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The big real time strategy showdown - Which RTS is your favorite?
- Thread starter SuikerBrood
- Start date
OP
OP
I have very fond memories of many of the titles that have been mentioned, but Starcraft 2 takes the crown for me. And I'm not surprised to see how it's the least voted in the poll. I still think it's the most demanding multiplayer game I've ever played. The 3 campaigns were fun but the competitive 1v1 side is what makes it special for me, and I encourage everyone to take a peep at the insanity that is the Korean GSL scene (which is currently ongoing, regardless of the pandemic).
The correct answer is Dawn of War. Especially with the Dark Crusade expansion. Probably the best RTS game ever made.
Total Annihilation is a close second.
Total Annihilation is a close second.
OP
OP
I remember watching quite some StarCraft II e-Sports shortly after the release of Wings of Liberty. At that time I was playing online myself.
Not surprising that it is that low, since this is ResetEra. Multiplayer and esports are not exactly what this forum is known for.
The current state of the game is the best Starcraft has ever been, honestly. The early game is actually much faster than it used to be, players have to aggressively expand all the time, and of course the pros are just unbelievable at this point. It's a shame that Mobas completely stole its spotlight, but then again, I understand the wider appeal of a much more forgiving team battle experience. Competitive SC is a nerve racking massacre, and I love it for that.
To me, Warcraft III has the most gripping story, Homeworld the most beautiful setting, Company of Heroes the best gameplay and Age of Empires II has the best modern implementation of a classic, obviously.
story sucks major ass
art style makes units look like fisher price miniatures
Played all of those and enjoyed all of them, though SC2 I enjoyed way less than the others (and played only the first game of the three actually).
Was a bit hard initially to decide between Starcraft and Warcraft 3, but after thinking about it, Warcraft 3 came as the clear winner for me. I really liked the concept and implementation of heroes and the gameplay with fairly small armies was great. The story too. The custom maps is the primary reason why I enjoyed it the most though - so many hours spent on so many games within the game. Besides spending countless of hours on the original DotA there, also enjoyed especially the various LotR games (particularly Ring Wars, which was a 6v6 map with a heavy focus on managing the heroes but also a lot of management of large armies). But played a lot of smaller games too.
- The story sucked.
- The custom map system just didn't feel nearly as good as in WC3. Of course, when I played the game there had been hardly been that much time for the community to make good maps, but still, if I remember correctly, Blizzard had a lot more restrictive policy with it anyway regarding ownership.
- This might well be just me but when playing multiplayer, I always felt their matching system couldn't find the correct level of challenge for me. At times I kept winning multiple matches in a row, but then it would start to put me against players to whom I lost all the time. Then again it would put against easier opponents and I'd win all matches again etc etc.
Especially the terrible story was such a massive disappointment after Broodwar and WC3.
Was a bit hard initially to decide between Starcraft and Warcraft 3, but after thinking about it, Warcraft 3 came as the clear winner for me. I really liked the concept and implementation of heroes and the gameplay with fairly small armies was great. The story too. The custom maps is the primary reason why I enjoyed it the most though - so many hours spent on so many games within the game. Besides spending countless of hours on the original DotA there, also enjoyed especially the various LotR games (particularly Ring Wars, which was a 6v6 map with a heavy focus on managing the heroes but also a lot of management of large armies). But played a lot of smaller games too.
I had a few problems:
- The story sucked.
- The custom map system just didn't feel nearly as good as in WC3. Of course, when I played the game there had been hardly been that much time for the community to make good maps, but still, if I remember correctly, Blizzard had a lot more restrictive policy with it anyway regarding ownership.
- This might well be just me but when playing multiplayer, I always felt their matching system couldn't find the correct level of challenge for me. At times I kept winning multiple matches in a row, but then it would start to put me against players to whom I lost all the time. Then again it would put against easier opponents and I'd win all matches again etc etc.
Especially the terrible story was such a massive disappointment after Broodwar and WC3.
RTS games were a huge part of my childhood. But back then I didn't even play multiplayer, partly because I was so young but also because the connections were very limited. So while I enjoyed the gameplay in those games, the story and the setup for the scenarios was a huge part of the joy that the games gave to me. And thus that is what I've come to expect from RTS games.
It was good, not great.
Particularly because it took them several years to release the entire game.
Remember when the orcs in Warcraft 3 had to free themselves of blood magic from the demons and become mystics? They repeated the same story bits with the Zerg and the overmind and the Xel'Naga Primal Zerg? Xel'Naga dude being the bad guy all along, a complete retcon of the original game story? Karen--I mean Kerrigan being this chosen one who's going to save the entire universe??? That's why the overmind wanted to take control of her to free itself from Amon's control, but she's also under Amon's control and that's why Jim has to save her in wings of liberty
Man what?
Over time the meta changed multiple times making it hard to pin down.
Yuri's Revenge probably has my favorite single player campaign for a RTS, for the Soviets in particular because of how sheer fucking bonkers it is. The first mission starts out with invading San Francisco to steal a time machine, only for you to travel back too far by accident and have to survive a gauntlet of dinosaurs. That pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the campaign. I don't think Red Alert 3 ever really had a chance to live up to it.
