RTS Games With a Good Story?

[EvilMaggot]

like mostly everyone else... StarCraft Series and Warcraft Series.. is Company of Heroes a RTS..?

 

[GundamSentinel]

As others have mentioned:
- Warcraft III and Frozen Throne (personally I think more so than StarCraft).
- Age of Mythology had a simplistic but fun story. Srange mashup of Greek, Egyptian and Norse myths.
- Homeworld. Simply one of the best game stories out there.

 

[Thaius]

[snip]

I just thought it worth highlighting because like you say it is unique gaming.

I wasn't trying to diminish the value of a established story, just trying to highlight the unique aspect of game.

Okay, awesome then. I've seen a lot of people hold the, "It's only good interactive storytelling if it's all about player control," which simply isn't how it works. Guess I jumped to it on that one; sorry about that. But yes, the concept you speak of is certainly a valid one, and it's being studied in the course.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Anything by Relic, really. Homeworld 1 + 2 as always, but I'd also recommend the Dawn of War series.

It has great examples of integrating story and gameplay, and even meta commentary. The poorly received Soulstorm was made a plot point in Chaos Rising, as it's disastrous quality was turned into an actual disaster in the story which drives the motivations of Cyrus.

 

[Crowns18]

there was this rare game called Battle Realms that although i did never finish the campaign (it was hard for me at the time i was like 10) it was really immersive the game is hard to find but it has very unique gameplay and a fairly good campaign which is not very common the genre you should check it out. i think they give it away in some fansite.

 

[winginson]

Already been said but Homeworld.

Watch/Play the game to Return to Kharak. That will end any doubt about the story.

 

[Apollo45]

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?

As others have said, Homeworld would be a good candidate. It doesn't have the character focus or development that literature usually has, but it presents a story of galactic exploration, loss, hope, and triumph through the levels you're pushed through, the way you're presented in them, and how difficult the game can be for new players. The actual characters are little more than voices, but you as the player represent the last hope of an entire species, pitted against a galactic empire with power that is enormously greater than your own. As you progress through the game your species' past is slowly revealed, you gain allies in unlikely places.

Throughout it all you build up a persistent force (one that carries over from level to level) with limited resources at your disposal. That bit means throughout you, as a player, have to strategize over the course of both the level and the entirety of the game. In any given level you have to build up a force to deal with the threat at hand, but you also have to be very careful with unit management because losing any large ships, or using the wrong force composition, means you'll be at a huge disadvantage for coming levels. It, in a sense, works to replace characters as the focus of the story. A player becomes attached to their larger ships, working to protect them in a way you don't with other RTS games. It also serves as a way to replace the dynamic of changing vs static characters and that development, since the player themselves has to figure this out over the course of the game. It means that the player in essence becomes a character in themselves, and in doing so has to go through their own journey to learn about the universe, their enemies, and how to counter them and adjust for mistakes made in the past. Since you essentially become a character in most RTS games, this mechanic forces you to be a truly dynamic character, dealing with past mistakes and adjusting for them over the course of the game.

The game also has a way of introducing new species, enemies and friends, in ways where you can sympathize with both sides. There's a set of levels where you face off against a semi-nomadic race living in a nebula. Over the course of the few levels they go from being completely unknown to the point where you feel like you know them almost as well as you do your own race, and sympathize with them, even though they're enemies.

Out of all the RTS games I've played, this one does storytelling the best in my eyes, and it does it through gameplay as much as it does through exposition, which can be unique in the video game world.


Edit: Another interesting option would be Black and White. It's not quite as RTS-y as your typical RTS game, but it has both interesting mechanics and stories throughout it.

 

[Arif_Sohaib]

The RTS games I was going to mention have already been mentioned with the exception of Command and Conquer Generals.
There are also some very good user made campaigns for the Age of Empires 2 expansion like a Vlad Dracula campaign, a Tamerlane campaign, Sabato The Witch. These three take use that game's mechanics in a much better way than the campaign included with the actual game.
here are the links:
http://aok.heavengames.com/blacksmith/showfile.php?fileid=1029
http://aok.heavengames.com/blacksmith/showfile.php?fileid=304
http://aok.heavengames.com/blacksmith/showfile.php?fileid=1122

 

[chuckdm]

Holy hell what a blizzard fanboy fest this became so instantly. Don't get me wrong, their lore is awesome, but it's not as if there's no other RTS with good (or even equal or better) lore out there. If you strip out the lore added by WoW, the lore in Warcraft specifically becomes thin in a hurry. Starcraft has MUCH better lore than Warcraft, excepting WoW.

Also, not sure who mentioned World in Conflict, but no. WiC is a great game, but 1) It's real time tactics, and 2) the storyline is all but non-existant. Russians invade America, we trap them in small river town, nuke the town, war is over. Cue memorial for the whopping 100 Americans we had to sacrifice to kill several million Russian soldiers. The end. It's very well presented within the game, but to call it creative would be an insult to creativity itself. Halo has better lore than this.

From what I have read Homeworld is also good but I've never played it. Supreme Commander has a LOT of passive lore, but they squander it - the overarching story just doesn't put it to much use. Ditto for Sins of a Solar Empire.

Command & Conquer series (but not number 4) had a cool story to it, and to a lesser extent the Red Alert spin off series.

Yes, this. The C&C Tiberium storyline is one of the most fleshed out in all of GAMING, not just the RTS genre. I mean, holy hell, they hired MIT to write out a real-life report studying the exact method of operation of the fictional crystal in the game. Doesn't get much more in-depth than MIT pretending your 100% sci-fi lore is real long enough to write out a fucking whitepaper! And from a story point of view, even C&C4 is pretty good. The only real issue there is the game itself was a train wreck, but the lore is awesome throughout the entire series, and if you pretend that C&C4 was just a book while all the others were games, the series remains probably the best RTS of all time. (Yes, I know, opinion.)

As to the Red Alert lore...well...let's just say that it was intended to be very, very wacky, and it's well written. The only major issue there is really the use of yet another time machine for each new game (because, idk, nobody thought to ban those damn things after the colossal war from hell resulting from the original one, I guess?) Sadly that issue kinda ruins it. It could be useful in your class for studying how retcons are bad, or at least, how NOT to retcon shit if you must retcon it.

 

[TrevHead]

Out of all the RTS games I've played, Homeworld does storytelling the best in my eyes, and it does it through gameplay as much as it does through exposition, which can be unique in the video game world.

Spot on, The Return to Kharak segment and the following stages intro is a good example .

Spoiler

You are tasked to capture one of the ships that killed your people, the game in an almost monotone voice tells you that the crew has been interned and interrogated, then later in the following stage's intro the game tells you that the captain didn't survive the interrogation. The game has no angry Spacemarines shouting for revenge but you can imagine just what they did to that captured crew

I haven't played the game myself but Dune 2 might be worth investigating as it was originally a book, same goes for all those Lord of the Rings RTS games.

 

[DioWallachia]

"Sacrifice" Made by SHINY Entertaiment. A hybrid of RTS + 3rd Person View + RPG focused on player choice during the story leading to different outcomes from the start.

Brutal Legend is the Spiritual Sequel to this game.

"Dungeon Keeper 1 and 2" Made by Bullfrog and Peter Molineux when he was still sane. a RTS + Sims + First Person Perspective with RPG elements. Build a dungeon and keep your minions happy long enough to conquer the realm with your evil forces over the pathetic forces of good.

"Populous 3: The Beginning" A very simple yet strangely addicting RTS made by Bullfrog. You control a Shaman in a quest for obtaining godhood all while visiting each planet in a solar system and leading your tribes to bring war upon the other Shamans and unleashing the devasting forces of nature on your enemies.

I cant actually fully describe this game (actually the others arent easy to describe either) so i will just put the videos here so you can see a FRACTION of the good stuff.

Spoiler

 

[Darkmantle]

I'd throw in SC2 for character development. Although tons of people would disagree with me.

 

[FalloutJack]

The Starcraft and CnC: Red Alert series are good.

My girlfriend would also state that Supreme Commander counts, as well as Total War for being...well...history in motion.

 

[Vigormortis]

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?

Then, my friend, might I suggest you give Homeworld a play.

To this day it remains not only one of my favorite RTS games I've ever crossed paths with; and I play a lot of strategy games; but it also has one of the better stories ever put to a game.

You can still find hard copies, I'd presume. If you do, make sure to either get a copy of the manual with it or, in the very least, a PDF version of the manual. It contains a lot of crucial info and hefty back-history leading into the game.

The manual's not crucial, mind you, but it definitely adds to the experience.

 

[Pandaman1911]

So then, Escapists, tell me: are there any RTS games with genuinely interesting storylines, interesting characters, and thematic depth?

Starcraft absolutely has interesting characters who grow throughout the course of the game. Starcraft II is a little more focused on individual characters, who do grow and change, but ehh... it's a bit cartoonish. 1 was a lot more serious, 2 is kind of silly.

And Company of Heroes, while it doesn't really have a central main character throughout the six different campaigns for play (save for the Tiger Ace mission, which focuses on Major-General Maximillian Voss and Hauptmann Josef Schultz and their crew as they use their Tiger I to blow up Brits in the French countryside), it focuses on individual regiments and squads and whatnot. And hey, World War II hero stories are always cool.

 

[LetalisK]

My votes go to...
Starcraft, Brood War, Starcraft 2, Warcraft 3 and Frozen Throne(WC3 being the quintessential downfall of a hero story and Frozen Throne having a good downfall of a hero story along with an attempted redemption of a villain story), and Red Alert 2.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Yes, this. The C&C Tiberium storyline is one of the most fleshed out in all of GAMING, not just the RTS genre. I mean, holy hell, they hired MIT to write out a real-life report studying the exact method of operation of the fictional crystal in the game. Doesn't get much more in-depth than MIT pretending your 100% sci-fi lore is real long enough to write out a fucking whitepaper! And from a story point of view, even C&C4 is pretty good. The only real issue there is the game itself was a train wreck, but the lore is awesome throughout the entire series, and if you pretend that C&C4 was just a book while all the others were games, the series remains probably the best RTS of all time. (Yes, I know, opinion.)

As to the Red Alert lore...well...let's just say that it was intended to be very, very wacky, and it's well written. The only major issue there is really the use of yet another time machine for each new game (because, idk, nobody thought to ban those damn things after the colossal war from hell resulting from the original one, I guess?) Sadly that issue kinda ruins it. It could be useful in your class for studying how retcons are bad, or at least, how NOT to retcon shit if you must retcon it.

The thing about time travel is you won't remember the original war(s)

One RTS that has an excellent story is the Battle for Middle Earth games.