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The Greatest RTS Game Ever Made?


Threve

The Greatest RTS Game Ever Made  

38 members have voted

  1. 1. The Greatest RTS Game Ever Made

    • Total Annihilation
      2
    • Company of Heroes w/ expansions (Tales of Valor)
      4
    • Command and Conquer (Any C&C Game)
      24
    • Starcraft
      1
    • Star Wars Empire at War w/ expansions (Forces of Corruption)
      1
    • Age of Empires
      1
    • Halo Wars
      2
    • Warcraft (Any edition/game)
      1
    • Dawn of War
      1
    • Netstorm
      1


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Good Evening everyone. I have a legit question I've been thinking about recently. More often then not, there seems to not be a lot of RTS Games coming out or at least any of particular interest to me. It could possibly be that I have not been looking or paying to much attention but I've also been stuck on the old school ones as well. In my theory, RTS games have come down to Twitch/Competitive Gaming type games which means the quality has been drastically decreased to the point of the story being non-existent, horrid or irrelevant. I also believe that It can be agreed that 1995-2006 was a really good golden decade for RTS games in general. With this said I want to know which RTS game is the best, examining not just the game but a lot of other things such as

What makes a great RTS game?

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Total Annihilation

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Company of Hero's

 

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Starcraft

 

I have never played this and I’m sorry. It is good and popular enough that I’ve put it on this list. I am sure someone can vouch for it

 

Command and Conquer (Any game)

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Star Wars Empire at War (w/ expansions included)

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I understand obviously there may be other titles that I may have missed out but these are what I found to be the best and that I have played so far. If your choice is not listed on here then feel free to comment your favorite RTS game and what makes it so special! 

Edited by Threve
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  On 9/6/2018 at 1:12 AM, OWA said:

Missing a few options there; like Dawn of War, Halo Wars, Supreme Commander etc. 

But C&C is there so why would you vote for anything else. :p 

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To be 100% fair supreme commander was the “Spiritual Successor” of Total Annhilation. I felt that with the technological breakthroughs, legend and mystic of this game it would only be proper to put this in place as such an earth shattering RTS game. Of course it could be biased due to only seeing the game played. But I thought it be best. Halo wars was also mediocre I heard. It never hit my radar for any interest. However options as you can see are and will be updated as people suggest more options!

Edited by Threve
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I would also add NETSTORM: Islands at War to the list - even though it's not as known as other titles since it's quite old and activision buried its legacy, though it was heavily played mostly during the dawn of the new millennium (1997-2004), before the official server shutdown. If it wasn't for the great old NSHQ community, keeping it alive and updating it, it would be long forgotten too. With a history of patches and community events, the game was still quite popular for a decade that followed. It's still played to this day on community run server and updated with new features.

You may ask what makes NS so special, well, the first thing that makes Netstorm stand out is that it doesn't follow the casual model of Dune/C&C RTS clones but still has the same classic RTS excitement included. This strategy game literary reaches new heights and remains above all - and it's pretty much the only original and one of it's kind.

 

For me it was the first online experience back in the '97 and the intro above which I saw first time when playing a demo changed the way I used to think about RTS games. Back when Age of Empires started to shine, as well as the dawn of C&C and its clones as well and later one of my favorites, Total Annihilation and KKnD, this was a nice refreshing change and I kinda got stuck to it for the next 15 years or so.

416733-netstorm-islands-at-war-windows-b

 

For those who don't know, Netstorm is a very unique RTS game where you don't spam units and rush enemy with them like in every other game on the list, but  instead, you have to build your way through enemy defenses and network of bridges and islands in the skies of Nimbus. To do that, you have to build your own bridge network between the sky islands, secure resources in form of storm geysers, and build workshops to gain access to one of the four technologies of sun, wind, rain and thunder. Your war machine consists of several types of contraptions, towers, barricades, cannons and bases for aerial attackers. Each has its purpose, line of fire, range. Positioning and rotation of the unit is the key, so the game plays as a tower defense yet you also need to attack so it's a complicated game of chess (the way the building units work), tetris (bridging in sky and connecting to islands) and RTS (collecting resources, building bases, securing islands, spells, capturing enemy High Priests).

