PC Strategy Gaming

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Jak LesStrange

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Oct 15, 2010
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Hello Escapists!

I have been looking into PC gaming for a while now and I am wondering what Strategy games I should get for my shiny new Gaming PC. Thanks in advance.
 

The Madman

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Dec 7, 2007
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What sort of strategy are you looking for? It's a really, really big genre. We've got RTS, 4X, rtt, rpg/rts, turn-based hex-style strategy, management, building... it goes on and on.

As a general rule for RTS Starcraft 2 is the game you'll wanna own. It's the newest, it's the shiniest, it's friendly to newcomers, has an extremely active community, mod scene, etc. It's also really good, go figure. But yeah that's the default answer. Might also wanna try out the Civilization series if you want to give 'grand strategy' a shot, it's the other really big name series. And the Total War series is another, if you've got a new computer Shogun 2: Total War is a great game to show off what it's capable of as that game looks downright stunning and is fun to boot. If you've got a liking for rpg styled mechanics and small-squad management Dawn of War 2 is yet another worth looking into.

Lots of games out there however without knowing more what you're looking for I'm hesitant to name em, I mean I've been playing a strategy game named Solium Infernum recently but unless you're a masochist you might want to start with something a bit friendlier to newcomers to the genre.

Whatever the case good luck and have fun!
 

loc978

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Sep 18, 2010
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If you want hardcore real-time strategy with a zoom function that goes out to satellite feed and in to ground level, you can't go wrong with Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance... unless your computer is slow. Since yours is new, you shouldn't have any problems.
 

Smooth Operator

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Oct 5, 2010
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Starctaft 1/2, if you like them old old school
Civilization 4/5, if you like them turn based
Sins of a Solar Empire, if you like them in space and layed back
Homeworld 1/2 if you want an ominous spacey atmosphere and pull your hair out
Dawn of War, if you like them tactical (squad based - no micromanagement, simplest resource gathering, few buildings)
Dawn of War 2, if you want 4 squads, RPG leveling/items, no buildings, no resources

BattleForge if you want to try a F2P strategy MMO
 

Palfreyfish

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Mar 18, 2011
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Word of advice, don't buy Supreme Commander 2, it's not as good as the first one and it's expansion pack, and even with the disc it requires a 4 GB download from steam...

If you like Star Wars, get Empire at War and its expansion pack, Forces of Corruption, as there's some really good mods out there, and it's easy to pick up and play. Civilization V is also a really good game, which I am currently really into.

Starcraft 2 is ridiculously good fun, so pick up that if you can. I've never played Dawn of War 2 but apparently it's good, so if you can get that as well.

If you want a long game, get Sins of a Solar Empire, it's a 4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) game, though it's not really a jump in and play game...
 

VladG

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Aug 24, 2010
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As others have posted, Strategy is itself a very broad term, and there are many kinds of strategy games for the pc. There are some of my personal favorites, but it's by no means a "Top X" list, simply because they are different

Starcraft 2 is superb. Plain and simple. The campaign might be the best RTS capaign out there, and the multiplayer... oh the multiplayer. That's where the game truly comes alive. With only a few unit types, simplified resource system, easy controls the game manages to achieve a strategic and tactical depth that is so far unrivaled. Great balance, easy to learn, extremely hard to master, it's a reference game for the genre.

Total War series. Shogun 2 and Rome were my personal favorites, but most of the games of the series follow similar principles, with fairly minor changes between them. All of them however are awesome games, with a fairly unique feel to them. Control massive armies in real time, manage your resources and territory in turn-based gameplay. Another game you really can't miss, since there's nothing really like it.

Civilization V, the latest iteration of the series brings about greatly streamlined gameplay, a greatly improved visual design and is the first game of this otherwise excellent series to be beginner friendly. The old Civ games were awesome, but frankly impenetrable to beginners that made them much less popular than they should have been. It's all turn based, so called Grand Strategy. You start off in the stone age and build up your civilization all the way to the space age, all the while competing with neighbors for resources, technology, territory and fighting randomly spawning barbarians. Another must play.

Heroes of Might and Magic V, again the latest iteration of a great series (and if you like it, you should play 3 and 4 as well, since they are different enough to be fun, while being the same basic game) It's another turn-based game, with overworld maps and instanced fights in the style of old FF games, but with much more strategic depth. Different factions, numerous units with their specific strenghts and weaknesses, heroes, loot. Another must play

Company of Heroes is only loosely a RTS game, since it has more in common with tactics games, but I suppose it has enough strategy blood in it's veins to make the list. It's a great campaign-driven experience, with a fairly unique feel. Another must play.

Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War + the miriad expansions. It's another interesting iteration of the genre with some different gameplay ideas, but with an unmistakable RTS feel to it. Certainly worth a try, especially if you're a fan of the franchise. Just don't make the mistake of thinking about Dawn of War 2 as a strategy game, because it's not (a good game, just not strategy).

Universe at War: Earth Assault is another classic RTS style game with some nicely diverse factions. Nothing especially exciting, but a solid game with a fun campaign.

World in Conflict. Again, nothing groundbreaking or especially noteworthy, but a good game all the same.

