A completely objective chart of some of the best PC strategy games ever created, has now been refreshed to include our favorites from 2017 and 2018. From complex wars global, to the tight guerrilla army, the vast genre contains something for everyone, and we have gathered the best people.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (2000)
In truth, the long-running Command & Conquer series has never been one single thing, but in popular memory it tends to be defined by a combination of accessible but explosive build’n’bash warfare and gloriously daft sci-fi soap opera FMV cutscenes. That reached its apex with the second Red Alert game, an alt-history spin-off documenting an absurd 70s war between the Allieds and Soviets, replete with psychic soldiers, robot tanks, tesla troopers and more exaggerated cultural stereotypes than it would be best to dwell on here.
For all that, it finds a joyful line between tactical satisfaction and thematic silliness without entirely tumbling into the OTT self-consciousness of its 3D-accelerated successor. This is peak 90s RTS, from a time when the genre seem unassailable, and it remains fiendishly playable, just challenging enough and filled with campy delight.
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002)
It’s tempting to think of Blizzard as a gargantuan entity that absorbs the best ideas of a genre, reshuffles them slightly and applies an enormous amount of polish. The company’s enormous success was hard-earned, however, in the RTS boom of the nineties. The first two Warcraft games were launched into a world where Westwood’s Command and Conquer series was king, and it was only the release of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness that elevated Blizzard to the same level as their rivals.
Rather than swinging for the same fences again, Blizzard made some minor alterations to the wheel with Warcraft III. The introduction of two new playable races, alongside orcs and humans, threatened fine-tuned balance, and there was a concerted effort to add variety to the RTS formula, particularly in the early game. Incorporating light RPG elements through the hero characters muddied the waters further and it’s testament to the abilities of designer Rob Pardo and his team that they were able to chart such a smooth course through those waters.
Company of Heroes (2006)
Company of Heroes made World War II seem like new territory. Complaining that one the most significant historical events of the twentieth century are old hat seems borderline offensive, but has anyone who has ever watched The History Channel or played a computer game in the early twenty-first century will tell you, World War II WAS old hat. On the television you could choose between Hitler’s Last Days, Hitler’s Children, Hitler’s Gold and Hitler’s Breakfast. In computer games, you were going to see a whole lot of occupied France, although there only seemed to be three parts TO see: THAT beach, a sleepy village and a sniper in a clocktower.
/company-of-heroes-56ab9fe75f9b58b7d009cc13.png)
As the name suggests, Company of Heroes managed to marry the humanity of Band of Brothers with the ingredients of an RTS. Even as you send fresh troops into battle, replacing a squad who just died on a fool’s errand of your own making, Company of Heroes makes you believe that every soldier counts for something. That’s partly due to the detailed depictions that the Essence Engine make possible, but it’s also down to the careful pacing of the missions.
Has any RTS game handled both the calm and the storm as well as Company of Heroes? Even when combat begins, there’s usually a peppering of shots toward cover before casualties occur, and Relic ensure that you have time to react as a situation develops. Even though those soldiers are just pixels on a screen, don’t be surprised if you find yourself making tactical choices that ensure their survival rather than the quickest possible route to success.
StarCraft II (2010)
StarCraft II is the Platonic ideal of the micro-heavy multiplayer RTS game. Watching expert players at work is bewildering, as the clicks per minute rise and the whole game falls into strange and sometimes unreadable patterns. According to the StarCraft Wiki, a proficient player can perform approximately 150 productive actions per minute.
