Baby's First RTS

[Harlemura]

Gonna start by apologizing if this has been done recently, my search bar thingy seems to be freaking out and refusing to work.

Okay, onto question background.
I am very impressionable. I'm also a fan of a certain YouTuber named brentalfloss. These combined have led me to listen to

Spoiler: this

and, with just the small amount of gameplay in the video, has got me thinking about getting into RTS's.

Problem is, I know they can be pretty complicated, so I don't want to jump into something that's going to put me right off 'em. Now, I've heard people call Halo Wars an RTS for beginners, but I'm not sure if this'll be too simple, thus boring, thus still putting me off 'em.
Now I'm starting to confuse myself a little, so I'll get to the tl;dr question...

I want to know what you lot think is a good RTS. I know diddly-squat about the genre, so recommend anything from Starcraft to Civilization to Halo Wars to whatever.
I'll probably just rent most of the ones mentioned anyway.

 

[BenzSmoke]

I'd say Halo Wars would be a good starter.

 

[strum4h]

I played CnC on ps1. Blew my mind.

 

[RaphaelsRedemption]

What about a classic? Age of Empires 2.

Sure, the graphics are a little old, but the gameplay is simple enough to understand, and it's still tons of fun!

 

[Serenegoose]

It's a little old, but Rise of Nations is possibly the best introduction to the genre you'll find. Base building, resource gathering, tech-tree climbing, plenty of factions to choose from, a simple unit-counterunit dynamic, and some of the more contemporary concepts like area control are all there.

Company of Heroes is also a surprisingly gentle slope that introduces its streamlined concepts gently, and is a much more contemporary example, with very intuitive mechanics. (there is a machinegun, it will kill my mans, hide my mans behind the truck to stop the bullets! Fling grenades to kill machinegunner.)

Actually, yeah. Try Company of Heroes first. It's a great game.

 

[Volstag9]

My dad let me play this when I was 7:

I actually won several games. It was the first RTS I ever played.

But if you really want to start playing RTS games, try Command and Conquer Generals or some other Command and Conquer game. It's easy to learn and really fun.

Looks interesting what game is that?

OT: i recommend the Age of Empires series especially number 2, great times with that game. plus i had fun with it when i was like 10.

 

[ALuckyChance]

I'd second Age of Empires 2. Excellent game, and is very simple to the newcomer. That, and it has some good tutorial missions. Not to mention the little encyclopedia of Middle Age history it has in it, which I like to think is a nice plus.

 

[Blemontea]

Pikmin, it just barley qualifies as an RTS but if you like it then play some other RTS' Like Warcraft 3.

 

[Banana Phone Man]

Well there is an old one that is fantastic. Praetorians, an RTS set in Rome time with an alright story and sigle player skirmish, it has excellent lan. It's simple. Gather units which have a few unique abilites (not many of them have them) from the bases which uses population (the only resouce) and move them to attack. There are complicated formations and tactics but you don't need them. A great game and worth a shot. There are 3 types of units to pick. Egyptians, fast and in many numbers but are weaker. Barbarians, strong but few with probably some of the better abilities (although they are all situational) and the Romans a bit inbetween and very organised. Give it a look.

 

[LongAndShort]

Age of Empires 2 is what I started with, and what I'd say is really good to start with. Good tutorial, good learning curve and it will give you a really good base in how to play RTS that you can use to move onto other games.

 

[impcnrd]

guys guys guys.....
Age of Empires : Rise of Rome = Greatest RTS ever
i mean everyone i know whose played AoE has only played 2 but i mean the original was so much better than any of the others... except maybe Age of Mythology
but still, it was one damn great game that me, my brother and sister were obsessed with for a few years... and AOE 2 was around during the time.
plus AoE 2 was kinda boring, i mean it added higher pop. limits and more guys you can have selected, but it really didn't mean much to me personally
so kids... go out there and get it

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Depends on what your tastes are.

Classic RTS: You can't go wrong with Warcraft, Starcraft, or Rise of Nations.

Hybrid: This belongs solely to the Total War Series. Civilization Lite campaign map, and a battle simulator featuring thousands of soldiers.

Non Traditional: Company of Heroes or Dawn of War 2.

 

[ALuckyChance]

guys guys guys.....
Age of Empires : Rise of Rome = Greatest RTS ever
i mean everyone i know whose played AoE has only played 2 but i mean the original was so much better than any of the others... except maybe Age of Mythology
but still, it was one damn great game that me, my brother and sister were obsessed with for a few years... and AOE 2 was around during the time.
plus AoE 2 was kinda boring, i mean it added higher pop. limits and more guys you can have selected, but it really didn't mean much to me personally
so kids... go out there and get it

I disagree. I found Age of Empires to be much less unpolished, with rather sluggish pathfinding.

