RTS Games With a Good Story?

[Thaius]

Tomorrow I start my teaching job. One of the classes I'm insanely excited to be teaching is Video Games as Literature (the study of video games as a storytelling medium). I have a pretty good setup for the course, I think, but I have one friend who constantly laments the fact that I have no RTS games in the course. The reason I didn't include any is pretty simple; I have never (in my admittedly limited experience with the genre) played an RTS with a story worth studying in a literature course. Not even close. I've barely ever even heard story mentioned in relation to the genre; with very few exceptions, the mechanics and strategy seem to be all that matter.

But I certainly would be interested to see if there is an exception to this perceived rule. So then, Escapists, tell me: are there any RTS games with genuinely interesting storylines, interesting characters, and thematic depth?

 

[JaceArveduin]

Well, the candidate you'll likely see most is Warcraft 3/The Frozen Throne.

Myself? The only RTS campaign that I sort of remember is the ones from BFME2, which weren't too shabby, but they were about 8 missions long each, so not exactly massive.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

Yeah Warcraft 3 along with the expansion pack The Frozen Throne. Take a few days to get that game and play it, it is very cheap now and you should be able to get the "Battle Chest" for under $20 USD/CAN online.

It's got power struggles, revenge, betrayal, bit of romance, friendship. You also get to play four different races with many different characters and plots.

 

[Sangnz]

warcraft 3 and starcraft series are the only ones that spring to mind that have decent story and compelling characters in them, actually add the homeworld games to that.

 

[Thaius]

....that course sounds so fun, I want to teach it as well.

I think it will be. I'm so glad the school went with it; it's a charter school spread throughout my county, so they're more willing to try new media classes and such than the public system would be. I'm real excited to see how it turns out. Though the logistics are a pain... I honestly think, if this class goes well, I'll work with Steam or something to put together a package of video games the students can buy as the "textbook," because getting all the ones necessary for the class is a pain. But it'll be worth it.

Yeah Warcraft 3 along with the expansion pack The Frozen Throne. Take a few days to get that game and play it, it is very cheap now and you should be able to get the "Battle Chest" for under $20 USD/CAN online.

It's got power struggles, revenge, betrayal, bit of romance, friendship. You also get to play four different races with many different characters and plots.

Sounds interesting to me. I'll set my sights on that one.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well I haveto mention Blizzard stories don't really come with much depth, but they make up for it by presenting what they have got in a grand adventure.

Homeworld series meanwhile would be a pretty interesting one to discuss.
And at least Dawn of War 1, the rest was rather slim on story which is a real shame considering the whole Warhammer 40k franchise is chock full of books and lore.

 

[TrevHead]

Definitely the Homeworld series, if you like a good story in a RTS play them and you won't be disappointed

The Jupiter Incident is another (quite) good space opera.

 

[Isshiresshi]

Yeah Warcraft 3 along with the expansion pack The Frozen Throne. Take a few days to get that game and play it, it is very cheap now and you should be able to get the "Battle Chest" for under $20 USD/CAN online.

It's got power struggles, revenge, betrayal, bit of romance, friendship. You also get to play four different races with many different characters and plots.

Sounds interesting to me. I'll set my sights on that one.

Warcraft 3 with the Frozen Throne would differently be worth looking into!

After that; Warcraft 1 and 2 and the StarCraft series would be good options as well.

 

[Nouw]

I'd go with Starcraft and Starcraft 2 because they have a great story as far as military science-fiction goes.

And if you're feeling generous, maybe even Dawn of War 2 .

 

[Shock and Awe]

I'm sure they exist but most of the RTSs I play its basically me making up my own story as I go.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

I thought DOWII + Expos was pretty good. Also, Frozen Synapse (while not an RTS per se) I thought was rather well done also.

 

[SpAc3man]

Age of Mythology and AOE3 maybe? I liked those stories.

 

[Littaly]

Genuinely interesting storylines, interesting characters and thematic depth? I personally wouldn't be able to think of too many games fitting those criteria, never mind an RTS-game.

I've always thought the original StarCraft (and Warcraft too for that matter) is the one shining example of an RTS where the story really works. The way they used the big scope of the genre to simultaneously tell a story both about factions and individual heroes. It's always managed to suck me in, I don't know if it's the kind of stuff you can teach in a class but it's the best I can think of ^^

 

[Thiril]

Company of Heroes, but then again. It's a WW2 simulator, so your actually giving a history lesson....
Come to think about it, a lot of RTS games have a historical setting

 

[Hjalmar Fryklund]

I would recommend you to check out the more obscure Kohan II: Kings of War. The dialogue is extremely cheesy in the first 6 missions or so (and the same goes for some of the characters voice sets), so keep that in mind though.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

I was going to say Dawn of War/Dawn of War: Winter Assault, but then I saw TrevHead suggest Homeworld. I think that game has more story than any other RTS game I have played.

 

[sinsfire]

warcraft 3 and starcraft series are the only ones that spring to mind that have decent story and compelling characters in them, actually add the homeworld games to that.

I was going to say Homeworld