Below is a nice letsplay introduction one of the vets made recently:

 

The most interesting part of Netstorm was its unique multiplayer. The best thing of Netstorm  multiplayer is that each battle is different, as the maps are created per random procedural generator, and you can set the parameters in the battle ring as Battlemaster for other players who join. The below pic is an old SS of me when I hosted the Netstorm Tournaments:

netstorm-islands-at-war_11.png

 

Players gather in a lobby, join a zone (different lobbies used to be popular back then when clans and tournaments were a thing), and then find a match in one of the Rings floating in Serenisphere. Each player is represented by their home island, which is their base of operations and it's the only island that is same (unless they change their island, or "fort" later when joining multiplayer server). Once the battle starts, all islands join the battle in the same position they joined the ring, so players can make interesting battles as 1s, 2s, 3s, each team opposite to each other, fighting for the middle (which is the part that is generated randomly, such as neutral islands and resources). Fight for the middle islands can turn into a complicated mess where each click, bridge or unit placement matters:

fa80aa.jpg

 

Learning Netstorm is quite easy when you play the tutorial and play few campaign missions but mastering Netstorm in multiplayer is a different story. The idea behind multiplayer was that each time you sacrifice an enemy priest, you get to choose a new technology, and once you have learned all the technologies (and units) in the game, you get to upgrade your rank and start over with just basic technology. Although all players play now with full leveled forts (LVL 43), where rank no longer means anything, the game is played to see who is the faster bridger, better tactician, or who is that sneaky bastard having an airship ready to capture your own priest - especially when you're not looking and then quickly sacrificing him on the Altar of the storm gods before they attack your island...

netstorm_thunder_priest_by_mizoro-d9d3je

 

NetStorm Online is also quite different from any other RTS game, since you are thrown directly into action - you don't have to wait several minutes to get your base built and ready your armies, you don't have to micromanage your units. All your units engage the enemy automatically. You just need to think the best approach - how and where to bridge, where to build your first outpost, which resources to secure, where to attack your enemy. This way some battles can last less than five minutes, while others can last for an hour...

air_defense_by_fengl0ng-d6mtibf.png

 

Although Netstorm is now considered abandonware, you can still play it online due to the community keeping it alive (I'm part of it). If you want to try and play Netstorm online let me know if you need help, the game can be downloaded on several places but the most recent updates are now informed on discord.

Although there used to be many attempts to make a new shiny game and to be the next NetStorm successor, many projects failed to do so (we think there is some curse following the original downfall of Titanic Entertainment which ironically sunk to the bottom when Activision decided that it's time to release Netstorm unpolished with many bugs and a loophole to convert a free demo to a full working version - although the bugs and loopholes were fixed it led to the original studio going bankrupt).

 

kbWZw73.jpg

 

However, there's a new Netstorm project which keeps resurrecting once in a while with the blessing of the original devs, under the wings of a talented friend named Nathan Hunt who is trying to recreate the spirit of Netstorm in new 3d setting. First it was a Unity project called Netstorm II Rising Storm, now known as Stratus: Battle For The Sky (early access version available on Steam). I've made a topic to support his kickstarter project a while ago where you can learn more about it, back then the project's name was Disciples of the Storm.

 

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  On 9/6/2018 at 3:23 PM, VERTi60 said:

For me it was the first online experience back in the '97 and the intro above which I saw first time when playing a demo changed the way I used to think about RTS games. Back when Age of Empires started to shine, as well as the dawn of C&C and its clones as well and later one of my favorites, Total Annihilation and KKnD, this was a nice refreshing change and I kinda got stuck to it

 

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An old abandoned game with a loyal player base and unique gameplay? (APB)

Nothing wrong with that! :)

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  On 9/6/2018 at 5:25 PM, VERTi60 said:

image.thumb.png.a14fdddb72c55a0ea19009aa60bc73ca.png

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Interested in knowing other people’s opnions as well. Games as a whole and especially RTS games I feel are not really advertised ever in media.

