GR34 wrote:
ones that are all ready owned are:
all the total war games
CoH
CoH opposing fronts
Age of empires 3 & expansions
Battlestations midway
Civilization 2-w/e the new 1 is
Sins of solar empire
With RTS games, new isn't always better. There are shining beacons of old examples, but I'll give you a small alphabetized list of newish stuff:
Age of Empires: Collector's Edition ($10)
http://www.amazon.com/Age-Empires-Colle … m_sw_img_3Description: The first and second games with their expansions. I didn't know this was that cheap. I think I'll order a copy myself, as I only have two out of the bundle.
Age of Mythology with Titans Expansion ($20)
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Product … t_id=64734Description: Same 'Age of' recipe, only with mythological creatures thrown into each culture's army.
Notes: Released between Age of Empires 2 and Age of Empires 3.
Command & Conquer: The First Decade ($30)
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Product … t_id=42237Description: With only one exception (C&C Renegade), this is bundled with tons of high production quality RTS games, most of which even have full motion video cutscenes.
Notes: There is another version that is also bundled with Command & Conquer 3.
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth Anthology ($20)
http://www.amazon.com/Rings-Battle-Midd … amp;sr=1-2Description: BFME, BFME2 and BFME2 Expansion. Three strategy games that borrow heavily from Peter Jackson's films, but come together in a surprisingly entertaining series of games. Some of the stuff from the books that didn't hit the film are here.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring ($1)
http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-War-Ri … m_sw_img_1Description: A middle earth game without the influence of the films. Very cool stuff in it, especially the music.
Overlord ($12)
http://www.amazon.com/Codemasters-11671 … amp;sr=8-2Description: It might not look like a strategy game at first, with the third person view of your character, but it is. Sort of. You control a gibbering horde of foul-tempered goblin creatures with nasty senses of humor to do your bidding, which usually means killing, looting and lifting heavy objects. As long as they stay alive, you summon your most heavily-armed (through looting) ones through portals in each mission. In the off-chance that your minions are getting pressed, you can step in to fight alongside them. Going off of D&D, you can make choices to be anywhere from lawful to chaotic evil, and the atmosphere around you and your massive stronghold will change accordingly.
Starcraft Battle Chest ($20)
http://www.amazon.com/Vivendi-Universal … amp;sr=1-1Description: This game will never die. It's old and sprite-based, but has a great story, excellent Blizzard animation, years of patches and balancing, and is still used in tournaments. Koreans play this until they fall flat on their keyboards, dead or passed out.
Stronghold 2 ($20)
http://www.amazon.com/2K-Games-GOD21662 … amp;sr=1-1Description: An attempt to simulate realistic medieval castling. Fun, fun.
Total War Eras ($50)
http://www.amazon.com/Sega-85175-Total- … amp;sr=1-2
Description: The Total War games up to Rome and its expansions. oopsWarcraft III Battle Chest ($40)
http://www.amazon.com/Blizzard-Entertai … amp;sr=8-1Description: Released after Starcraft. More examples of Blizzard's awesome balancing act, with a great storyline and supporting CGI cinematics.
Notes: One might notice multiple similarities between Starcraft, Warcraft and the WH40K/Warhammer series, but that is a conspiracy for another thread.
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War: Platinum ($30)
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Product … t_id=65462Description: Sci-fi RTS; mother engine to the one used for CoH. Includes original game and two following expansions.
Notes: How the Dawn of War series works is that you play online with the latest expansion you own, and enter the CD keys for each preceding game to enable their armies for online play. Dawn of War includes Space Marines (Imperial), Eldar, Chaos and Orks. Winter Assault added Imperial Guard (Imperial), and Dark Crusade added Necrons and Tau. Dawn of War and Winter Assault have story-based campaigns. Dark Crusade has a map-based campaign.
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War: Soulstorm ($40)
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Product … t_id=68595Description: Adds two armies [Sisters of Battle (Imperial), Dark Eldar], a new map-based campaign, and allows you to play online with everyone else who has it.
Notes: A bit overpriced in my opinion, but I enjoy it.
World in Conflict ($30)
http://www.amazon.com/Sierra-72582-Worl … amp;sr=8-1Description: Cold War fails. Soviets invade Europe/US in one of the most economically-unlikely alternate history scenarios. Spectacular numbers of Russian tanks commit suicide in Washington state; others.
Note: World in Conflict is a bit of a spectacle. Having played it mostly before (beta) and after its release, I can't say how much it has evolved, but the campaign is pretty much a one-timer. If you can find people to buddy up with online, there is some redeeming value. Still worth a look if you like big bangs.
X3: The Reunion 2.0 ($4)
http://www.amazon.com/Enlight-10153-X3- … amp;sr=1-1Description: Manage a giant space corporation, but spend most of your time fighting off pirates.
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Notes: Starcraft 2, Spore and Dawn of War 2 are worth mentioning, but they're a bit in the future...
GR34 wrote:
I am leaning towards C&C 3 C&C the first decade
Keep in mind that many of the games included are slightly old. C&C Generals and Zero Hour are the only RTS's included in the bundle that make use of 3D graphics, but if you can take sprite-based action, the Red Alerts are colorful enough. If you get First Decade, try to find the one that includes C&C 3 with the package. If that's enjoyable, pick up Kane's Wrath later.
Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2008-06-06 17:08:06)
