Favorite RTS

[Same River New Water]

That's funny, I found RA2: Yuri's Revenge really unbalanced. Yuri was probably on an even footing with the Allies, although I found him harder to play, but the Soviets felt really weak with all the Yuri troops taken away.

I add my vote to the "Total Annihilation is the RTS benchmark" bandwagon.

Hey, has anybody played Dark Reign? That was a lovely RTS with a lot of ideas, and quite a bit of hype behind it too. It had the bad luck to come out at the same time as Total Annihilation, so sadly it was overshadowed. Had it been a year earlier or later, I think a lot more people would remember Dark Reign as a great game.

 

[MegamattZero]

My favorites always been Starcraft and Homeworld 1 and 2.

 

[MegamattZero]

Homeworld and the Total War series, if it counts.
Night_crono, I'd love to hear of a lan party where folks play Homeworld!

Homeworld 2 is always awesome in my books.

 

[ccjav]

first of all, let me start of by saying i will always be a aoe II man
that campaign editor is where triggers began
second mention will of course go to the dawn of war series, revolutionized squad combat
finally, battle for middle earth 1 was an amazing strategy game, and the second one definatly ruined it by getting rid of build plots and the whole fairness things, just the fact that it looked amazing does not excuse a bad game

 

[BaldingSteve]

Without a doubt Warcraft III did it for me. I dont get around to playing it much anymore but i still go back for that rush of nostalgia.

 

[steveo_justice]

Red Alert 2. That game was a searing blade of awesomeness that ass-raped the competition. It had cool music, a good atmosphere, and actually introduced a strategic element amidst a plethora of other resource-war RTS's. The expansion pack even had an extra faction and two whole campaigns. The only thing bad about that game is that it didn't cuddle in bed, which is a pity because the chick they cast as Tanya was hot.

 

[faDeD-]

Red Alert, Age of Empires 2

 

[Vigormortis]

Mine? Homeworld. Pure and simple choice.

Followed closely by:
MechCommander 2
Starcraft
Company of Heroes

 

[hachiman128]

Rise of Nations
Age of Empires II
Starcraft
Rise of Legends
Command and Conquer 3

 

[gmer412]

First? C&C, especially RA 2. Hands Down. (I hope RA 3 is good...)
2. Starcraft even though it consistently kicked my ass all over the map in the last part of the campaign.
3. AOE 2. My first RTS, and still good compared to ones today

Honorable mention goes to Star Wars: Empire at War b/c it was fun, but not epic.

 

[Niniux]

Well, for me...

1) Dune II for the PC. I loved this game, and it was my introduction to RTS. It is probably number one for nostalgia though.
2) Company of Heroes. This game was just exhilirating, edge of your seat action for RTS. Great action-driven gameplay, awesome graphics and just phenomenal production values.
3) Warcraft III - Great game, wish I had played it more than I had.
4) Age of Empires III - I really liked the colonial new world setting. Thought it was fun and balanced.
5) Command and Conquer: Generals - I really liked the original game and Red Alert, but I felt the gameplay in Generals was better paced and allowed for quicker sessions and was a little more accessible. The three factions were all fun to play with and fairly balanced.

Oh, and thanks to this list, I'm going to look into Homeworld and Dawn of War. What are the system requirements on those? My rig is pretty old and with a little one on the way, I have no plans on upgrading (Thank goodness for console gaming)

 

[Mr Scott]

On no particular line of reason "Action Bastard! The city needs you!" Hooray for Shinchan! Anyways, the Command an Conquers are pretty good, especially Red Alert Two, and Age of Empires Two are my favorites.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Well besides Warcraft, Starcraft, and DoW (mainly DC):

CoH (including Opposing fronts)

Total Annihilation (such a modable game, I still play TA from time to time.)

Supcom (Forged Alliance, because it basically fixed what Supcom did wrong.)

Sins of a Solar Empire

Total War series

Homeworld (Most people were dissapointed that Homeworld 3 wasn't announced, and DoW2 was, but I like DoW WAY more so ****ing "wewt!")

That's all I got for now, and no, I don't like C&C, generals was OK, but that's it.

 

[Nifefiend]

Must haves:

War3 (online was immense with map editor i spent months making maps just for a laugh)
Homeworld 2 (campaign was long and game kept u playing)
Starcraft (golden oldie)
Total war (if they count, cant stop playing rome or med 2)
CoH (howitzers...that is all)
DoW (just clean good rts fun)
and C+C (theyve driven rts to main stream over the years)
AoE (2 and mythology were just too good)

Coulda beens

Settlers (new ones are rubbish)
Stronghold (JUST MAKE A DECENT SKIRMISH THATS ALL WE WANT)

 

[AngryMan]

For casual play, it's got to be Dawn of War. but if I want to settle into to something a bit more satisfying, it's Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance.

I can't claim to be especially good at either, though.

 

[Fire Daemon]

Dawn of War.

To tell you the truth its the only one I have.

 

[Senor Pantz]

Homeworld without a doubt, although DoW is very impressive, I never really cared about the story the way I did with Homeworld.

 

[Unholypope]

Red Alert was the first RTS I ever played and it got me onto the series. Starcraft hands down, can't wait for the SC2. Warcraft III because of custom games online, and Red Alert 2 without Yuri Expansion.

 

[CartoonHead]

The Total War series, Shogun being my most fondly remembered (Ninja assassination videos!),

Starcraft (loved that game, the sequel had better live up to the name),

Dawn of War and Company of Heroes. I mention both because they have very similar gameplay. I didn't think I would like the 'Strategic Points' idea in an RTS but DoW proved me wrong and CoH put the system in a setting I prefer, not being overly interested in the Warhammer universes,

and last but not least: Total Annihilation. I remember thinking when first building a Nuke it would be like a 'Red alert' nuke, you know, like kill some men whilst barely scratching most buildings. When I finally used it all I could say was 'Whoa'.

 

[Philip Kershaw]

*Is a Gamer*

Warcraft 3 brought me into the genre, the map editor made it an amazing game.

But as for the best RTS games ever made? In my opinion, Bring on Cossacks and Rise of Nations.

RoN shows you that global stratergy is all important, somehow I enjoy carpet bombing cities ;D, and Cossacks is all field battles in the 18th centuary! Whats not to love?

Bring on the RoN fans!