain key areas on maps to get resources.
The building part is the shallowest here.
- Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War
- Company of Heroes
- Company of Heroes 2
We also have more experimental RTS games
E.g. where you essentially don't build but rather you've got a "mobile base" that you can move around the map
- Homeworld Remastered Collection
- Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
Where the faction mechanics are so different that it affects core gameplay
- Universe at War
A mixture of RTS and action game, where you control a unit from a 3rd-person perspective:
- Battlezone: Combat Commander
- Sacrifice
I dunno where to put it:
- Star Wars: Empire At War
- Populous 3
- Black & White 2
Then we have the Chris Taylor style of RTS. Which is much more macro-heavy. In the sense that you need to figure out your resources income and production pipelines because you'll be producing a lot of units constantly
An indivdual unit isn't important. Your armies and how you move them around the map are. So it's like the C&C-style but taken to an extreme.
- Total Annihilation
- Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance
- Beyond All Reason
Maybe also worth mentioning are the Sins of a Solar Empire games. Which are a mixture of 4X and RTS. So it's a lot heavier on the macro stuff in the form of 4X mechanics that you would expect in Civilization and the like. But it's not too deep because it is still an RTS.
The modding community is really something else here. In fact, mods is how I usually play these games:
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion recommended mods:
- Star Trek: Armada III
- Sins of a Galactic Empire
- Star Wars: Interregnum
- Sins of the Prophets
- Stargate Invasion
- Enhanced 4X Mod
Sins of a Solar Empire II upcoming mods that look cool:
- Star Trek: Armada IV
- Star Wars: Interregnum II
- Stargate Races 2
- Kohan is also a take on mixing 4X with RTS. It's also squad-based like Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War or Company of Heroes. But you move around on a "world map", essentially. Akin to how a Civilization map is in terms of being more zoomed out.
Keep in mind that I took the liberty of only mentioning the games worth playing IMHO. There are a lot of mediocre/bad clones out there.
Edit:
It might also be worth mentioning that I don't consider games like World in Conflict or Myth RTS games. But more real-time tactics games since, at least to me, some form of base building or base-management with resource collection is an essential part of RTS*. However, there are also cool RTT games:
These are more "micro-heavy" where individual units count:
- Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War II
- Ground Control
- Ground Control 2
- World in Conflict
- Myth: The Fallen Lords
- Myth II: Soulblighter
- Warhammer: Dark Omen
- MechCommander
- MechCommander 2
- Codename: Panzers
- Starship Troopers: Terran Command
- Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance (I haven't played it. But people say it's good and also that it's pretty unforgiving).
Then we've got the "macro-heavy" stuff, where a bigger group of units is the elementary "play block", so to speak. Eugen Systems are dominating this niche:
- Warno
- R.U.S.E
- Wargame: Red Dragon
- Steel Division
- Sudden Strike (The Sudden Strike and Blitzkrieg games are on a individual unit level of granularity. But you usually command large armies. Far larger than in the "micro-heavy" RTT, I'd say.)
- Sudden Strike 2
- Blitzkrieg
* "But what about Homeworld, then, huh?" Yes, Homeworld doesn't really have a "base". You have a unit that acts like a base, which is your mothership. But you still collect resources. So you could make an argument against it. I don't.
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darth.shrimp
Gold Member
One of the best video game soundtracks ever, as well.
~edit: is that a fucking Czar in the first screenshot on Steam?! What version of TA is that lol
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Zug
Member
Alpha Male
Member
Halo Wars 1 & 2
C&C 3
C&C Kane's Wrath
C&C Red Alert 3
Supreme Commander 2
Supreme Commander Forged Alliance
EndWar
Homeworld 3
Homeworld Remastered
Homeworld Deserts of Kharak
Ashes of the Singularity
WARNO
Regiments
Age of Empires 2 & 4 Remasters
Age of Mythology Remaster
If you're into 4X Games then:
Star Wars Empire at War
Sins of a Solar Empire 2
Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion
Stellaris
Total War
C&C 3
C&C Kane's Wrath
C&C Red Alert 3
Supreme Commander 2
Supreme Commander Forged Alliance
EndWar
Homeworld 3
Homeworld Remastered
Homeworld Deserts of Kharak
Ashes of the Singularity
WARNO
Regiments
Age of Empires 2 & 4 Remasters
Age of Mythology Remaster
If you're into 4X Games then:
Star Wars Empire at War
Sins of a Solar Empire 2
Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion
Stellaris
Total War
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Decal4
Neo Member
Thank you for sharing this detailed list! I've been looking to scratch the Warcraft 3 itch for over a decade and I always got goofy listicles for games that weren't even RTS genre at all (Overwatch??), this Not only has a curated list of games that hold up but you even let me comparison shop between subtypes of RTS games....major kudos!