Have you ever played Company of Hero’s? I accidentally discovered the game while at Target. Ironically it’s been the highest rated RTS game and it’s the one I voted for. With it being so easy to get stuck on a game I wonder how many people here have actually played it

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  On 9/6/2018 at 5:29 PM, Threve said:

Interested in knowing other people’s opnions as well. Games as a whole and especially RTS games I feel are not really advertised ever in media.

Have you ever played Company of Hero’s? I accidentally discovered the game while at Target. Ironically it’s been the highest rated RTS game and it’s the one I voted for. With it being so easy to get stuck on a game I wonder how many people here have actually played it

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Haven't gotten to play that title yet. If it had to be any ww2 - themed strategy game, I would opt for one where I could also control the units and mostly naval fleets and airplanes so games like Battlestations was my prefered choice. Back in 2006 I was heavily playing turn based genre too.

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  On 9/6/2018 at 5:51 PM, Nodlied said:

>All those people not voting for Command and Conquer on a CnC forum.
You're all heretics.

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If the question would be "What was your first/most favorite RTS game?" or "Which one is the most famous RTS game?" or "Which one of the RTS games has best single player/story arc/etc" I would have gotten with CnC but if I'm considering the overall greatness, well Netstorm was indeed the greatest RTS game ever made (for that time at least) as it had unique original mechanics that make it stand above all other. It's mainly the online part of the game which was appealing and I've never really gotten more involved with any other RTS game, or any other online community for that matter until I've started playing APB. It's shame no other RTS game really adopted the mechanics but instead more and more rts games followed the same principle until the whole genre kinda died out. So yea why I'm voting something different is because it is different in the first place. :colbert:

It's also b/c I never really spent so many hours and wasted my high school/uni life with any other game that much as I did with Netstorm :eng99:

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  On 9/6/2018 at 5:51 PM, Nodlied said:

>All those people not voting for Command and Conquer on a CnC forum.
You're all heretics.

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Being honest gameplay wise, any C&C was just not as good as Company of Heroes. The only thing you're going to do in almost any C&C Title is mass buildings or units. This being said it very heavily makes up for it with

- Incredible soundtracks every game.

- Meaningful campaigns

- Legacy

- Very good story Arc/Lore

- Interesting dynamics and with Tiberian sun at least... very good, well built environments.

- Very creative units

- Easy pick up and play (especially for an RTS type game)

- Those old video cut scenes.

With this said, C&C is able to do these things and no other RTS game has come close or made the same impact. If you're playing alone then C&C as a whole really is a 10/10. 

But in my argument I believe that Company of Heroes really captures a perfectly balanced realistic gameplay. Furthermore it has a lot more tactics to be applied with every single unit and every single game no matter what does not feel similar. The typical massing of a single unit has also been for the most part eliminated and you're required to have very different units come together to win at times and adapt to what's happening. However, COH cannot make up or do what has been listed above for C&C. Therefor I think it comes down to preference on what you're looking for in an RTS Game. COH also really only shines when you're on multiplayer as opposed to C&C where it rocks straight out of the box.

Edited by Threve
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  • 1 month later...
  On 10/22/2018 at 4:52 PM, Bluesummers said:

How is everyone not in agreement Age of Empires 2 is the best RTS ever to grace this earth. It practically defined all RTS going forward. I love C&C to death but AOE is the king baby.

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Because AoE doesn't have Mammoth Tanks.

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  On 10/22/2018 at 4:52 PM, Bluesummers said:

How is everyone not in agreement Age of Empires 2 is the best RTS ever to grace this earth. It practically defined all RTS going forward. I love C&C to death but AOE is the king baby.

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It originally wasn't even part of the poll. But I do think C&C is way better. I just couldn't seriously get into AoE.

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I was hoping there would be an Other option to vote in, as my vote would go to Original War. It's a seriously underrated gem. I enjoy AoE and of course C&C but over the years I haven't found myself really coming back to those games unlike the previous two I mentioned.

