The best rts games

Age of Empires 2 is considered to be superior to its mythological counterpart. However, Age of Mythology is a fantastic game in its own right and earns a higher spot on this list for its fictional setting. The game focuses on Egyptian, Greek, and Norse mythology and features key mythological figures like Zeus and Ra.

It has similar mechanics to Age of Empires, with resource management, base building, and unit deployment again being key to the gameplay. The gameplay predominantly focuses on controlling victory points. These points are dotted around key central parts of the map and are captured and controlled in a similar way to the popular domination mode in Call of Duty.

There is also an annihilation mode that removes these victory points and simply requires players to destroy all of their opponent's buildings to win.

The gaming industry often looks down on mobile games. It's frequently criticized for its plethora of cash-grab games that are geared towards getting consumers to spend money. Although plenty of these games do exist, mobile gaming does have a few gems. One of these gems is StarFront: Collision. It's not just similar to StarCraft in the name, either. StarFront is a futuristic sci-fi RTS game that lets you pick from three races to control.

Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos is an easy game to compare to StarCraft as it has the same developer, Blizzard Entertainment. The game introduced multiple new features to improve itself from its predecessors, such as powerful heroes, a day and night cycle that affects the game's races differently, and Creeps.

Warhammer 40,'s universe is set in the distant future of the 42nd millennium. Moreover, Warhammer 40, combines science and fantasy fiction, creating a unique gameplay setting. You can slowly create your own civilization and see it become more powerful over time, build stations, set on to find secrets, and just leave your mark in one of the most interesting takes on the genre to date.

If you have been looking for an alternative to Age of Empires with its own unique art style and added Norse mythology, then Northgard is the one for you. This charming take on the genre by studio Shiro Games leads you to choose a Viking clan and storm unknown lands, leaving their footsteps and axes in the way. There are 11 campaign chapters and several clans to choose from, including the resource management that you would expect from games like this, but with cool twists such as assigning your Vikings to various jobs and different victory conditions, from conquest and fame to lore and trading, as well as a Story mode to embark yourself on.

Picture the s, an era in human history where technological advancements started to become more mainstream - cars, radios, and telephones appeared in the picture over in the US. But this was also close to the aftermath of WWI. Iron Harvest takes place in this moment of time, but it does so in an alternate reality, starring giant dieselpunk mechs as the world prepares itself for yet another confrontation after secret forces put a threat on Europe as we know it.

Throughout 20 missions over three campaigns, which can be done either solo or with a friend in co-op, players command 9 heroes with unique abilities, working together with over 40 unit types across three different factions to face the looming danger. Iron Harvest is unique in its setting, but also makes the most out of its mechs, and story, to provide a fresh take on the genre in single, co-op, and competitive multiplayer.

Seeing a zombie apocalypse in a real-time strategy game is rare, but They Are Billions knew how to add a welcoming and quite horrifying twist to it. Set in a steampunk universe, the game asks you to build and defend colonies, either with units or with proper barricades and traps. But how about the enemy? It makes an interesting presence that grows larger over time and is always lurking around preparing for a massive attack.

You will already have enough to worry about when the zombies start knocking on your doors. This collection, as well as adding support for up to 4K resolutions, includes a series of interesting additions. The multiplayer has been rebuilt and remains as active as ever, with a map editor to tag along and increase that longevity even further, as well as a bonus footage gallery.

This is a different take to your usual RTS. Choosing which resources to pick can lead to high advantages if you time your acquisitions well enough, and of course, there will be both alliances and rivals to deal with.

The game features TrueSight, a new line-of-sight feature to create realistic visibility for combat. Weather also plays a huge role as well and can negatively affect units in certain conditions. If you are a huge history buff and love strategic combat, Company of Heroes 2 is a great option for you.

Along with the board game and expansions, Games Workshops publishes fiction and audiobooks through the Black Library, and they have collaborated on several video games in the Warhammer universe.

Warhammer 40, Dawn of War is one of those games. Resources are generated automatically by the headquarters and by capturing key locations, and the player orders squads rather than individual units. Players must also juggle unit morale to improve their fighting power and push back an aggressive enemy AI. Dawn of War had three expansions: Winter Assault , Dark Crusade , and Soulstorm , and all of them are bundled together now in the complete edition. Dawn of War also has two sequels, one of which only came out a few years ago.

