Poll: What is your favorite RTS and what makes it good?

[Unrealmaster287]

Hello,
Ok, so the ever-growing addiction to StarCraft in my school has got me thinking about RTS?s, I mean what criteria makes a good RTS etc..

Personally I don?t like StarCraft, I?m more of a sins of a solar empire/command and conquer kind of guy, to me StarCraft looks like a mess, the units and buildings well, look stupid for me enjoyment from an RTS comes from building a well laid out base that looks nice and watching the enemy slam their heads against the wall and by that I mean run straight into my overelaborate defense turret network while I secretly build a huge army. But all StarCraft ever seem to do ( from what I watch) is build up all buildings within 1 mm of each other, build units, select all units, Attack enemy (ok I admit you have to select different units and maybe let them attack from different flanks but that?s it).
And of course the names this is where StarCraft gets 2 get it 2 bullets straight in the eye, Why zerg!!!!, I mean I am ashamed of saying that name even when I don?t play the game. You just can?t say it with a straight face. While GDI (global defense initiative) and TEC (trader emergency coalition) sounds perfectly reasonable

Which brings me to my most loved RTS of them all SOASE (sins of a solar empire), to me just by being set in space instead of boring all gravity gains it 100000000 points right out of the gate, combine that with excellent visuals the ability to see the textures of ships right down to the very fine details and of course the ability to play in a game consisting of 109 planets that lasts 23 hours makes it all the more brilliant.

But I guess it all comes down to personal taste

So that?s my opinion about StarCraft and my favorite RTS?s (sins and C&C) what?s yours
Please include why you love/hate the game you mentioned

 

[Crazedc00k]

Voted for Online Multiplayer, but I guess that's because it's part of "competitiveness." StarCraft is one I enjoy a lot, as do I C&C and SOASE. I guess Age of Empires 2: the AGe of Kings would be my favorite for sentimental reasons. Funny, since the multiplayer was shut down years ago.

 

[The Madman]

Ever?

Probably Age of Empires 2, but that's a tough call. I mean I also really have been enjoying Starcraft 2 since it came out and Company of Heroes was an absolutely amazing rts experience. Not to mention the C&C games (Always more of a Red Alert fan mind you!) and Rise of Nations which is another RTS I greatly enjoyed. Warcraft 1 and 2 were also my first RTS too, so some fond memories there.

That's not even mentioning hybrid style games such as Stronghold, Anno or Dawn of War 2.

Most of em I love for different reasons: Red Alert has the wacky story and units. Company of Heroes with its destructible environments and clever unit controls. But in the end I think it all comes down to gameplay. For an RTS especially the gameplay is just so important. It's not like a point & click where you can forgive it for a good story or a shooter where if it's pretty enough it can get away with some loose mechanics.

 

[Volafortis]

SOASE and Starcraft 2 are my top 2, and what makes them for me is gameplay and mechanics. Starcraft excels in the way of fast-paced competitive RTS play, and Sins is a perfect example of Grand Strategy gone real-time.

Age of Empires, C&C, and others like them are too "unit counter unit"-y for my taste, and have somewhat "floaty" gameplay. I don't know, just never been too fond of them.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Well my favourite is Dawn of War (Dark Crusade in particular).

I love the W40K universe, I love playing the game online with friends (which is pretty much the only thing I do) and of course the unit quotes.

Oh yes the unit quotes!

 

[9thRequiem]

Total Annihilation.
In general, for Game/Gameplay mechanics: I just like the development of the overall battle, the different assault options including long distance bombardment, and also being able to use your carrier aircraft to hijack enemy units then self-destruct.

 

[F4LL3N]

My favorite's probably Age of Empire 2 or 3. I've never played Starcraft 2, but it doesn't look like my thing.

I didn't pick in the poll because they're all important other then Story and Multiplayer. Storyline isn't something I look for because I normally play offline DM/TDM against AI. I've never liked RTS multiplayer because the only viable tactic is rushing. I like long tactical battles. Not 10 minute spam fests.

 

[ContinuumDude]

Total Annihilation. Number of different unit types, gameplay mechanics & music(ah Jeremy Soule composed awesome score...like always).

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The entire Dawn of War series from DOW1 to Retribution (Soulstorm doesn't exist).

Made vast improvements to the standard RTS formula with the original series, and then created a new sub genre with the sequel.

