I love Homeworld 2, and the *drumroll* Star Wars: Warlords mod for it, while incomplete, is VERY nice....dunno about single player, never bothered.
CNC3 is good in skirmish, otherwise it's just like every other CnC with a new plot and graphics.
BFMEII is a good one, different play style due to some different ideas regarding resources.
Rise of Legends was fun, the "gods" are good hero units.
Empire At War is fun, but needs work.
that's all I can really come up with that I've at least somewhat enjoyed. What do you want to play?
BFME 2 was pretty good, although not the most unique game i've played. Empire at War was very nice with a couple of flaws.
if you're looking for epic scale and a bit of a different take on RTS, try Rome: Total War or Medieval II: Total War. in those games, you literally get to conquer Europe, parts of Asia, parts of the Mid East, and North Africa with the respective timelines of Rome and the Dark Ages. battles are intense and epic especially on a high end system that will allow you to use 4000+ soldiers in a single battle. and don't forget the realism in battles. you get bonuses for things like attacking from the rear or the flank in addition to little things like making sure your soldiers are braced in the face of charging cavalry. the only caveat is that the campaign is turn-based until you actually get in a battle. then again, the turn-based part is just as fun, but you just don't get the intensity.
other good titles: Company of Heroes, Supreme Commander, and C&C 3. i've heard that World in Conflict is game-of-the-year worthy, and the demo was certainly impressive. however, i haven't had a chance to play that one.
and one last title that has to be mentioned: Starcraft ftw!!!
Dawn of War is a worthy game, as is Company of Heroes. Frankly, I'd stay away from C&C 3. I've played it, and it's a game that's utterly forgettable. Dawn of War and Company of Heroes are more tactical than most, you'll almost never command more than 100 units at once, and only with junk units. They just recently announced a new expansion to Dawn of War, incidentally.
If your computer specs are lower or you're looking for a game with some adaptability, try StarCraft and WarCraft III.
If you can handle and enjoy three dimensional strategy, the Homeworld Series is pretty much your only option from what I've seen.
The Total War series is excellent if you like large scale.
Empire at War is pretty fun
I like Empire at War pretty well. Especially for the space battles, cinematic mode was pretty cool.
Warcraft III is a little dated but still fun. Those are really the only recent RTS games I have played. Looking forward to Starcraft 2!
ma, completly forgot Supreme Commander, my only complaint was that up until some of the facny "special" units, all the basic units are pretty much the same on all sides, all power plants on all factions produce the same amont of power and you get the idea. Having nuclear-missile interceptors is great though.
SW: EAW, C&C etc, etc.
If you're looking for something a little different or not as well known/popular you could try Dominant Species, that's pretty neat!
Total Annihilation... if you can find it. ;)
As said before, if you want a different RTS (that's not really one), you should try Medieval II: Total War. And might as well take Supreme Commander, if you like innovation on this old and fantastic gaming genre.
Warcraft III if you want one with a good story.
If you want a really retro one, go with Master of Orion (
http://abandonia.com/games/101/download/MasterofOrion.htm).
Definitely Dawn of War. With the two expansions, it has seven total races, each of which has a unique play style, and the second expansion (Dark Crusade) has a completely non-linear single-player campaign. Far superior to StarCraft. Yeah, you heard me.
It depends if you are a micro lover or not.
For the micro intensitive: Dawn of War, Company of Heroes, Homeworld, StarCraft and Warcraft 3
If you want to focus more on strategy and less on tactics: Supreme Commander (warning: may ruin other games due to godlike zoom), total annihilation, spring, and all total war games
I'd stay away from C&C 3
It seems we agree for once :)
Quite.
Alkonium, as we say where I come from, that be fighting words. StarCraft II will likely blow Dawn of War out of the water.
I'd stay away from C&C 3
Why is that?
That Rome: Total War sounds good, the way you put it. I'll have to look into that too. I think I'm looking more for a Modern-Furturistic theme though.
It's not a particularly good game, and you can get vastly superior games for less cash.
For what you're saying, Company of Heroes, Dawn of War and StarCraft are my recommendations.
I'm a long-time strat junkie.
my favorites, in no particular order:
Rome: Total War
Medieval II: Total War
Star Wars: Empire at War
Hearts of Iron 2
Europa Universalis III
Medieval: Total War
LotR: Battle for Middle Earth
Star Wars: Rebellion
StarCraft
If you want to play online, I'd suggest Warcraft 3 TFT. There's still a pretty large comunity. Only drawback is, it might take a while before you win a game. :D
If it ends in Total War, buy it. Rome total war if your system specs are lower, Medieval 2 if they're higher. Even if they're higher, RTW rules me.
I can't recommend Empire at War, myself. The game isn't terrible, it's certainly better than Force Commander or Galactic Battlegrounds, although some might say that having your extremities mutilated is better than Force Commander, but the game brings nothing new to the table. The whole game is just a very slightly revamped Galactic Battlegrounds, without the resource gathering.
Guys, why the hate towards the awesome Age of Empires II? :confused:
Guys, why the hate towards the awesome Age of Empires II? :confused:
Oh well, you can't say that's not retro.
Far superior to StarCraft. Yeah, you heard me.
1998---->2004 :dozey:
I love Medieval 2: Total War, but it's not exactly an RTS. Really great strategic depth and being to annihilate numerically larger armies through your tactics is really satisfying.
Dawn of War is a great choice, though Dark Crusade seems like the only thing worth getting for now. The two previous game and expansion pack only have the story going for them. If you want to play online, get them so that it unlocks every race, but other then that, get Dark Crusade. It's well worth the money and it's got great replay value. You can also install one copy on various machines for a LAN.
I love Medieval 2: Total War, but it's not exactly an RTS. Really great strategic depth and being to annihilate numerically larger armies through your tactics is really satisfying.
QFT.
And whoever got this one, can't miss the Kingdoms expansion pack.
Yeah, Kingdoms was fine, except for the American campaign. Too easy with the Spanish cavalry, too boring with the Natives. Quite unfortunate really.
But the Teutonic Knights though...hehe...so fun.
Havent read what the other have suggested but here goes
Supreme Commander
Large scale battle, the economy can be a little hard in the begining. But when you have learn it, it open up a great game with large scale battles, and big units. You most master both air and land to win, and on some map you also need to have the sea
World in Conflict
Not as large as Supreme Commander, much more micro and teamplay. To win you need to play as a team with the rest of your teammates, look at it like Battlefield2, but you controll more then one unit. Not the normal base building either, you get ticket, and with those you buy troops, when you troops die, your tickets refills. And one more thing, you can join a on going game, so no lobby waiting