Nickolaidas
Member
Keep an eye out for Command & Conquer's spiritual successor, Tempest Rising.
Hudo
Gold Member
I'll probably be eternally pissed at Blizzard for what they did to it with Reforged.
CrustyBritches
Gold Member
Empires: Dawn of the Modern World was my favorite. I just like doing to MP skirmishes against the CPU.
www.gog.com
Empires: Dawn of the Modern World
From Middle Ages through World War II, Command battles with an amazing array of historic
Hudo
Gold Member
It's arguably the most streamlined version of Empire Earth. It's just a personal pet peeve, but I don't like how you change civilizations when aging up. So much so that it actually ruins the game for me. But that's just me.Empires: Dawn of the Modern World was my favorite. I just like doing to MP skirmishes against the CPU.
Empires: Dawn of the Modern World
From Middle Ages through World War II, Command battles with an amazing array of historic
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Lucifers Beard
Member
StarCraft 2 is a good one for space related RTS action. Homeworld 1 and 2 remastered are also good if you want actual in space RTS gameplay.
One I'm looking forward to in April is Tempest Rising. Looks like a great Command and Conquer clone and the demo released last year was great.
One I'm looking forward to in April is Tempest Rising. Looks like a great Command and Conquer clone and the demo released last year was great.
Bulletzen72
Member
Nobody seems to have mentioned it yet but "Grey Goo" is a fantastic SciFi RTS. If you like the StarCraft games then you may like it. Don't let the silly sounding name put you off it (it's actually a scientific term for an end of the world scenario)
It's very good.
It's very good.
TexMex
Gold Member
People complain about this all the time but I never cared. With Reforged I wanted one thing, get the game onto the modern B.net client so it would have a huge influx of players. It did that. I’ve never stopped playing since launch and since Reforged, I’ve never waited more than a few seconds to get a 4v4 game.
Now, they could have done more and there were a lot of unfulfilled promises. I just wanted to keep multiplayer alive and it did that.
That said, the 2.0 version they launched fixed and added a TON with the Warcraft Direct a couple months ago, so you should hop back in and check it out.
Fbh
Member
Lots of good recommendations here.
Personally I've always loved the Battle for Middle Earth games (specially 2), and sadly I haven't found any new game that scratches the same itch.
Anyway, to mention something a bit different and that I haven't seen listed.
The Kingdom Under fire series is an interesting take on the RTS genre. It's basically an RTS but from a third person perspective instead of a top down or isometric one, and you have some hero units you can control directly with a musou type combat.
Don't be fooled though, it's not a musou. You'll only spend a fraction of your time using your hero to fight, the game focuses way more on managing your army by controlling your various different units. It's all about what units you use, where you move them to, who you have them engage, etc. You can have your basic melee unit engage the enemy one, then send your archer unit to support them or have your cavalry do a surprise charge out of the a nearby wood, etc.
All that said, it looks dated and is pretty jank, it's one of those games where the ideas are super cool but the execution isn't always great. But I played trough "The Crusers" for the first time a couple of years ago and had a blast with it.
Personally I've always loved the Battle for Middle Earth games (specially 2), and sadly I haven't found any new game that scratches the same itch.
Anyway, to mention something a bit different and that I haven't seen listed.
The Kingdom Under fire series is an interesting take on the RTS genre. It's basically an RTS but from a third person perspective instead of a top down or isometric one, and you have some hero units you can control directly with a musou type combat.