Of course, I'm more of a Dark Ages fan, so maybe I'm a bit biased.

Depends on what your tastes are.

Classic RTS: You can't go wrong with Warcraft, Starcraft, or Rise of Nations.

Hybrid: This belongs solely to the Total War Series. Civilization Lite campaign map, and a battle simulator featuring thousands of soldiers.

Non Traditional: Company of Heroes or Dawn of War 2.

I can't believe I forgot to include the Total War games.
I prefer Rome: Total War, as it seems a lot less tedious with the castle sieges to me.

 

[SimuLord]

Civilization isn't an RTS. It's turn-based.

But for Baby's First RTS, I'd recommend something in the Rise of Nations/Age of Empires mold. Very simple RTS gameplay.

Don't know that I'd recommend a Total War game off the top. I've known people to struggle with it if their conceptual framework for RTS games consists mostly of ___Craft or AoE. It's definitely more of an intermediate-level strategy game.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I can't believe I forgot to include the Total War games.
I prefer Rome: Total War, as it seems a lot less tedious with the castle sieges to me.

Yeah, I always hated the bug in Medieval 2: Total War that turned Archers into moronic pincushions the moment they were placed on a wall.

Rome is easily the best of the bunch, but Medieval 2 has got a bunch of amazing features as well. I guess I just like Romans more that Crusaders.

 

[ALuckyChance]

I can't believe I forgot to include the Total War games.
I prefer Rome: Total War, as it seems a lot less tedious with the castle sieges to me.

Yeah, I always hated the bug in Medieval 2: Total War that turned Archers into moronic pincushions the moment they were placed on a wall.

Rome is easily the best of the bunch, but Medieval 2 has got a bunch of amazing features as well. I guess I just like Romans more that Crusaders.

I just found the sieges a lot more tedious than Rome's ones.

I have to admit though, the Romans are awesome. I particularly like how they can utterly fucking destroy other units if you have a few hastatii/pricipes/legionaries/cohorts and have them Fire At Will.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I can't believe I forgot to include the Total War games.
I prefer Rome: Total War, as it seems a lot less tedious with the castle sieges to me.

Yeah, I always hated the bug in Medieval 2: Total War that turned Archers into moronic pincushions the moment they were placed on a wall.

Rome is easily the best of the bunch, but Medieval 2 has got a bunch of amazing features as well. I guess I just like Romans more that Crusaders.

I just found the sieges a lot more tedious than Rome's ones.

I have to admit though, the Romans are awesome. I particularly like how they can utterly fucking destroy other units if you have a few hastatii/pricipes/legionaries/cohorts and have them Fire At Will.

Case in point. Twelve Urban Cohorts, in Testudo Formation. My Enemy is the Greek City States with a fuck-ton of Spartans. I Advance slowly forward until I am right on top of them. Drop the shields, and let the pila fly. Several hundred dead in a matter of seconds. They routed as soon as I charged.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Civilization isn't an RTS...

For true "baby's first RTS" I would recommend Spore despite the entire game being absolute junk and I punch myself for that stupid stupid purchase every day. My first RTS was Starcraft but I certainly wouldn't call it simple or noob friendly... Dawn of War and Company of Heroes are pretty simple, though, and I've even won a couple "noobs only" rounds online.

 

[ALuckyChance]

I can't believe I forgot to include the Total War games.
I prefer Rome: Total War, as it seems a lot less tedious with the castle sieges to me.

Yeah, I always hated the bug in Medieval 2: Total War that turned Archers into moronic pincushions the moment they were placed on a wall.

Rome is easily the best of the bunch, but Medieval 2 has got a bunch of amazing features as well. I guess I just like Romans more that Crusaders.

I just found the sieges a lot more tedious than Rome's ones.

I have to admit though, the Romans are awesome. I particularly like how they can utterly fucking destroy other units if you have a few hastatii/pricipes/legionaries/cohorts and have them Fire At Will.

Case in point. Twelve Urban Cohorts, in Testudo Formation. My Enemy is the Greek City States with a fuck-ton of Spartans. I Advance slowly forward until I am right on top of them. Drop the shields, and let the pila fly. Several hundred dead in a matter of seconds. They routed as soon as I charged.

Yeah. It's insane, in an immensely satisfying way. I get the same feeling of satisfaction when I have a ton of archers (which I usually do, of the Cretan variety) raining arrows down on an enemy.

 

[Lyri]

Warcraft or Starcraft.

You can't really go wrong there.