The original game brought about the concept of firing on the move and squads. Not only did this revolutionize gameplay, but it also allowed for much larger combat. No longer did you need to wait for a siege tank to stop, fire, then move again. A predator tank could smash through an enemy formation and keep moving. The squad mechanic allowed for on the fly reinforcing, keeping the pace up. Squad customization allowed certain tier units to change their tactics as the game progressed, making sure that no classes became obsolete over time.

Units were and still are some of the most diverse and iconic in the genre. Each faction has its own unique visual style. You can immediately tell the difference between an Ork and a Sphess Mahreen.

Sound design is second to none with this series. Every gun has its own sound, every vehicle its own explosion and impact noises. It truly feels like a battlefield.

The story to the Dawn of War series is appropriately brutal, with massive wars and some of the most intense campaign missions I've ever seen in a strategy game. Dawn of War 2 in particular is good for this. The gameplay integrates with the fluff so well, as it actually makes the Space Marines seem like true Angels of Death. To wit, a force no larger than a combat patrol manages to beat back a Tyranid splinter tendril on their own in just over a month.

Multiplayer is fast and furious, and was very entertaining. Unfortunately, it is hard to find a match nowadays. Dawn of War 2 had great multiplayer, in particular The Last Stand mode. A horde mode in an RTS sounds crazy, but it is pulled off great in this game.

 

[Lord Kloo]

Company of heroes, possibly one of the most beautiful RTS games, simpliticty combined with a nice destruction engine and gameplay is seamless most of the time.. also the multiplayer isn't too competitive plus you can always just have a human team vs. cpus.. and as a relic game it has an amazing world builder attached on, same for the dawn of war 1&2 series.

Supreme Commander is the big cheese of ultimate RTS gaming, it is as the title suggets supreme, plus it has a good universe.

World in Conflict is aamazing as a tactical RTS that heavily encourages team work and is richly detailed, especially in its destruction.

The total war series.. in my view the best comprehemsive RTS game where battle field results lead to results on a grand scale seamlessly. Plus its basically a sandbox RTS with the occasional mission that can choose not to do and one objetive over hundreds of years of warfare and stratagy.


My personal favourite is most certainly dawn of war 2, especially as the imperial guard now has been entered into the game, i love the lore and story from the warhammer 40k universe and the tactical stratagy taken from the coh series but most of all I love the world builder, i spend at least 70% of my time building and perfecting maps, although I perfered the coh world builder..

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Well my favourite is Dawn of War (Dark Crusade in particular).

I love the W40K universe, I love playing the game online with friends (which is pretty much the only thing I do) and of course the unit quotes.

Oh yes the unit quotes!

Oh yes. Hell yes.

Damn heroic. And yet there are also the more crazy ones.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Homeworld.

Great story, great soundtrack, 3D movement worked great and after all these years it still looks good. Excellent units (multibeam frigates FTW) and mechanics too.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Total Annihilation, especially with Core Contingency and Battle Tactics packs. Although it must be said the addition of hover/aquatic units totally removed all elements of strategy from the naval warfare that is so enjoyable in vanilla TA, so always be sure to turn those units off when playing multiplayer (shame you can't turn them off in skirmish games, but hey).

 

[GrandmaFunk]

Sins of a Solar Empire, for the depth and strategy

 

[Combustion Kevin]

Total war series, just for the scale of it all.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Oh yes. Hell yes.

That's a great scene, it's a shame that my computer isn't very good and it makes the campaign really laggy and almost unplayable.

And it's not just the campaign quotes, but even the specific unit quotes that I love so much and are so memorable. I would go through my favourites but that would be a long list, for no I'll just leave this here...

 

[CommanderL]

age of empires 2 age of kings is my fav have tried other but they don't match aoe

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I am going to be cliche in that my favorite RTS is Starcraft: Brood War. I enjoyed the game right from the get go in almost every way. I liked the music, the story, the mechanics, I loved playing it online with friends. Over the years, I progressed from casual player to quite a bit higher. Even over 10 years later, I still play Brood War every so often with the same group of friends.
I was never able to really find an RTS to ever keep my attention for even a fraction of the time. The most recent one was Shogun 2, which was a mix of RTS and TBS. I just can't get into RTS games much, Brood War is the only exception. I did try Starcraft 2 but was hugely let down.