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Moreover, Blizzard Entertainment managed to catch lightning in a bottle twice when they released StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. StarCraft 2 surpassed the original game and is one of the highest-rated games on Metacritic, with a whopping score of 93.
Updated May 1, 2022 by Jack Pursey: New strategy games, particularly new real-time strategy games, are hard to come by these days. The genre is far from dead, though real-time strategy games are predominately released on mobile devices now, which is a shame for those who love fully-fledged PC or home console releases.
Consequently, many people have to look back instead of forward to find their next RTS game to play. To help such people out, we’ve updated this list of the best games like StarCraft to include key information, such as each game’s release date and main story completion time according to howlongtobeat.com.
15 Ashes Of The Singularity
Release Date: 31 March 2016 Available Platforms: PC Main Story Completion Time: 11 Hours Best Feature: The Escalation expansion
Ashes of the Singularity was released in 2016 by Stardock Entertainment, the team behind the Sins of a Solar Empire and Galactic Civilizations franchises. The RTS game differentiates itself from others in the genre by having thousands of units fighting at one time on enormous maps that make the game feel ahead of its time.
The game didn’t blow critics away when it was first released, exemplified by its lackluster 69 Metascore. However, an expansion was released shortly after, scoring a far more respectable 81. The expansion was initially released as a standalone product but has since been merged with the main game.
14 Rome: Total War
Release Date: 22 September 2004 Available Platforms: PC, iOS, Android Main Story Completion Time: 34 Hours Best Feature: It provides the quintessential Total War experience
There aren’t many RTS titles that are as universally known and acclaimed as Starcraft 2, but Rome: Total War is certainly one of them. The game was released almost 20 years ago, yet it’s still one of the most enjoyable strategy games to play today.
Rome: Total War wasn’t the first Total War game, as both Shogun: Total War and Medieval: Total War came before it. However, the 2004 game is credited with popularizing many of the features that are now synonymous with the iconic Total War franchise.
13 The Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle-earth 2
Release Date: 28 February 2006 Available Platforms: PC, Xbox 360 Main Story Completion Time: 14. 5 Hours Best Feature: The huge array of characters, units, and locations from The Lord of the Rings trilogy
A real-time strategy game set in middle-earth always sounded like a match made in heaven, so there was a ton of hype when Sierra Entertainment announced that The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring would be released in 2003. Unfortunately, the game failed to impress. However, fans wouldn’t have to wait long before the next RTS Middle-earth game was released, as EA’s Battle For Middle-earth hit stores just over a year later. The game was a critical and commercial success, so a sequel was announced shortly after.
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The Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle-earth 2 isn’t only beloved for its Middle-earth features, as the game is also an excellent RTS in its own right.
12 Total War: WARHAMMER 2
Release Date: 28 September 2017 Available Platforms: PC Main Story Completion Time: 37 Hours Best Feature: The Warhammer theme offers a great change of pace from other Total War games
Much like The Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle-earth, Total War: WARHAMMER is the sort of game that fans of the franchise will fantasize about but not expect to see in reality. Total War: WARHAMMER was released in 2016, and a positive reception meant that work quickly began on a sequel.
As is the case with Battle For Middle-Earth, Total War: WARHAMMER 2’s fantasy themes are far more than just a gimmick; they offer a unique layer of depth and strategy to the game by giving players a vast range of unique units to control and contend with.
11 Rise Of Nations
Release Date: 20 May 2003 Available Platforms: PC Main Story Completion Time: 16. 5 Hours Best Feature: The game seamlessly incorporates turn-based strategy mechanics like attrition warfare with the RTS genre
Rise of Nations was released in 2003 by Microsoft Game Studios, which is today known as Xbox Game Studios. The RTS title was developed by Big Huge Games, which is also known for its work on the 2012 action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
Rise of Nations piqued the interest of turn-based strategyfans back in the early 2000s, as the game’s development team was led by Brian Reynolds, who had previously worked on Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri and Civilization II. The game didn’t disappoint and received an impressive 89 Metascore, along with an excellent User Score that currently sits at 8.8.
10 Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition
Release Date: 14 November 2019 Available Platforms: PC Main Story Completion Time: 35. 5 Hours Best Feature: The Definitive Edition provides stunning new visuals to the classic game
The Age of Empires series may be set in a completely different time period to the StarCraft games, but it deserves a spot on this list nonetheless for being among the best RTS games ever made. Age of Empires 2 perfected the formula that Age of Empires created and revolutionized the RTS genre.
