RTS-tard

[Dr.Poisonfreak]

Hello fellow escapists.

over the last few years i have been trying to subject myelf to as many different kinds of games as possible, JRPG made me want to kill myself, WRPGS i can deal with, action adventure was ok, and fps were too frantic.

SO with that in mind i have decided to try my luck with Real Time Strategy


But alas i have no idea where do begin as far as PC RTS's (?) are concerned so i am hoping that you escapists can recommend me some simple titles in the RTS category for Pc.

Nothing too complicated, just something to introduce me to the genre.

I leave the thread with you............

 

[chromewarriorXIII]

The game I would personally recommend is Age of Empires 2. It hasn't aged incredibly well, but it's still an awesome game.

 

[Blackadder51]

The game I would personally recommend is Age of Empires 2. It hasn't aged incredibly well, but it's still an awesome game.

Ninja'd

Well yeh that -.-

 

[Mr. McFuzzers]

I'm going to get ninja'd so bad, but StarCraft 1 and 2 are the kings of PC RTS. It's simple at first but don't play in any online matches becuase you are going to lose, A LOT. Trust me, stick with the story missions and CO-OP matches against the AI and SC will be a great introduction to the RTS genre.

 

[omega 616]

The new breed is Dawn of war 2, which has almost no building (and I think sucks toes).

The old skool is dawn of war + expansions, nice and simple gameplay ... decent single player story (in the expansions it is more of a conquest thing though).

Starcraft 2 is a easy to learn difficult to master game.

Be aware online though, people do stuff like this.

 

[Dr.Poisonfreak]

The new breed is Dawn of war 2, which has almost no building (and I think sucks toes).

The old skool is dawn of war + expansions, nice and simple gameplay ... decent single player story (in the expansions it is more of a conquest thing though).

Starcraft 2 is a easy to learn difficult to master game.

Be aware online though, people do stuff like this.

Holy jesus christ i have never seen ANYTHING like that

 

[HotFezz8]

Hello fellow escapists.

over the last few years i have been trying to subject myelf to as many different kinds of games as possible, JRPG made me want to kill myself, WRPGS i can deal with, action adventure was ok, and fps were too frantic.

SO with that in mind i have decided to try my luck with Real Time Strategy


But alas i have no idea where do begin as far as PC RTS's (?) are concerned so i am hoping that you escapists can recommend me some simple titles in the RTS category for Pc.

Nothing too complicated, just something to introduce me to the genre.

I leave the thread with you............

medieval total war 2. no doubt, it caters for all different fans of RTSs.

 

[Soviet Steve]

I would recommend starcraft because there's been virtually zero progress since then.

If you're into grand strategy though, I would recommend Arsenal of Democracy or Europa Universalis II with AGCEEP mod.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Hello fellow escapists.

over the last few years i have been trying to subject myelf to as many different kinds of games as possible, JRPG made me want to kill myself, WRPGS i can deal with, action adventure was ok, and fps were too frantic.

SO with that in mind i have decided to try my luck with Real Time Strategy


But alas i have no idea where do begin as far as PC RTS's (?) are concerned so i am hoping that you escapists can recommend me some simple titles in the RTS category for Pc.

Nothing too complicated, just something to introduce me to the genre.

I leave the thread with you............

medieval total war 2. no doubt, it caters for all different fans of RTSs.

I'd say straight up RTS games would be better for a beginner, games like Age of Empires 2 and StarCraft. Turn based RTS really isn't a good representative for RTS in general. Also, while very good, Medieval 2 isn't as open to beginners as Rome: Total War.

 

[Keava]

Company of Heroes is probably one of best RTSes of recent times, but since it's innovative and really polished in so many aspects there is nothing that comes close to it. Yes even Dawn of War1/2 that i loved does feel inferior to it.

As for Starcraft, well its the most cliche sort of RTS, based on endless spamming certain type of unit till you get a one big blob filling your screen and then doing attack move on the enemy and hope that his blob was smaller. It's based much more on reflexes and memory than strategy. People apparently like it, but i found it very shallow, both plot and gameplay wise.

Total War series and it's clones on the other hand a nice mix of quasi-grand strategy together with interesting RTS combat, the battles there are mostly about positioning and abusing the terrain and rock-paper-scissors units. Haven't played the last few incarnations of the series tho, so not sure how much it changed.

