Sophisticated RTS

[BaronAsh]

As I grow weary of playing AoE 3 and Homeworld it seems that I need to once again buy a new game.

I am simply looking for an rts that isn't overly simple like Warcraft or Starcraft but something a bit more complex like RoN.

But what should I buy?

There is an answer and you wonderfuly intelligent people at the Escapist are sure to help.

And so I ask what is a good rts to buy to day?

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

Civilization. Any one but IV is the newest. Alpha Centauri if you can dig it up. The "Total War" series is quite good as well.

 

[ElephantGuts]

Well as (person above me) said, civilization and Total War games are great. And I know Company of Heroes isn't particularly complex, but I can't be anywhere near a thread suggesting RTSs without mentioning it. Amazing game, really.

 

[BaronAsh]

Civilization. Any one but IV is the newest. Alpha Centauri if you can dig it up. The "Total War" series is quite good as well.

I'm gonna sound like an ass here, but why is it that whenever I say RTS(in capital fucking letters) everyone else says Civilization?

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

Maybe that's because it's more than just a sim game. Ever played Civ IV? Maybe you should check it out.

P.S. You didn't sound like an ass until the "capital fu@king letters" part.

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

Dawn of war isn't particularly complex although you will be called upon to micromanage in the heat of battle and that adds tons of flexibility to any strategy, even when you're grossly outnumbered and outgunned. It also uses terrain and artillery quite nicely so I'm recommending it as well. I'm a huge Warhammer 40k fan though so I may be biased here.

 

[BaronAsh]

Off Topic:
"A real-time strategy (RTS) video game is a strategic game that is distinctly not turn-based."

The opening line in Wikipedia article under RTS. (I'm sorry I mean no offense but that's one of those things that bugs me)

On Topic: Is Company of Heroes worth the money and what about its expansion?

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

Meh, then count Alpha Centauri out too.

 

[meatloaf231]

On Topic: Is Company of Heroes worth the money and what about its expansion?

Yes, and yes. Both of them are fantabulous.

 

[Dys]

On Topic: Is Company of Heroes worth the money and what about its expansion?

Yes, and yes. Both of them are fantabulous.

Another more different yes, with more pyramid.
The only problem with either is the aids infested relic online multiplayer (and the expansions DRM is irritating because it doesn't like my dvd drive ><)

 

[Same River New Water]

Advance Wars.

 

[fluffylandmine]

sins of a solar empire, you wanted sophisticated, you get it right here for $30 or so dollars american(whinch in a matter of days will equal 1 pound*laughs at sad political humor*).

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Dawn of War and it's expansions, though the singleplayer is very very simplistic. Company of Hero's is good, and DOW2 promises to be in COH's vein.

 

[RYjet911]

I would suggest Company of Heroes. To me, a sophisticated RTS is anything that focuses on making the micromanagement part the more prominant of unit management. So I would also recommend the Total War series on that note.

By the by, what's Alpha Centurai like? My friends were talking about it a while back and said they enjoyed that a lot.

 

[Ultrajoe]

Dawn of War.

Its a fast paced game that requires battlefield awareness and control to win. Visually pleasing, dynamic and fairly balanced (all races balanced except for sisters of battle who are broken right out the ass.)

And DoW 2 has tyranids... finally... now i can stroke my 3 RL hive tyrants as a make a digital one eat the face of a space marine.

Its a game that favors the bold and the daring. The thinking man can find depths of strategy over any regular fool and nothing beats using 2 squads to take down 6 others.

My friends quit when i get Warp Spiders, to them the game is already over.

 

[Kohlrabi]

If you aren't a fan of Warhammer 40k in particular, and don't mind WWII games, I'd go for Company of Heroes. The first impressions are amazing, you can hear distant battles and tanks rolling in which take place on the other end of the map. Artillery strikes are visually pleasing too, to say the least. Beyond that you get battlefield tactics with destructable environments and AI soldiers looking for cover themselves. One strong point I like too is the relatively small number of troops. You won't see many "Unit X" rushes in CoH, it's all about finding a good balance, and every single unit counts, because it can take you some minutes to replace a lost heavy tank. Though the online mode has some network stability issues, I didn't have more online RTS fun since Warcraft 3 some years ago. And the aforementioned DRM isn't so bad either, if you're online you can play without teh DVD in drive, but you have to login to Relic Online (takes 2 secs.), if you're offline it takes the DVD as copy protection. Since I'm always online at my PC I don't really mind.

 

[Novajam]

I'm going to put my I<3RELIC shirt on again and say buy Company of Heroes. Very good engine powering it, Great cover system, fast tactics, fun skirmishes, tactical depth, It's all there.

Command and Conquer 3 is great too. Paticularly the Campaign.

 

[curlycrouton]

Supreme Commander, Civilization IV, Medieval Total War II.

If you're after complex Civ's your game.

 

[Littaly]

I'd recommend to look up this product http://www.webhallen.com/prod.php?id=82475 at your local store. It's basically a boxed set with Dawn of War (+the first expansion), Company of Heroes and Supreme Commander at a decent price. Only have good experiance with DoW, and I can tell you it rocks, played CoH once or twice and found it really good, same thing for Supreme Commander although I didn't really like it (a lot of people do though, so I'd suggest you give it a try)

 

[Doctor Panda]

I'd have to add in my support for CoH, it's a great game and has something a little different in it. Lots of opportunity for strategy, troop positioning. It can seem a little rock scissors paper to begin with but once you get the hang of troop positioning it's a lot deeper than that. Dawn of war is fun, but hardly deep. If you can get a lot of friends to play with you, World in Conflict can provide something a little different as well. Requires a lot of coordination and strategy when you play with larger teams.