Real Time Strategy – A Tribute To A Dying Genre

When we think of video games in general (and especially us Indians), we mostly think of action packed games like Call of Duty, huge brawling games such as Grand Theft Auto, competitive multiplayer games like Counter Strike or FIFA, or if your life is dull and boring: Candy Crush. But we hardly think of games which bought the essence of PC gaming into the world.

The Real Time Strategy games (no…. not Clash of Clans).

Real Time Strategy gaming is what separates PC gamers from console. Sure, there are few games available on consoles which are RTS (example: Halo Wars), but the traditional RTS will always belong to the PC. Sadly, this mighty breed is dying a slow, painful death.

Over the years we see increasing games of different Genre such as first-person-shooter and less of RTS, but why? Well the answer to that question is broad, but it eventually boils down to the core gameplay which is hard to achieve and master. RTS is all about choices which are presented to a player. It can be at the start of the match, or during intense battles. Strategies are to be established during gameplay and to counter your enemy’s own strategy. These little things can also keep non-RTS gamers away as they expect a fun, casual gaming session but are intimidated by the hard-to-learn, fast paced and challenging nature of it. Once you get used to it, you’ll realize how rich and fulfilling the gameplay is.

Another challenge when it comes to RTS game is about how its gameplay plays out. Other games tend to evolve their gameplay as sequels come and go, but the RTS had barely evolved over the past years. Resource mining, base building, massive army training, steamrolling your enemy’s base and then repeat. But the most challenging part of creating and designing RTS is not related to the game, but to the market of games. Blizzard is currently the undisputed king of RTS, the StarCraft. It has dominated the RTS and the eSports in the industry for a decade and still continues to do so. No developer wants to go up against Blizzard.

If you’re new to this genre, or if you’re looking to explore more games, here’s a list of RTS games worth playing: –

1. Age of Empires: Ah! The classic. What baffles me is even after 15 years, Age of Empires 2 is still getting expansion packs. Although not from the original developers, it still shows the community is still alive and booming. This game will truly go down as one of the all-time great RTS game.
2. Company of Heroes: Combine unforgiving nature of RTS and brutal and terrifying timeline of world war 2, and Company of Heroes is born. Its serious and heart touching narrative of world war 2 along with the best voice acting simply puts this game on top.
3. Command & Conquer: This franchise is known to be one of the best RTS franchise ever. It all started back in 1995(a year after Warcraft) with Westwood studios and kept going for2 decades until Electronic Arts acquired it and then decided to shut it down.
4. Warcraft: Although RTS existed before Warcraft, many people think that this game bought RTS to the real world. It later spawned Warcraft franchise and eventually one of the most popular game today: DOTA.
5. StarCraft: This franchise was started in 1999 and later started a series which is known today as the most popular RTS game ever.
6. Empire Earth: From stone age in 10000 BC to Nano age in the future, this game lets you experience all in one gameplay.

Register with us for the best in gaming, and join us for video game discussions on our forums.