Top Ten Must-Own Strategy Games
Written by Jonathan Lee, December 24, 2018, 9:00pm. Tweet to: @Writerscube
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When you’re not busy looking at Winter Sales on Steam, GOG, or anywhere else, nothing says “passing the time” like “just one more turn!” Or maybe you’re more of a real-time strategy person, and you need to perfect that early-game rush. Since the rise of iconic series such as Command and Conquer, Warcraft, Starcraft, and Civilization, we’ve seen Strategy games explode into a myriad unique and fun approaches to the genre. Now, it’s easier than ever to have a proper watch of hundreds to thousands of soldiers, tanks, and ships, armed to the teeth and ready to bash each other to bits!
It’s great to be in the thick of it when playing an action game, but sometimes, players want to watch the world burn from the commander’s chair. So, get ready for our list of Top Ten Must-Own Strategy Games that’ll give you that sweet fix of computerized mass destruction.
Homeworld Remastered Collection
The first of our Top Ten Must-Own Strategy Games. While Homeworld originally came out in the late 90’s by Relic Entertainment, it’s uniquely-illustrated story and engaging true-3D strategy gameplay offered players something they had never seen before. Strategy combat was no longer on a flat plane, and you were given a plethora of unique ships and fighters with various functions to take on your enemies across all dimensions. Adding more depth, you also had ship tactics and formations, granting you new possibilities and advantages over your opponent in an ever-changing dance of death across the stars. I can’t stress enough how beautifully Gearbox Software has remastered these two amazing games. You won’t find many games out there like it, even with the growing-saturation of space strategy games!
Civilization 5
Come on, you knew it was going to pop up somewhere on this list, right? The great mother of “Just One More Turn!” Mainly this came down to what was improved and what seemed to falter in Civilization 6 that made me decide Civilization 5 (and its DLCs) was the better one to recommend to players who may not have delved into the Civilization Series.
For those new to Civilization, you begin by choosing one of many great Civilizations, both living and long gone, to decide who will be the next to conquer the world. The series is well-known for its extensive tech trees as you research your way to better units, buildings, and technology for your people. And with multiple ways to victory, every new game is a new experience!
Starcraft 2
Sequel to one of the biggest RTS game sensations that helped birth the RTS eSports culture, Starcraft 2 holds true to a lot of its predecessor’s best qualities. While it’s easy enough to learn how to play as the Terrans, the Zerg, and the Protoss, the eSports scene shows how hard it is to truly master this game. So, if you’re looking for an RTS with an amazing story and graphical fidelity, you’ve found your game. And if you’re also looking for an intense online challenge? You’ve definitely come to the right place.
Age of Wonders III
A turn-based strategy game that gives you both the in-depth engagement of a 4X and the in-depth hero mechanics of the renowned Heroes of Might and Magic series. That would be a safe description of how Age of Wonders continues to be a strong series today. And this is with Age of Wonders III having been around for a handful of years now. And that’s not all! Now, we have a Sci-Fi Age of Wonders coming our way in the form of Age of Wonders: Planetfall! If you’re interested in checking out Age of Wonders III before Age of Wonders: Planetfall, I would recommend also checking out their DLC. This is one of the few games where the DLC adds meaningful chapters of storytelling along with other new features.
Total Warhammer II
Continuing Creative Assembly’s reputation of creating games with truly large-scale combat, Total Warhammer 2 is one of the developer’s best iterations of their Total War games. And this is probably one of the longest running Total War games I’ve seen to date, in terms of support and community. There’s a collection of worthwhile DLC that’s rich with both story and new factions (there are so many factions and play styles now). And the mod community is absolutely vibrant with new content being created by players all the time. If you haven’t gotten into the Total War series yet, this is the absolute title to get started!
Warhammer 40,000: Battlefleet Gothic Armada
Taking place in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Battlefleet Gothic Armada brings you the majesty of grand naval combat… in space! Commanding ships into combat has never been so much fun as you can command your ships to perform various thruster maneuvers and special abilities to disable and ultimately destroy your enemies. Is that Eldar ship getting too close to your Space Marine cruiser? Ram it! Incoming Ork vessel trying to ram you? Put on those lateral thrusters to swerve out of the way and deliver a lethal broadside.
And when you’re done playing this, get ready for the sequel because it’ll be hitting stores in January 2019!
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
This is one 4X Space Strategy Sim that has continued to enchant its fans for many years. With engaging interstellar combat, unique ship designs, and keeping it all in real-time, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion makes for a refreshing take on the 4X space sim, as most titles in the genre are turn-based. The active playstyle keeps you on edge, while still granting you all the wonderful depth of play. It becomes clear why its fans remain faithful to this title. Recently, that faith was rewarded with some new content for the game, bringing the total DLC to four new packs of additional content. And it’s pretty worth it if you find yourself really enjoying the gameplay.
Endless Legend
Endless Legend is a Fantasy-genre 4X strategy game with innumerable possibilities. From procedurally-generated maps to a vast collection of factions (and you can create your own), there are tons of ways to play this game and enjoy its tactical depth and storytelling potential. You also had access to heroes, and various quests to challenge your faction. Managing your faction comes with many tasks from raising an army to managing buildings and resources. This is not unlike the Civilization series from a broad sense. The combat though is much more like Age of Wonders with the control of individual units in a battle mini-map. The storyline for each race are quite engaging on their own, and I would even recommend getting the other faction DLC that’s out for this game as they all bring something new to the table.
Warcraft 3
Another Blizzard great makes it into here. Like Starcraft, Warcraft 3 was rich with strategic depth as well as brilliant storytelling. With multiple races comes multiple playstyles and colorful heroes to lead your armies. And of course, Blizzard didn’t hold back on the beautiful CG cutscenes in this one either. But before you go on Amazon or Ebay looking for an old copy, check out the pre-order page for Warcraft 3 Reforged. According to the pre-order page for Warcraft 3: Reforged, you gain instant access to the legacy versions of Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and the Frozen Throne expansion.
Company of Heroes
Many strategy games have tried to cover the second World War. But none gave us the same visceral experiences like the first Company of Heroes. We’re treated to both an incredible campaign following the US forces as well as an ever-fun Skirmish mode and multiplayer. With Warhammer 40,000 and Homeworld under its belt, Relic Entertainment continued its tradition of strong Real-Time Strategy games. From playing with your favorite troops and tanks to well-executed cover and directional combat mechanics, this game brought a lot of new ideas to the RTS table.
The second Company of Heroes had a very engaging campaign, but it loses out to the first Company of Heroes. This is mainly due to how fragmented the second game’s DLC marketing had went. Compared to the first game, Company of Heroes 2’s DLC was a little messy. I actually wanted to have Company of Heroes 2 on our Top Ten Must-Own Strategy Games.
Final Thoughts
It was not easy choosing our Top Ten Must-Own Strategy games. The genre has been a life-long favorite of mine, with RPG and FPS games close behind. There were a lot of close runner-ups, like Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun, Ashes of the Singularity, Supreme Commander, Empire Earth, the list goes on! I even wondered if Dungeon Keeper and Startopia would qualify for this list. For those new to the genre, these would be excellent titles to dive into. What do you think, Slickster Readers? Did you agree with this list? Did you think one or more of the runner-ups deserved a place in the list?