That makes this the perfect series to jump into, as it has plenty of content even up through the modern generation of games. In Total Annihilation , players are thrown into a far-future galactic conflict between the Core and Arm.

The Core is a coalition of humans and AIs that mandate a new process called patterning: transferring the consciousness of humans into machines. In response, a rebel group called Arm emerges to oppose the singularity movement imposed by the Core.

The gameplay is equally as unique. In Total Annihilation , players start with a single Commander unit that is tasked with building the base, forming an army, and defeating its opponents.

The Commander is incredibly powerful and can kill most enemies in one hit, as well as turn invisible for reconnaissance. The game has two campaigns that add to the replayability. Total Annihilation also had a ton of DLC in the follow up to its release, and it is one of the first RTS games to include multi-player. Unfortunately, those servers are no longer available, but a few games have been made in the spirit of Total Annihilation to keep its legacy alive and well.

The Total War series has a long tradition of blending real-time and turn-based strategy in its games, and Shogun 2 is the ultimate rendition of that formula. In Shogun 2 , players take control of one of nine clans, each with their own unique strengths and features. Players can also choose between three factions in the DLC.

Players will do this through military conquest as well as cunning political ploys and economic superiority. However, when conflict does happen, the game switches to a real-time strategy game as the player takes command of entire armies and sends them to bloody battle. With the complete edition, players get all three game packs and 11 DLC. That means you will have plenty of content to play and replay, which is what makes Shogun 2 so appealing. Vikings are all the rage in video games these days, so it is no surprise that one of the best RTS games in recent memories has a Viking theme to it.

The game plays like a usual RTS. You take control of a Viking clan, gather resources to expand your units and buildings, and do your best to survive the onslaught of the enemy AI. However, while Northgard is heavily rooted in the classic traditions of Warcraft III and the like, it also makes its own innovations to stand out and even rise up over its predecessors.

For one, players must consider the seasons in their expansion efforts. Winters in Northgard are harsh and unforgiving, and not properly preparing can be disaster out for your campaign. Units can take on multiple roles, switching from army units to workers to farmers on the fly, making the game flexible enough to maximize player resources, which you will need to do to survive. Players can also expand their lore to create warmer clothes, better weapons, and so on to even the odds.

Northgard also has a unique resource called fame, which is accumulated by deeds you do throughout the game. The plot is a bit underwhelming, though, however the overall package is more than enough to compensate that. Real time strategy RTS games are exactly what they sound like. In the s, strategy games were usually turn-based.

Meanwhile, players are also picking a hero that has their attributes to aid during the battle as well. Within the game, you can participate in single battles or even 2v2 skirmishes if you like to get paired off with another player online or join in with some friends.

This release reinvigorates the RTS genre with all the gameplay and UI aspects that one can come to expect from a modern game. Players choose from two distinct factions and wage war over large swaths of ground to control the map.

Ashes of the Singularity is real-time strategy on a grand scale, with large-scale battles taking place across enormous tracts of land. Players build gigantic bases and control hundreds of units and send them to war against each other. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is the prequel that takes place in the events leading up to Homeworld.

In this prequel to the interstellar series of space strategy games, you take on the role of the scientist leading an expedition into the harsh and unforgiving deserts of Kharak to recover an ancient artifact that will come to be the salvation of your people.

In the game, players fight for survival on a planetary oasis by commanding one of three factions: the defense-oriented Humans, the versatile Beta, or the all consuming Goo.

The game caters to a myriad of play styles, including the ability to turtle, by offering players the ability to construct impenetrable walls, dominate from strategic outposts—or become the Goo and overrun your enemies. Set during the Dark Ages against a background of famine, disease, and war, a new power of steppe warriors rises in the East that threatens to overrun the fallen kingdoms of the classical world. The warrior king approaches, and he has his sights set on conquering Rome.

Planetary Annihilation can be best described as the spiritual successor to Total Annihilation. Within the game, players can colonize solar systems, lay waste to entire planets, and crush their foes in epic battles with multiple players and thousands of units in the field.

The game is made even bigger with the release of the Titans expansion pack. It features a huge single-player campaign, cooperative play and a host of standalone expansions allowing players to go head to head in cooperative online mode. Dune 2: Battle for Arrakis is the game that started it all. As the patron of your house, you commanded armies to march across the face of Arrakis to conquer the flow of spice—for he who controls the spice, controls the universe.

Warzone was set in the aftermath of a technological apocalypse that left humanity in tatters.