What good RTSs are there?

[Omega500]

Company of heroes. Prob not best since you say you not played any RTS game. for that i would say Red alert or command and conquer.

COH (company of heroes) is on the steam sales now so you can get it dirt cheap.
One of my fav things about COH is the attention to detail it has like the small talk with the men.

Another thing i really like about is how it portrays the Germans not as narzis but as men. no other game I know of has done that.

 

[silver wolf009]

Snip

They're a bit old now, but I will always point people to the Battle for Middle Earth series.

Spoiler: Witch Kingtastic

I'm not even that big on RTS games, and I love these to pieces. Plus they're cheap now, so pick them up if you can.

 

[Poetic Nova]

Cavedog's Total Annihilation, and to an extend it's first expansion pack: The Core Contingency.
Actually makes me want to re-install and play it again.

 

[Kizo]

I've never enjoyed an RTS as much as I enjoyed Rise of Nations. I still live in hope that it will eventually come to Steam.

 

[thePyro_13]

Here's my big ass list of RTS games. Note: no Turn based games are on this list. And the comments are my opinions. If you know any RTS games that have base building, economy and combat that aren't on the list, please PM them to me.
Enjoy:

This is a list of top down games that focus on base building, economy and combat to varying degrees
This list is bias towards games I like, games which fit the criteria but suck(IMO), are in a second list below.

RTS Games:
Starcraft(1 and 2)
Warcraft series(1, 2, 3)
The Dune games(Dune II, Dune 200, Emperor: battle for dune)
Fuck tonnes of CnC games.(I?m seriously not going to list them all here, go wiki them)
The Homeworld games(especially cataclysm, which is IMO the pinnacle of the series)
Rise of nations(a sort of real time mix of Civilisation and an RTS)
Total annihilation and Supreme commander(Supreme commander 1 > supcom 2)
Lego Rock raiders(no joke, this game is old, but awesome)
Age of empires 1/2
Age of empires Online(the MMO crap is kind of annoying, but their's a very solid age of empires game hidden within, very similar to the first two age of games)
Age of mythology( one of, if not the, best age of empires games)
Battle for middle earth(the first one, number 2 breaks all the things they got right with the first one)
Outpost 2(old game that focus' on base management and research, hard to play due to really outdated interface, but still pretty cool)
The Settlers games(specifically 3 & 4)
ANNO 1404(and other anno games, a Good mix of city building and naval combat, forcus' mainly on economy and city building)
ANNO 2070(same pros as Anno 1404, with some more advanced community and multiplayer features)
Dawn of War(1 and it?s expansions, DoW2 is more of a tactics game)

Games I haven't played(but want too):
CnC 4(I'm pretty sure it's bad, but I'm naive enough to withhold judgement until I've played it for myself
Age of Empires 3
Metal Fatigue
The Moon Project
Outlive
Oil Rush
APOX
World in conflict
RUSE
Wargame EE
Glest
Globulation 1/2
Battle Realms
Halo RTS(Can't care much for a console only RTS, but I'd like to give it a go anyway)

Mobile games:
Z Origins(android)
Rusted Warfare

Upcoming:
Planetary Annihilation
Command and Conquer(previously Generals 2)

Sucky games(I didn?t like these games):
Battle For Middle Earth II(plays like a bad mod of the first game)
Rize of nations: Rise of legends(was pretty bad)
Companey of Heroes(Great single player, sucky multiplayer, Lots of other people swear by this game, so try it out anyway)
Universe at war: Earth assult(some cool ideas, such as the faction that uses crawler bases, but has some pretty bad gameplay and a terrible single player campaign)
Star wars Galactic battlegrounds(star wars reskin of Aoe2, pretty cool if you're a star wars fan, but the gameplay is out and out worse than normal Aoe2)
SunAge(australian made RTS game, has some cool ideas, but their attempt to make unique gameplay ruined the things that they got right)

 

[kingthrall]

EHEM MYTH I and Myth II soulbighter. Myth was recently voted in time magazine top 100 games as well

 

[Zanderinfal]

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. If you can be pulled into the atmosphere of the game (how couldn't you?) and enjoy a sort of smaller, personalized RTS game then this would be a great bet. You can even change if it's turn based or not. I would suggest looking up some sort gameplay though. And I'm afraid that the very little voice acting in the game is god-awful, and the game in general is a bit dated. It's worth it though.

 

[Ieyke]

Age Of Empires 2: The Conquerors
Age Of Mythology: Titans
Dawn Of War: Dark Crusade
Dawn Of War 2: Retribution (the DOW2 games are very unorthodox versions of an RTS. Don't think there's anything else like it)

Starcraft is okay. Just like Age Of Empires, except in space...but less elegantly put together IMO)

Certain Command & Conquer games are cool, and certain ones are crap. I can never remember which are which.

 

[Lucyfer86]

I've never enjoyed an RTS as much as I enjoyed Rise of Nations. I still live in hope that it will eventually come to Steam.

Thanks for reminding me of that game, it was really good, or so i remember it.

 

[schtingah]

Supreme Commander is the RTS i've enjoyed the most, so id recommend that .

 

[Panorama]

I loved Red Alert 2, I never played RA3 but a lot of people seemed to complain. RA2 is brilliant, and also ridiculously silly. One of the Soviet units are giant squid that attack ships, how awesome is that? It's also gloriously un-PC; being made before 9/11 one of the missions involves attacking the World Trade Centre, and the Libyan and Cuban special units are suicide bombers. Lots and lots of fun though.

Snip

This is defiantely what i would suggest, i still find my self playing this, just coming back and i would also suggest age of empire, or if your feeling a little masochistic Dune.

 

[clonezero]

RTS games series I have played and loved:

Total Annihalation and Supreme Commander
Homeworld
Dawn of War
Company of Heroes
Battle Realms
Age of Empires
Warcraft
Starcraft
CnC
CnC Red Alert up until Yuri's Revenge (I won't forgive EA for removing Boris)
CnC Generals
Rise of Nations
Dune
Star Trek Armada 2

 

[Gizmo1990]

I have had a lot of fun with Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion recently. I have yet to try a Diplomatic win but who the hell would want to when you can build ships the size of the moon with guns that would make God think twice.

I have that game but whenever I try to play the screen turns black and an error sound appears and a problem occurs and it shuts down. I have the recommended specs.

Damn. Not sure what to tell you. I have trouble with the opening cinimatic so I just keep hitting Esc until I get the menu. Try that maybe? As soon as it starts to load just hit ESc over and over. Otherwise Google.

 

[Coffeejack]

I loved Red Alert 2, I never played RA3 but a lot of people seemed to complain. RA2 is brilliant, and also ridiculously silly. One of the Soviet units are giant squid that attack ships, how awesome is that? It's also gloriously un-PC; being made before 9/11 one of the missions involves attacking the World Trade Centre, and the Libyan and Cuban special units are suicide bombers. Lots and lots of fun though.

You get penalised for attacking the WTC and if I remember right, destroying it fails you the mission. You are there to (literally) win hearts and minds. If you could have destroyed it, EA probably would have had the mission censored, the cowards. Nothing beats teleporting your enemy's harvester into the sea. Fantastic game from the giants of their class.

Red Alert 3 was rubbish. They overdid the cartoon wackiness. Just look at the Japanese army. Everything is a stereotype. Their hero unit is a walking rape fantasy. Come to think of it, all the women were showing it all off. EA marketing is something else.

 

[RADIALTHRONE1]

For the computer there is Star Wars Empire at War or (basically the same game, just more stuff) Star Wars Empire at War Forces of Corruption