Age of Empires was an iconic RTS back in the day, but I'm afraid it hasn't aged particularly well. Give the games a shot if you're really in to the whole strategy thing, because it won't exactly disappoint, but it can't exactly compete with the more modern titles either.

Command and Conquer, a series that is almost unchanged in it's near decade of existence. This is basically what put RTS on the map, and it's newest iterations are ok to play, but frankly you'd likely have more fun with some of the older games. C&C Tiberian Sun, Red Alert 2 and maybe Red Alert 3 are kinda the best titles of the series. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is also pretty good. Worth playing mostly because the many extremely similar iterations of C&C make it almost a sub-genre in itself, it's unfortunately not transitioned very well in the modern day.

That's about it off the top of my head, plenty to play anyway. Have Fun
 

The_General

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Sep 13, 2008
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I personally will not recommend Starcraft 2, if you come to the strategy genre to use your brain instead of just having a click fest.

If you want some truly mentally challenging strategy games, the Men of War series is a good place to go, if you like them turn based, Civilization 5 is the gold standard, and as a few others before, i can recommend Sins of a Solar Empire.
I am also personally a big fan of Command and Conquer, but again, not that much strategy to it, it's more about who can act the fastest.
 

Nouw

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Mar 18, 2009
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I recommend Dawn of War:Dark Crusade out of my many RTS games. This gem introduced me to the genre and I still play and love it to this day. It's set in the grim darkness of the far future, Warhammer 40,000. It's an RTS which is a tad simpler, resources being gained from capture points. However, it is an extremely fun RTS which doesn't need heaps of thought.
 

Xmaspast

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Sep 11, 2011
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I'm biased because of my complete and utter fanboy devotion to Paradox Interactive, but basically anything they put out is an incredible strategy game if you're not so hung up on graphics and you want an authentic, highly in depth experience. So if you're looking for a really, really challenging strategy game with a steep learning curve that's still pretty fun I recommend either Europa Universalis III, Victoria II, or Hearts of Iron III. Research them at your own pace. Hearts of Iron tends to be the easiest of the three, it has more options for letting the computer managing aspects of your country that you don't want to do?for example, a good way to learn the military aspect of the game is to let the AI handle everything but the military and then play as Brazil. Victoria II is my personal favorite on the basis of it having the most in depth economic and political systems. And then if you're into the idea of colonization and managing vast empires EUIII is the one for you. On top of it all they all have a very active and helpful forum on Paradox's website, so getting into the swing of things shouldn't be too hard at all if you're not afraid to ask for help. They're all solid games, but they're certainly not for everyone.
 

Bostur

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Mar 14, 2011
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There's not many strategy games to be had, especially not new ones.

The total war series is good. I personally find that Shogun 2 runs too sluggish, the load times are horrendous, but its otherwise a great game. My own favourite in the series is Napoleon:Total War.
http://www.totalwar.com/


For online RTS games there is only one title to consider: Starcraft 2.


Frozen Synapse is a very interesting abstract tactical game, with a single player campaign and multiplayer mode. The scale is 3-5 individual combatants on each side. It feels a little bit like X-Com, but with much better interface and an absolutely brutal difficulty that requires almost perfect execution. For this reason you can simulate the outcome of your orders before commiting them.
http://www.frozensynapse.com/


The undying Civilization series is still going strong. My own favourites are Civ 3 and Civ 4. I think Civ 4 can still be purchased. Personally I don't think the new Civilization 5 is as good as it's predecessors but it's not a bad game at all.
http://www.firaxis.com/


I see a lot of people recommending Dawn of War series. I find that it is a bit of a weird genre borrowing bits from RTS games and RPG games with some action gameplay thrown in. The tactical gameplay feels pretty shallow to me. It does have great story and setting though and is probably perfect as a light tactical game for newcomers to the genre.


If you can stand horrible graphics I can reccommend Master of Magic, one of the absolutely most complex 4X games ever mader. It's available at gog.com for a measly $6.
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/master_of_magic
 

ChupathingyX

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Jun 8, 2010
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Mr.K. said:
Dawn of War 2, if you want 4 squads, RPG leveling/items, no buildings, no resources
Dawn of War II does have resources.

It also has buildings, just nowhere near as many as Dawn of War.
 

SckizoBoy

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Jan 6, 2011
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A Hermit's Cave
Since everyone's already mentioned what I was intending to recommend, I'll say this: Supreme Commander and get yourself a second monitor. The amount of fun you can have arsing about on two screens watching a grand cannon projectile across its entire trajectory is brilliant, and the second screen can be a life saver on higher difficulties.

Otherwise, RA2 for nostalgia, TW for hybrid gameplay (you can ignore the tactical side if you really want to) etc. etc.
 

s0p0g

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Aug 24, 2009
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-total war series (made of awesome), or supreme commander (very good, but has its flaws), for large scale strategy
-starcraft for focus on tactics
-something more c&c-ish for action-heavy gameplay
-warhammer for tactical & grimdark ;) , but non-finger-breaking gameplay (unlike SC2 :p )

swords and soldiers for the lulz (i liked it)