Don't be fooled though, it's not a musou. You'll only spend a fraction of your time using your hero to fight, the game focuses way more on managing your army by controlling your various different units. It's all about what units you use, where you move them to, who you have them engage, etc. You can have your basic melee unit engage the enemy one, then send your archer unit to support them or have your cavalry do a surprise charge out of the a nearby wood, etc.
All that said, it looks dated and is pretty jank, it's one of those games where the ideas are super cool but the execution isn't always great. But I played trough "The Crusers" for the first time a couple of years ago and had a blast with it.
ssringo
Gold Member
Dunno if you're on PC but Steam is having an RTS sale this week. Can't recommend anything as it's not my jam but I saw the banner and though of this thread.
Nonehxc
Member
Obvious recommendation.
When you're tired of micromanaging, wake up in the morning and choose ultraviolence and Rush B the fuck out of the enemy base for hilarity.
You'll win more than lose, and watching the enemy send you his 'peasants' to fight you always warms my cruel heart.
LordOfChaos
Member
AoM: Retold, play one of the best RTS games
NanaMiku
Member
IIRC, this game was made by ex C&C staff
Hudo
Gold Member
I looked at it and still think they need to re-remake the whole thing and reinstate classic WarCraft 3 (so it is playable on Battle.net). 2.0 is a necessary step in the right direction but too small. So either do a lot more steps like this or re-remake the whole thing, imho.
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
Hudo
Gold Member
Maybe I will buy Reforged when it's available for 2€ or so. I am pretty happy with just playing OG WarCraft 3 for now. I don't really want to reward Blizzard for their "work".
SublimeCorruptor
Member
I loved BFME as well. At least modders are still going.Lots of good recommendations here.
Personally I've always loved the Battle for Middle Earth games (specially 2), and sadly I haven't found any new game that scratches the same itch.
Anyway, to mention something a bit different and that I haven't seen listed.
The Kingdom Under fire series is an interesting take on the RTS genre. It's basically an RTS but from a third person perspective instead of a top down or isometric one, and you have some hero units you can control directly with a musou type combat.
Don't be fooled though, it's not a musou. You'll only spend a fraction of your time using your hero to fight, the game focuses way more on managing your army by controlling your various different units. It's all about what units you use, where you move them to, who you have them engage, etc. You can have your basic melee unit engage the enemy one, then send your archer unit to support them or have your cavalry do a surprise charge out of the a nearby wood, etc.
All that said, it looks dated and is pretty jank, it's one of those games where the ideas are super cool but the execution isn't always great. But I played trough "The Crusers" for the first time a couple of years ago and had a blast with it.
Also loved KUF back in the day. A shame about 2 (not heroes or circle of doom).
Rocinante618
Member
Starcraft 2, Warcraft 3, Age of Empires are imo the best. Maybe if you fancy add Starcraft remastered and Command and Conquer Remastered Collection.
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Insanemaelstrom
Gold Member
People have been giving some excellent suggestions, I will add two to them( which I think haven't been mentioned yet).
1. They are billions
2. Age of darkness: final stand
Also, since you are a newcomer to the genre, age of empires 2 DE and age of mythology retold( my fav of the age of empires series) are both great ways to start.
1. They are billions
2. Age of darkness: final stand
Also, since you are a newcomer to the genre, age of empires 2 DE and age of mythology retold( my fav of the age of empires series) are both great ways to start.
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TexMex
Gold Member
Classic W3? It's already there. You can toggle between Classic, Reforged and HD visuals on the fly. Unless you mean a true 2002 patch, which I wouldn't want. I'm a fan of modern balance changes.
Hudo
Gold Member
Well, then it seems we disagree on this. Which is OK.
Glad someone mentioned this, it's super old but the mech is fun. Didn't know it predated Dune 2 until I just checked.
Red Alert 2 is always my answer for an RTS newbie. It's crazy how back during the prime of the genre you could play new ones every month. Most weren't great but it's strange how they all but died off.
EDIT - No one has mentioned KKND
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