Real-time strategy games

I remember back when i was younger i used to play a game known as Age of Mythology, heard about it? If you haven't, it's made by Ensemble Studios, who made Age of Empire, and their final game released, Halo Wars.

Anyhow, i've never been able to enjoy any other ''real-time strategies'' except for this one, EVER. But thing is, i want to, i really do, however, i'm picky sadly, thus i was wondering if any of you could give me some advice on games much like AoM. And i don't mean the game mechanics, but rather the atmosphere and setting(mythology mainly). No point in mentioning ones that take place in the near future or this specific time, but rather the past.

I'd prefer if it had an map editor, but you can't have it all. :|

And if you're curious as to why i'm not just playing AoM, the reason is that Ensemble Studios exists no more, thus there are no servers, and multiplayer was perhaps the most awesome aspect in the game to me. Especially making maps and new game types and hosting them for everyone to join in.

And please, keep in mind i am picky, but that i still appreciate all suggestions that are brought up.

-Mr. Tart

I played Age of Mythology for hours on end, and then the Titans expansion came out, and my life was complete. I feel your pain that the servers no longer exist

So far, I've still enjoyed two classics, those being Supreme Commander and Red Alert 2: Yuri's revenge. Though they aren't quite mythological, they've always captured me, with Sins of a Solar Empire, the Second Supreme Commander, and Several others being fun too.

But wait, that's not all, for when I was young, I played a game called Rise of Nations (Very old now). Cost me £3, and occupied me for years. One day, when I was in a Game store, I saw to my delight a game entitled "Rise of Legends", which ran by the same basic design but with magical and mythological creatures, pitting Mechanics, magic, and faith in a massive war with each other.

That game was pretty damn good, and it may be what you're looking for, so give it a look out it'll be incredibly cheap.

http://www.riseoflegends.com/

EDIT: Two other games that mat catch your attention are Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, and Lord of the Rings: Battle fr Middle Earth (And the expansions).

If you like mythology as a whole, Titan Quest is the greatest Dungeon crawler RPG I've ever played.

Uhm, how can you forget about Starcraft 1 and 2? Probably the greatest RTS's of all time. Or if you're more into the whole fantasy thing, pick up Warcraft 3 for like $5-$15 on Battle.net.

Battle for Middle Earth definitely.

The Stronghold series is pretty great also and they do have Stronghold: Legends.

Though Legends does have balance issues.

Bcc17 wrote:Uhm, how can you forget about Starcraft 1 and 2? Probably the greatest RTS's of all time. Or if you're more into the whole fantasy thing, pick up Warcraft 3 for like $5-$15 on Battle.net.

I played Supreme Commander before them, and so they seemed way too simple when I finally got to them. They're not too bad though, still beat Red Alert 3.

I've been playing a lot of Company of Heroes for a pretty good while now. Actually probably slightly longer than I've been playing Dark Souls, and it's held my attention pretty much the entire time. There's still a pretty large player base on steam, where you can get the most basic form of the game for a whopping $9. I've been a fan of the genre since the first Command & Conquer came out, having played a pretty wide variety of these games since, and I have to say CoH may be my favorite.

Tolvo wrote:Battle for Middle Earth definitely.

I really want to try this, but unfortunately can't seem to find either of them for download anywhere. Steam isn't carrying it and the EA website oddly has a page on their store for it with no buy button. It looks great. I've watched a bunch of youtube videos of it

It's a hell of a lot of fun. I'd recommend the second one with the Witch King expansion pack.

I was considering getting Battle of Middle earth, seeing as i'm a big fan of LotR, but a friend brought it over and i tried it out. The controls in the campaign felt kind of forced on you. Do this, do that, rather then really getting into the strategy. Was it like that the whole campaign or just the first few levels?

And thanks for the help guys, gonna check out all the not-so-futuristic suggestions out.

Really appreciate the help, i'm so longing to get back into a strategy game.

Edit: And yes Digi, it was awesome. Did you mainly play the classic game types like conquest or did you stick to the player made game types like Escape?