“Oh bother”, you might be thinking, “I usually only click my mouse 150 times a year unless I’m photoshopping bees onto a picture of a politician’s face.” Fear not. StarCraft II may be included here because it has perfected an artform that only a dedicated few can truly appreciate, but its campaigns contain a bold variety of missions, and bucketloads of enjoyably daft lore. Though its dour singleplayer campaign is a big ol’ nope in terms of storytelling, most recent expansion Legacy of the Void has an Archon mode that even offers two-player coop, so you can share all of those actions per minute with a chum.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (2000)
In truth, the long-running Command & Conquer series has never been one single thing, but in popular memory it tends to be defined by a combination of accessible but explosive build’n’bash warfare and gloriously daft sci-fi soap opera FMV cutscenes. That reached its apex with the second Red Alert game, an alt-history spin-off documenting an absurd 70s war between the Allieds and Soviets, replete with psychic soldiers, robot tanks, tesla troopers and more exaggerated cultural stereotypes than it would be best to dwell on here.
For all that, it finds a joyful line between tactical satisfaction and thematic silliness without entirely tumbling into the OTT self-consciousness of its 3D-accelerated successor. This is peak 90s RTS, from a time when the genre seem unassailable, and it remains fiendishly playable, just challenging enough and filled with campy delight.
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002)
It’s tempting to think of Blizzard as a gargantuan entity that absorbs the best ideas of a genre, reshuffles them slightly and applies an enormous amount of polish. The company’s enormous success was hard-earned, however, in the RTS boom of the nineties. The first two Warcraft games were launched into a world where Westwood’s Command and Conquer series was king, and it was only the release of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness that elevated Blizzard to the same level as their rivals.
Rather than swinging for the same fences again, Blizzard made some minor alterations to the wheel with Warcraft III. The introduction of two new playable races, alongside orcs and humans, threatened fine-tuned balance, and there was a concerted effort to add variety to the RTS formula, particularly in the early game. Incorporating light RPG elements through the hero characters muddied the waters further and it’s testament to the abilities of designer Rob Pardo and his team that they were able to chart such a smooth course through those waters.
Company of Heroes (2006)
Company of Heroes made World War II seem like new territory. Complaining that one the most significant historical events of the twentieth century are old hat seems borderline offensive, but has anyone who has ever watched The History Channel or played a computer game in the early twenty-first century will tell you, World War II WAS old hat. On the television you could choose between Hitler’s Last Days, Hitler’s Children, Hitler’s Gold and Hitler’s Breakfast. In computer games, you were going to see a whole lot of occupied France, although there only seemed to be three parts TO see: THAT beach, a sleepy village and a sniper in a clocktower.
As the name suggests, Company of Heroes managed to marry the humanity of Band of Brothers with the ingredients of an RTS. Even as you send fresh troops into battle, replacing a squad who just died on a fool’s errand of your own making, Company of Heroes makes you believe that every soldier counts for something. That’s partly due to the detailed depictions that the Essence Engine make possible, but it’s also down to the careful pacing of the missions.
Has any RTS game handled both the calm and the storm as well as Company of Heroes? Even when combat begins, there’s usually a peppering of shots toward cover before casualties occur, and Relic ensure that you have time to react as a situation develops. Even though those soldiers are just pixels on a screen, don’t be surprised if you find yourself making tactical choices that ensure their survival rather than the quickest possible route to success. StarCraft II (2010)
StarCraft II is the Platonic ideal of the micro-heavy multiplayer RTS game. Watching expert players at work is bewildering, as the clicks per minute rise and the whole game falls into strange and sometimes unreadable patterns. According to the StarCraft Wiki, a proficient player can perform approximately 150 productive actions per minute.
“Oh bother”, you might be thinking, “I usually only click my mouse 150 times a year unless I’m photoshopping bees onto a picture of a politician’s face.” Fear not. StarCraft II may be included here because it has perfected an artform that only a dedicated few can truly appreciate, but its campaigns contain a bold variety of missions, and bucketloads of enjoyably daft lore. Though its dour singleplayer campaign is a big ol’ nope in terms of storytelling, most recent expansion Legacy of the Void has an Archon mode that even offers two-player coop, so you can share all of those actions per minute with a chum.
STRATEGY GAMES ON PC
Reviewed by ThoConXinhXan
on
April 02, 2019
Rating:
Reviewed by ThoConXinhXan
on
April 02, 2019
Rating:
