The strategy genre, better known by its acronym RTS, is going through a difficult period in its history. Real-time strategy games in their most classic form are clearly in decline. How long have you seen a successful new strategy among the monumental variants of city-building simulators, multiplayer arenas, and 4X strategy games?
Do you remember the days when developers at Westwood and Tilted Mill put out great strategies that were different from each other? From the first, we received the legendary Dune 2, Command & Conquer. Later new names were added that entered the history of the StarCraft game dev and strategies similar to Knights of Honor.
After the bright end of the 90s, real-time strategies continued to hold the bar for quality and user interest along with the monumental Warcraft series, good Stronghold, Age of Empires, SpellForce, Company of Heroes, Homeworld, Cossacks. The rapid development of strategy led to the birth of subgenres, in which elements of role-playing games and many other genres intertwine.
How did it happen?
Western experts argue the genre of the strategy is destroyed by the proliferation of 3D graphics. Yes, Warcraft 3 has successfully moved into a new space, but not without fan lamentations about the loss of style and squalor of new models. And while the character models were still more or less common, the strategies somehow dealt with this discontent.
The last bright event, StarCraft 2, only showed the sheer impotence of the developers. Also, the warm attitude of the fans to non-standard solutions and the complete dead-end of the genre. It did not cope with new technologies, including the growing popularity of consoles among the ever-increasing mass of gamers.
But now is the century when any student can create and release a decent game on Steam using free engines, their intelligence, and existing developments laid out for free access. So why haven’t indie developers filled the niche?
There are two decent releases over the last few years: They Are Billions and Northgard. Moreover, the first game looks more like a single-action game for survival, and the second mows towards economic simulators. The evidence is the attempt to create a clone of They Are Billions in the form of the failed Conan Unconquered of large developers and RTS folders from Petroglyph (those same Westwood).
The classic game of the times of acidic shades and the dark palette has been lost to modern designers! Some people smear their games with blur and browns, while others do even more terrible things, choosing the Unity engine. And those who understand the essence of the required style are far from design and make mistakes in many other aspects.
Thus, we can conclude that good real-time strategy games are gone for several reasons:
- The genre itself has gone out of style. An earlier game was popular, and everyone played it. Later it stopped bringing something new to the gaming industry. Gamers were tired of the monotony. They wanted new sensations, which, unfortunately, could not get from the genre.
- New technologies. It is hard to adjust the genre of real-time strategy to modern requirements. Best graphics, strong engine, support for new devices – all this is difficult and problematic to implement.
Classic RTS Games
Nevertheless, despite the decline of the genre, every year more and more RTS games are released, which from time to time shoot and catch unusual gamers. That is why it is worth considering the best games from the genre that have already entered the list of legendary and classic ones.
- StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. The sequel to the legendary StarCraft of 1998 uses the principle – “do not touch what works well.” The mechanics of a perfect RTS haven’t changed over the years, and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty adds exciting graphics and excellent networking code to them. Graphically, the game looks good even ten years after its release.
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a classic and exemplary PC strategy game. In which we not only fight but also gather resources and research technology. The developers do not forget the classic “defense game”: you can rebuild walls, towers, and castles. Over the past decade, the mechanics of detaching walls in RTS have become a rarity. Graphically, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition looks like a five-plus – resolutions up to 4K are available. All sprites and graphic effects were redesigned. But the main difference of the game is the improved AI, which puts the AI from the original game on the blades.
- Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War 2 – Retribution. The gameplay is an almost continuous battle that will require you to concentrate all your forces. “Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2” (2009) and “Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 – Retribution” (2011) were not included in the list of games of the past decade. But the add-on gave this game a second wind and got much more popularity than the original game.
- Total War: Rome II. An exciting strategy at the intersection of genres, using both RTS, TBS (turn-based), and tactical mechanics, takes you back to the days of ancient Rome. It is the eighth game in the Total War series, the sequel and remake of the 2004 Rome: Total War game. The game is a prominent representative of the Total War series. The developers refused to experiment. They focused on the mechanics of the series that were loved by the players when creating it. And technically, the game is flawlessly executed – up to 20 thousand similar units on the battlefield and powerful AI turn the battles into an exciting spectacle.
- Europa Universalis IV. A global strategy game from Paradox Development Studio, the developer behind the Crusader Kings and Hearts of Iron series of games, will allow you to feel like the ruler of countries and nations. With the help of military force, diplomacy or trade, you will become a powerful monarch in time from the late Middle Ages to the end of the early modern times (1444 – 1821).
The game is distinguished by a high threshold of entry like other works of Paradox Development Studio. Before you start conquering neighboring countries, you will have to deal with the game mechanics for more than one day, but it’s worth it. After understanding them, you will get a game that will not bother you for many years.
Conclusion
The RTS genre is currently in decline for some reasons. Lack of new ideas and fresh solutions, technical difficulties associated with graphics and performance, and of course the needs of the players, which now needs action-packed action movies that will not let you get bored. If you are a fan of classic online games, you might be interested in Barcrest free slots.