I'm not really the biggest strategy game person, but I did play a bit of Rise of Nations before it was a time consumer.

I'm probably going to be looking for the download for Rise of Nations and Age of Mythology when I get the chance to.

I'm also thinking about looking for a download or buying the original XCOM when I get the time, I heard that it's the Dark Souls of strategy games.

Too bad you didn't think about getting AoM earlier. The multiplayer was even more awesome than the campaign and playing solo. :|

Well that's a shame. I mean I probably would have got my *** beat online but whatever. It's all in good fun right?

Total War and Civ series are still going strong for a reason. They're probably the best rts games out on the market. I'd also recommend.
Men Of War.
Company Of Heroes I and II
Sins of a Solar Empire.
Empire Earth II.
Star Wars Empire at War.

I believe that is only the starting missions, though some have a certain idea to them. "Hold out this long with this many enemies." Or, "Use these few units to beat the whole level." It guides you sort of sometimes but if you are really into the tactics you can often see how fast you can beat a level. Battle For Middle Earth 2 I believe was less hand holding and had more variety if I remember correctly.

Stronghold Legends I still reccommend. You will go insane with the amount of Micro needed for the campaigns on higher difficulties. Imagine having to take a castle full of 100 archers, 100 spear men, 10 knights, and 20 swordsman. With twenty archers, two ladders, and twenty spearmen.

You'll go nuts and love it.

So it's kind of like the AoM campaign then? Good, good.

What about map editors? Any of the games have those? Cause i really love showing my creativity.

*makes a penis out of rocks*

Yep, gotta love the power of creativity.

Seriously though, love making maps. xD

Mr. Tart wrote:So it's kind of like the AoM campaign then? Good, good.

What about map editors? Any of the games have those? Cause i really love showing my creativity.

*makes a penis out of rocks*

Yep, gotta love the power of creativity.

Seriously though, love making maps. xD

If given the power to create, one must make a penis before anything else.

GrinTwist wrote:

Mr. Tart wrote:So it's kind of like the AoM campaign then? Good, good.

What about map editors? Any of the games have those? Cause i really love showing my creativity.

*makes a penis out of rocks*

Yep, gotta love the power of creativity.

Seriously though, love making maps. xD

If given the power to create, one must make a penis before anything else.

Words of wisdom.

I think Battle for Middle Earth 1-2 do.

I can't remember the extent of Legends, but in general the Stronghold games have really fun map editors. You can create your own campaigns. Economic, battle, even political based maps. Combinations for real challenges. Actually I think if you want to get really into it you can put files with a map causing videos and sounds to play meaning if you create a cinematic, drawn or 3d, you can create your own story.

Really? Well if that's the case, that's just fantastic.

Also Legends features things you might find a bit fun.

The three sides are.

King Arthur and the knights of the Round.

Vlad the Impaler and demons of hell.

Siegfried of Xanten and his ice based kingdom.

Frost giants fighting hell bats as red demons rip archers apart, Sir Gwain arrives to back them up when polar bears rush in through the gates being held off by a green dragon. Etc. It's a very fun game.

Well that certainly sounds...

Interesting... :suspect:

Digitalyzed wrote:I played Age of Mythology for hours on end, and then the Titans expansion came out, and my life was complete. I feel your pain that the servers no longer exist

Good news. Kind of. The AoM servers are up, which is kind of weird since ES is gone now. But still, it's up. Like 4 matches hosted though.

Mr. Tart wrote:I was considering getting Battle of Middle earth, seeing as i'm a big fan of LotR, but a friend brought it over and i tried it out. The controls in the campaign felt kind of forced on you. Do this, do that, rather then really getting into the strategy. Was it like that the whole campaign or just the first few levels?

And thanks for the help guys, gonna check out all the not-so-futuristic suggestions out.

Really appreciate the help, i'm so longing to get back into a strategy game.

Edit: And yes Digi, it was awesome. Did you mainly play the classic game types like conquest or did you stick to the player made game types like Escape?

At the start I played Conquest and the likes, but later on I found the more wacky game types that really drew me in further.