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Which is the best RTS ever?

I've done my best to include the games that truly have a shot- e.g. I doubt anyone will be voting for "Empire Earth". However, if you want, say Other.

IMO- this is a tough one- it's Total Annihilation. While it was a bit "cold"- not having the warmth of say Warcraft or C&C, it had the best units ever and timeless graphics (as far as I'm concerned); great defensive structures (plasma batteries! plasma batteries! target and fire!) and the coolest concept for building/ repairing (nanolathing).

You forgot Age of Empires 2 but no big deal because I voted for Starcraft. All the others are good, but I have wasted more time on SC then any other RTS I have played.

I love StarCraft for it's personality and ease of gameplay, however for the added complexity Total Annihilation kicks it as it allows more options - multiple waypoints, qeued orders (SC patrol is A-B, while TA patrol can be A-B-C-D etc), better and 'realistic' graphics (aircraft LAND in TA, unlike any other RTS I've ever played...), kickass fortifications (although expensive, tell me you don't find the Annihilator cannon to be a hoot to play with?) and absoultely INSANE artillery, like the Vulcan Bertha cannon.

Plus, TA has a very good Star Wars mod allowing you to build stormtroopers, wookiees, TIEs and X-wings, Walkers and Hovertanks etc... TA wins. (Admittedly though it's a game best suited for multiplay, as the computer is a dunderhead. "Duh, I'll just build a small group of level 1 units and throw them against the Human's Defence walls - oh no, there goes another assault..." and they seem to never build more than half a dozen aircraft at one time)

Well, Warcraft III isn't really a true RTS (more tactical than strategic, really, what with the emphasis on heroes and platoon-sized armies), but I like it better than anything else on the list, so my vote goes there.

Rogue 9 wrote:Well, Warcraft III isn't really a true RTS (more tactical than strategic, really, what with the emphasis on heroes and platoon-sized armies), but I like it better than anything else on the list, so my vote goes there.

I would have liked WC3 if it weren't for the stupid story, with the equally stupid characters.

Bah, how about "none of the above"?

Either Metal Fatigue or Warlords Battlecry are the best RTS games.

Where's the option for Homeworld 1?

WC3 in my opinion.

Wow, that is the biggest list of puking shit fuck strategy wannabes. Where is Close Combat? Hearts of Iron? Victoria? Homeworld? Bah. You have no taste

Stofsk wrote:

Rogue 9 wrote:Well, Warcraft III isn't really a true RTS (more tactical than strategic, really, what with the emphasis on heroes and platoon-sized armies), but I like it better than anything else on the list, so my vote goes there.

I would have liked WC3 if it weren't for the stupid story, with the equally stupid characters.

So play it for the multiplayer. That's what everybody else does.

AOE 2, or Cossacks.

Rogue 9 wrote:So play it for the multiplayer. That's what everybody else does.

But for a RTS to be a truly great RTS, it has have both a great single player mode and a great multiplayer mode.

TA, closely followed by HW1.

Bah. Those are all "Real-Time Tactical Games Pretending To Be Strategy So That They Can Get Picked By PCGAMER As Editor's Choice and Have Everyone Acclaim Them As Awesome Games And Thus Drown Out Real Strategy Games" (RTTGPTBSSTTCGPBPAECAHEATAAGATDORSG). Of those on the list, Starcraft is the best.

Of course, real strategy games involve epic, sweeping grand strategy, rather than running a bunch of units across a limited field.

HemlockGrey wrote:Bah. Those are all "Real-Time Tactical Games Pretending To Be Strategy So That They Can Get Picked By PCGAMER As Editor's Choice and Have Everyone Acclaim Them As Awesome Games And Thus Drown Out Real Strategy Games" (RTTGPTBSSTTCGPBPAECAHEATAAGATDORSG). Of those on the list, Starcraft is the best.

Of course, real strategy games involve epic, sweeping grand strategy, rather than running a bunch of units across a limited field.

hehe, Cossacks.

Where else can I have thousands of bayonetted musket toting Grenadiers?

Are set 14 cannons on a plateu near my base and have them rain death upon anyone who approaches.

Aaag! Cossacks is just tactics, but really really really big!

Rogue 9 wrote:So play it for the multiplayer. That's what everybody else does.

I'm afraid of Battle.net. You meet the weirdest bloody people on it.

Besides, unlike StarCraft which seduced me akin to a cunning and sensual lover, WarCraft 3's attempts paled in comparison, and I liken them to a drunken skunk - the intent is there but the performance is lacking.

Besides - TA! Vulcan Bertha Cannon! BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM! You can't go wrong.

Homeworld 1 and Total Annihilation take it for me. TA had a level of complexity that was never again replicated even in games that are years older!

It incorporated orders while paused, multiple waypoints, ordering queues, pretty realistic units...anything I could want...

Of course, I have but one problem with it.

WHY OH WHY can't I find Core Conspiracy ANYWHERE???

Stofsk wrote:

Rogue 9 wrote:So play it for the multiplayer. That's what everybody else does.

I'm afraid of Battle.net. You meet the weirdest bloody people on it.

True, that, which is why I tend to stick to LAN parties when I can.

Homeworld 1 was the best.

Total Annihilation. It is beyond awesome in every way. Easily 5 years ahead of its time. To this day the unit AI still impresses me by blowing away that of the latest games. I recall not too long ago I had a team of Brawler gunships attacking some enemy defenses - a fluke plasma shot blasted one of them, critically damaging it. I was about to click on him to tell the poor bugger to go home and repair, when the Brawler automatically returned to base, repaired itself, and returned to its squadron without a single click on my part.

Honorable mentions:

Rise of Nations - though I haven't yet played Throne of Patriots, this RTS has set the new standard for future games.

Blitzkrieg - An absolutely awesome realistic WWII RTS. So many goodies contained herein I can't begin to list them all.

Command & Conquer series - With the exception of Tiberian Sun, all are pure gold, even the EA-ified Generals. The definitive RTS.

Warlords Battlecry II - So underrated, yet so awesome. The graphics may be dated, but this blows away the piece of shit they called Warcraft 3.

Where in the blazes is Civilization?

Crayz9000 wrote:Where in the blazes is Civilization?

The thread is about RTS's. As in Real Time Strategy. Take your pansy turn based Civiliization and go somewhere else.

Right, forgot about the turn-based part.

Guess it's just impossible for one person to actually manage a game of strategy in real-time.

As for my vote... Warcraft II. It was fun to play, and it was funny.

Single Player: HW1
Game Engine: TA
Customized MP: SC