Age of Empires 2 is set in the Middle Ages and focuses on resource management, base building, and unit deployment. In late 2019 a definitive edition was released. It includes all of the game’s expansion packs and is the best way to play the classic strategy game.
9 Age Of Mythology
Release Date: 30 October 2002 Available Platforms: PC Main Story Completion Time: 16 Hours Best Feature: The mythological characters offer a fascinating layer of depth to the classic Age of Empires gameplay
As the title implies, Age of Mythology is an Age of Empires spin-off. 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.
8 Company Of Heroes
Release Date: 12 September 2006 Available Platforms: PC, iOS, Android Main Story Completion Time: 19. 5 Hours Best Feature: The stellar, engrossing sound effects and visuals
Relic Entertainment’s Company of Heroes is rightly considered to be the best WW2 strategy game. THQ’s real-time strategy gem won multiple awards upon release, including IGN’s Best Strategy Game award in 2006.
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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.
7 StarFront: Collision
Release Date: 17 February 2011 Available Platforms: iOS, Android, Classic macOS, Fire OS Main Story Completion Time: N/A Best Feature: It’s the game that most closely resembles StarCraft on this list
The gaming industry often looks down on mobile games. It’s frequently criticized for its plethora of cash-grab games that are geared toward 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, as StarFront is a futuristic sci-fi RTS game that lets players pick from three races to control. These three races play almost identically to StarCraft’s Terrans, Zerg, and Protoss.
6 Warcraft 3: Reign Of Chaos
Release Date: 3 July 2002 Available Platforms: PC Main Story Completion Time: 21. 5 Hours Best Feature: The day and night cycle, which was ahead of its time in 2002
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, who guard key resources and are hostile towards all players.
5 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War 2
Release Date: 19 February 2009 Available Platforms: PC Main Story Completion Time: 15 Hours Best Feature: The cover mechanic, which is well executed and differentiates the game from the others on this list
The bankrupted THQ finds itself on this list again with an RTS title set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Warhammer 40,000’s universe is set in the distant future of the 42nd millennium.
Moreover, Warhammer 40,000 combines science and fantasy fiction, creating a unique gameplay setting. Dawn of War 2 removed the building bases that were featured in the original game and put extra focus on the cover mechanic.
4 Homeworld
Release Date: 28 September 1999 Available Platforms: PC Main Story Completion Time: 16. 5 Hours Best Feature: The multiplayer functionalities
Homeworld differentiates itself from most other real-time strategy games by taking place in space. The game still focuses on the key gameplay mechanics that RTS titles are known for despite this jarring change though. Resource management and unit production, for example, are key features in the 1999 classic.
The Homeworld series is set to get its third installment in 2022 with Homeworld 3. The game was developed by Blackbird Interactive and is certainly worth people keeping an eye on if they’re looking for a modern science-fiction real-time strategy game.
3 Supreme Commander
Release Date: 16 February 2007 Available Platforms: PC, Xbox 360 Main Story Completion Time: 18. 5 Hours Best Feature: The strategic zoom mechanic
Supreme Commander is set in the distant future of the 37th century. The game was praised upon its 2007 release for its strategic zoom. The zoom gave players excellent tactical views of their battles. Moreover, it impressively allowed players to zoom out far enough to show the entire map.
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Accounting for this, the developer’s Gas Powered Games commendably built every unit to a realistic scale, ensuring that they fit the world around them.
2 Halo Wars
Release Date: 26 February 2009 Available Platforms: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC Main Story Completion Time: 9 Hours Best Feature: The Halo theme and in-depth tutorials make the game perfect for newcomers to the genre
Halo Wars would have been a dream for fans of both Halo and StarCraft when it was released in 2009. Developer’s Ensemble Studios took the legendary sci-fi series and gave it the RTS treatment. The game didn’t try to re-invent the wheel and kept to standard RTS tropes like base building, unit production, and resource management. Fans were skeptical of how the game would transcend to the RTS genre, but the game was well-received, earning a respectable 82 score on Metacritic.
A second Halo Wars game has since been released but was met with a disappointingly lukewarm reception.
1 Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Release Date: 28 March 2007 Available Platforms: PC, Xbox 360 Main Story Completion Time: 23. 5 Hours Best Feature: The impressive number of missions (38) over the course of three separate campaigns
Picking one game to play from the Command & Conquer series to play is no easy task as many of the games range in both quality and setting. For example, the original Command and Conquer is another great choice. In fact, it is the highest-rated real-time strategy game on Metacritic, with a huge score of 94.
However, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars tops this list as not only is it a fantastic RTS game that won Best Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year at the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, but it also ticks the familiarity box with its futuristic sci-fi setting.
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