What is your favorite RTS game ever?

[Randoman01]

What RTS game would have to be your favorite? Which one is it and why?

For me: I have to pick the original Command and Conquer Red Alert. I feel like this was the original one that I started out with that was really nostalgic for me.

 

[IBlackKiteI]

Dawn of War: Dark Crusade

Seven factions, Risk-style campaign, lots of maps, crazy melee and ranged combat and many awesome mods.

 

[DefunctTheory]

For massive campaigning, Supreme Commander. I was a huge fan of the tier system, nuke mechanic, and the huge phallic symbolism.

Warhammer 40K - Dawn of War II - Retribution was my favorite RTS when it came to the feel, storyline, and single player experience, and as a small scale RTS.

Plus, commissars are just so damn charming.

 

[Danny Dowling]

Advanced Wars!
...
Oh that's not an RTS?
...
Well, none then.

I swear I've played some kind of RTS before in my life but I can't think of what it was. Whatever it was is my fav, since its the only one. Does General Chaos or Cannon Fodder count?

 

[Morgoth780]

Supreme Commander (Both 1 and 2), Starcraft 2, and Planetary Annihilation have to be my favorites.

I've never managed to get into C&C, the dated ui/unit pathing for Brood War makes that game very difficult for me to enjoy, and AoE feels too bland with the factions. They're all too similar. And I suppose that the Supcom factions are all very similar as well, but I also think I find sci-fi settings for RTS games to be much more enjoyable.

 

[TrevHead]

Homeworld get's my vote. Although Total War: Rome is a close 2nd

 

[Tanis]

I still have great memories of C&C: Tiberium Sun.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

Man, it's too hard for me to really choose. I've got too many that enjoy for their own reasons. Starcraft, Sid Meier's Gettysburg/Antietam, Supcom FA, AoE II, Dawn of War DC/SS as well as DoW II Retribution, Close Combat: Battle of the Bulge, and Medieval II: Total War are all RTSs I'd rank up among my favorite. I'm a big fan of strategy games so it isn't really that surprising that there are so many contending for my top spot.

 

[Pogilrup]

Rise of Nations. I like the fact that it has naval units as it is quite satisfying to pull off a successful naval blockade.

Also I like the Dutch have armed merchant and caravan units. It usually means that enemy merchants can't get access to a rare resource that you are occupying.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

Stronghold Crusader is mine.

I prefer that not-futuristic RTS's, and Crusader's mechanics are easy enough to get into without being too overly complicated. Managing resources can get a bit hectic come late-game, but the game and setting are fun enough to not become too obtrusive.

 

[Weaver]

For me it's Company of Heroes. I don't know why, the game just seemed to do everything right to me.

 

[Nazulu]

Starcraft: Broodwar is probably still my favourite. Game play, style, music, diversity and all that, I also believe it's one of the few base building RTS games that gets the timing and production costs just right.

 

[Hawki]

Warcraft III. "Best RTS" either goes to SC1 or SC2 (more the second IMO), but for favourite, WC3 gets the prize from me.

Edit: Though I've enjoyed many others as well. I feel special kudos should be given to C&C 3 as well. The WC, SC, and C&C franchises as a whole have definately been enjoyed by me.

 

[sovietmisaki]

probably a split between Company of Heroes, and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. although Supreme Commander and the Total War series also come pretty close. I've been a major fan of RTS games since I played Warcraft 2. so it's a little tricky for me to decide on just one favorite.

 

[Signa]

I'm throwing another vote in for SupCom. That resource system is all I need to make a RTS enjoyable, but Supcom's benefits don't stop there.

 

[Horton986]

This is so hard, but I think Age of Empires 2 would top out my list but Command and Conquer Red Alert would be a super close second

 

[Offworlder_v1legacy]

Warcraft 3. Still play it to this day. Still get called a noob on it to this day. Still love it.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Spoiler

Most definitely Age of Mythology.

It was such a great RTS. Lots of interesting unit types and god powers to play around with, along with a fun campaign mode. I must've have spent months playing around in the custom scenario mode building my own custom campaign levels. Great fun all round.

 

[Neverhoodian]

It's a toss-up between Dawn of War: Dark Crusade and Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 for me. Both games boasted plenty of gameplay and unit diversity, with DC's seven(!) factions and RA2's multiple subfactions for the Allies and Soviets (along with Yuri's army in the expansion). The gameplay was kept accessible enough for people like myself that aren't very good at the genre, yet still contained enough complexity for the hardcore RTS enthusiast. They contained a plethora of single player content in the form of long, satisfying campaigns and highly customizable Skirmish modes. They cultivated thriving modding communities that still release awesome stuff to this day. And the music...good God, the music:

Spoiler

Finally, there's the tone and presentation. Both titles embraced the underlying absurdity of their respective settings. The gratuitous violence and gloriously hammy voice acting [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpmiq8sTH0k] of DoW seemed to encapsulate the grimdark insanity of Warhammer 40k, and RA2's B-movie quality FMV cutscenes set the perfect tone for the wacky premise.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Homeworld get's my vote.

Sixth post and Homeworld is already mentioned. I salute you!

Yes, Homeworld is my favorite as well. Beautiful game, great gameplay and soundtrack, I'm really waiting for the HD re-release.

Second and third would be Age of Mythology and Warcraft III. I don't even want to know how much time I've spent in either of those.