I finally played through the Starcraft 2 campaigns last yer after boycotting the game since release over Blizzard region locking the multiplayer. The Terran campaign wasn't bad at all. By the zerg campaign the cracks in the storytelling were starting to really show. By the protoss campaign I really didn't give a shit any more and just set the difficulty to the lowest halfway through so I could be done with it. It's a pretty amazing accomplishment by Blizzard to have all the time in the world for their games, and in the end they screwed up the Starcraft story arc even more than EA did with the uber-rushed C&C4.
Nowadays my RTS consumption mostly amounts to watching casts/VoDs for OpenRA and occasionally C&C3. The C&C gameplay formula remains my favorite and I enjoy watching the competitive multiplayer with all its unpredictable twists and turns (I feel that the Blizzard formula lends itself more toward snowballing and the tables aren't as likely to turn on a dime).
I finally played through the Starcraft 2 campaigns last yer after boycotting the game since release over Blizzard region locking the multiplayer. The Terran campaign wasn't bad at all. By the zerg campaign the cracks in the storytelling were starting to really show. By the protoss campaign I really didn't give a shit any more and just set the difficulty to the lowest halfway through so I could be done with it. It's a pretty amazing accomplishment by Blizzard to have all the time in the world for their games, and in the end they screwed up the Starcraft story arc even more than EA did with the uber-rushed C&C4.
Nowadays my RTS consumption mostly amounts to watching casts/VoDs for OpenRA and occasionally C&C3. The C&C gameplay formula remains my favorite and I enjoy watching the competitive multiplayer with all its unpredictable twists and turns (I feel that the Blizzard formula lends itself more toward snowballing and the tables aren't as likely to turn on a dime).
It'll still work! You might have to fight around with compatibility settings and DirectX to get it work, but I just finished reinstalling everything a few weeks agos because of quarantine. Still has amazingly active mod scene, plus community hosted servers to keep multiplayer going, which have all been implemented via community patches.
For me it'd be C&C 3 / Kane's Wrath, but since that wasn't listed I'd have to go for RA2. I love C&C3 though, and still have fond memories of building my first PC just to play it, then being wowed by the graphics and performance. It still looks beautiful, the campaign was really fun, and the multiplayer gets really frenetic. Kane's Wrath really took everything about the game and amped it up, too. It's just a pity that EA pulled patch support after only 2 patches. I think what i like most about the games is that they have a good balance between speed (6-10 minutes isn't uncommon for shorter games) and unit/faction variety. The games are also more macro heavy, which I prefer. Of course micro does make a difference, but there can be some truly massive battles mixed in, even if it's only 2 players.
I was never really able to get into Starcraft (or anything by Blizzard, for that matter), and while I played AoE 2 a lot, it doesn't have as many fond memories. As for CoH that was too micro-heavy for me.
I was never really able to get into Starcraft (or anything by Blizzard, for that matter), and while I played AoE 2 a lot, it doesn't have as many fond memories. As for CoH that was too micro-heavy for me.
Glad you brought up Dark Reign. I have fond memories of that as well. Dark Reign 1 & 2 were solid.
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Company of Heroes 2 would be my favorite RTS if there weren't a whole bunch of wehraboos and tankies playing it.
My favorite is a tie:
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth 2
and Total War Warhammer (series):
I dont think LOTR BFME 2 gets enough love from the RTS community, but I did spend most of my time playing it as a young teenager so I cant speak to its balance. I absolutely loved it at the time and may have spent more time playing it than most other multiplayer games at the time.
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth 2
and Total War Warhammer (series):
I dont think LOTR BFME 2 gets enough love from the RTS community, but I did spend most of my time playing it as a young teenager so I cant speak to its balance. I absolutely loved it at the time and may have spent more time playing it than most other multiplayer games at the time.
Everything just comes together really nicely in C&C3. Simple moment to moment stuff like doing a bike rush on harvesters while evading the response feels better than ever with how the vehicles manuever, the missile behavior, the sound design and everything.
Formation move and reverse move (along with the directional armor to leverage that) are also excellent additions that add more dimensions to the combat without getting too micro focused.
If they ever get around to remastering the 3D C&Cs they really just need to make them 60fps, update the shaders and post processing effects and that would really be enough to modernize them without remaking any assets.
I'll be honest I cracked the hell up when I thought you said weeaboos, now I want japanese voice acting for everyone
Yup same. Warcraft III was just sublime and the most fun I've had with any RTS game since
Both Age of Empires II and Red Alert II defined my childhood and I have so many fond memories with the other boys all huddled up in a very small room, with very big computers.
I have to give it to Age of Empires because the franchise as a whole has brought he way more joy. I enjoyed the number 1, 3 and mythology a lot as well. C&C has been more hit or miss for me.
I have to give it to Age of Empires because the franchise as a whole has brought he way more joy. I enjoyed the number 1, 3 and mythology a lot as well. C&C has been more hit or miss for me.