Edited by JigglyJie
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  • 1 year later...

So, Starcraft: Brood War is usually at the top of most "Best RTS game" lists...and the reason for that is because Blizzard put in a lot of effort to constantly patch and update the game to keep it balanced, right? Does that mean any RTS could become just as good if the developers give it enough support and updates? Or maybe if modders did the same?

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  • 6 months later...
  • 2 years later...

Well if you're gonna necro a thread that was originally made 5 years ago..

1. Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge. 

I grew up playing this, I loved the music, units and the campaigns were really nice when you looked at them as a kid. The characters were a bit goofy but memorable. It was my first C&C game and I wasted so many hours making pretty looking bases and jamming to rock as a 7yo. Mods made it extremely nice, back when modding was more about adding even more dumber and overpowered stuff rather than trying to make the game balanced.

2. Starcraft

The second RTS I've ever played, while it was extremely nice as well, I didn't like the fact that you had a supply cap and couldn't start building units until you had the required amount of minerals(unlike in c&c where you can start training something even with 0 credits and it'll keep going when you get more). It was definitely the harder game and while I learned how to control stuff in RA2 fairly easy, in StarCraft I was literally clicking the buttons on the bar because what's the point of having it there if you can still use the mouse buttons(I didn't know that at first). The music was could really pump you up but the characters in it where a bit of a let down since they were just avatars mubling with voices put behind them(not like in C&C with the FMV which gave you a better idea of how they would look like in real life). Also Siege Tanks can't crush a puny ass zergling, wtf.

3. Tiberian Sun.

While not as colorful as RA2 the game definitely got my attention, at first I played the Demo which has a mission or two. I really loved the titans, big ass robots with cannons, tiberium, KANE. Introduction to the Basedhood of Nod. Stealth tanks, Juggernauts even though they were garbage units. The tiberium flora and fauna gave some maps extremely nice looks even though they were mostly empty with a few buildings. The game had a dark feeling to it and the music made that much more dramatic and the FMVs were amazing! You'd get to see the Mammoth Mk2, laser turrets, obelisks and titans!

4. Generals and ZH.

This game was the second RTS I've ever played online(and the first to do it multiple times) and while it breaks away from the C&C and RA universe, it was a really nice game. I liked how you had planes actually take off, the support powers you could call in. Playing as GLA and making tunnels everywhere. I'd go to a net cafe and rent a PC to play it all night with some old guy that was always there, looking for people to play with. I made the guy RQ when I made a bunch of workers and bumrushed his base with tunnels. We also played PvE and TD maps. Good times. While the story wasn't much, just a bunch of missions with some objectives, the units and the 3D setting were nice and playing it in MP brought me a lot of joy.

5.Warcraft 3.

Never played it online(just modded maps) but the campaigns were extremely nice and memorable. The game was hard as hell for me and unfortunately it also had the pop cap. Was never a fan of the more fantasy setting with magic and the like but I've played it a lot. Probably the best thing about it were the modded maps. I got to play the OG WC3 DotA maps with a bunch of other people on the internet and I've got no idea how much time I put in that.

6.Empire Earth.

Dude you could start the game as an advanced civilization and watching literal cavemen club eachother while you nuke their ass. That's probably the most fun I've had with it since the campaign was very hard and didn't know what to do in most of the missions. I still haven't finished the game.

7.Age of Empires 1 and 2.

I never knew how to play this game, it was too much of a hassle to get several types of resources while also having a pop cap and multiple production buildings not to mention that I wasn't really fond of the whole medieval setting when I could make Apoc Tanks and Kirovs in another game. I just played a few missions and used the cheat to spawn in cars.

 

There's also a few other games but I haven't played them as much, usually just once.

Warfront Turning Point, Earth 2160, Men of War Assault Squad 2(extremely fun when you play it with a friend in co-op and do stupid stuff like shoot the other guy's units with artillery).

Edited by WNxHeadShot
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