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[Sneaklemming]

Company of heroes online is FREE, and its got the same campaign from the original CoH, and that campaign is very very good. Stay away from multiplayer - in all rts games.

Dawn of war the first one is great. With RTS games scale is a factor, how close do you want to be - some are more empire building, some are more tactical and others are more base building focused, and some are more akin to city sims.

PM me if you want a full list, rts's are a personal fav.

 

[Daymo]

Am I going blind or has nobody mentioned the very obvious starter point of Command & Conquer?

EDIT: The earlier C&C's I mean, because they're not as complicated

Yes, Red Alert 2 is possiblly the funnest game ever, it's also free. Actually all the command and conquer up until red alert 2 are free now.

 

[L-J-F]

Combat Mission Afghanistan! Oh, not complicated ...

 

[kwagamon]

I would recommend the original StarCraft, because it was pretty simple and you can get it on the cheap as far as I'm aware. When you're ready to get into something more advanced, Rise of Nations is an excellent place to go. I've also heard Civilization V is pretty good for beginners. If you pick up StarCraft, make absolutely sure to play the campaign mode, because it's freakin' amazing. I literally cried at the finale of the Protoss campaign, because everything came together so beautifully. Also make sure to pick up the Brood War expansion if you like the campaign, because it just takes the high the first one goes out on and keeps building. And when you play Brood War, make sure to type "Radio Free Zerg" into the chat when you play. You'll thank me if you do.

 

[Keava]

The new breed is Dawn of war 2, which has almost no building (and I think sucks toes)

DoW2 does indeed suck toes, particularly the campaign. I suggest DoW1, particularly the Dark Crusade expansion, which introduces a strategic Risk-styled campaign that I really enjoyed. Just don't get Soulstorm.

I actually liked DoW2 no base style, tho i suppose instead sticking to RTS label it should get a RTT instead(Real Time Tactical game). As for DoWC, it was fun at the start but once you got some of the elite units and commander upgrades it pretty much was all about rushing enemy base form the start point with your starting units, only the scripted missions and main bases were actually fun and challenging.
Most enjoyment i got from DoW1 was Winter Assault campaigns and ranked multiplayer.

 

[Verok]

I would highly suggest trying company of heroes online out. Its in open beta and plays very similar to regular company of heroes (one of the top rated rts of all time). Its free to download and if you don't like it then you got it for free so you didn't waste money.

 

[The Madman]

The new breed is Dawn of war 2, which has almost no building (and I think sucks toes)

DoW2 does indeed suck toes, particularly the campaign. I suggest DoW1, particularly the Dark Crusade expansion, which introduces a strategic Risk-styled campaign that I really enjoyed. Just don't get Soulstorm.

I disagree. Dawn of War 2 is an improvement over the original game in nearly every way. The original was just a flashy rts with stereotypical gameplay and little lasting value beyond cool units and factions. Dawn of War 2 however tries and succeeds at being something unique unto itself as opposed to just a Warhammer starcraft with less faction balance but flashier kill animations. Not that DOW1 was bad by any means, but it got old quick once the novelty wore off.

I like that Relic is willing to change things up and I think the lack of base-building, despite pissing off the hardcore rts types, worked extremely well in this case. Wouldn't want to see it used in every game, but in DOW2 is works well. Plus the Chaos Rising campaign for DOW2 was fantastic.

But then I guess it's up to the individual to decide which they prefer or if, gasp, maybe they can enjoy both DOW1 and 2 on their own merits?

And to the OP, good introduction rts? Starcraft 2. It's new, it's shiny, it looks good and plays fantastic plus it's extremely newbie friendly. From there if you enjoy it you can then branch out to other older or more diverse rts and eventually join the rest of us in bitching about every new rts to be released.

 

[ffs-dontcare]

I'm gonna have to say the old Command & Conquers, the Dawn of War series (I rather like the old DoW games as well as DoW2, they're quite different from each other really so I cannot compare them), Homeworld 2, and obviously the Starcraft series. They're a very good introduction into the RTS genre and they're time-proven and essentially solid.

Out of that list, Homeworld 2 is perhaps the most complicated and even then it's pretty much as simple as the others apart from the fact that you fight in a literally 3D combat zone (i.e. space) instead of on a battlefield consisting of only one plane of movement, so to speak.

 

[Rakkana]

One of my first RTS games was Red Alert 2. That's easy enough.

When you feel more confident play starcraft.