How to Start Playing Real Time Strategy in 2024

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Are you new to real time strategy, or returning after a hiatus? Today we’re going to go through a bunch of categories to find the best games for you to get into the genre.
Age of Empires 2 DE: store.steampowered.com/app/81...
Age of Empires 4: store.steampowered.com/app/14...
Company of Heroes: store.steampowered.com/app/22...
Company of Heroes 2: store.steampowered.com/app/23...
Dawn of War: store.steampowered.com/app/45...
Dawn of War 2: store.steampowered.com/app/15...
Supreme Commander: store.steampowered.com/sub/11...
Supreme Commander 2: store.steampowered.com/app/40...
BAR Beyond all Reason: www.beyondallreason.info/
Star Wars Empire at War: store.steampowered.com/app/32...
Command and Conquer: www.ea.com/games/command-and-...
Age of Mythology: store.steampowered.com/app/26...
Total War Warhammer 3: store.steampowered.com/app/11...
0:00 Guide to RTS
0:44 Reasons to play RTS
1:51 But... people say...
4:11 For newcomers
4:44 Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition
6:18 Company of Heroes
7:42 Dawn of War
8:26 Co-op multiplayer
8:59 Age of Empires 2
9:55 Company of Heroes 2
10:39 Supreme Commander 2
11:09 Supreme Commander
11:37 BAR: Beyond all Reason
12:13 PvP multiplayer
12:45 Shock Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition!!
13:36 Age of Empires 4
14:23 Singleplayer
15:03 Dawn of War 1 and Dawn of War 2
15:35 Star Wars Empire at War
16:12 Command and Conquer
17:05 Age of Mythology
17:29 Total War Warhammer 3
19:45 Patreon Q&A
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Gameplay recorded on PC | Audio recorded using a Rode NT-USB
#rts #realtimestrategy

[@juanfisi]

No mention of Starcraft 1 and 2? I get they may be too fast paced for new players but I think they deserve a spot in this list.

[@jamesprumos7775]

It might have been because Starcraft is the one everyone knows about.

[@Zade_95]

Fair - seems a lot of people agree with you too. Pinned as the honorary comment suggested game :)

[@saffral]

Good games, but might not want to recommend a series from a developer who has been regularly creating friction with their various communities over the last few years. The video seemed like it was more about safe bets that should still be accurate a year from now. Like imagine making this video in 2019 and recommending Warcraft 3, only for Reforged to happen a few months later. Plus it's been just over 13 years since Starcraft 2 came out and Warcraft 3 got a remaster after 17 and a half, so it could be coming sooner rather than later.

[@juanfisi]

@@saffral Fair

[@juanfisi]

@@Zade_95 Ok, I added an edit to clarify something some people said in the comments. At least from my point of view.

[@Emma-tu1lv]

I am quite surprised that Starcraft 2 wasn't mentioned on this list. Before I get screamed at for daring to bring up the 'toxic' game I should mentioned I have rarely if ever played the ranked multiplayer on the title and have instead sunk hundreds of hours into the three campaigns, Co-op and arcade respectively. Having played all of the other games on this list I cant think of any that match up to the quality of the single player campaign especially I think old-blizzards production quality was hard to beat. This being said the Command and Conquer series has always been my go to before all others XD

[@saffral]

For a singleplayer experience Creeper World 3 is really great. No PvP or Co-op features, but turtling through the singleplayer campaign is a tonne of fun, and it has effectively endless content provided via custom maps made by other players (which are played through an in-game menu, no modding required), additional experimental maps, and a powerful map generator.

[@mmcb2910]

Creeper World is an oddball pick I hope Zade will cover someday. A unique, singleplayer only game that beautifully fuses three different genres.

[@AmodeusR]

Recently I just finished the CW 2 and it's neat, I really like to make anti-creeper :P The new game Knucracker is making, CW IXE looks very promising and nice to play, I'm really excited to see its release date and be able to play it :D

[@milothecorgi12]

Great video. This is much more quality content than the time you tried to organize Fyre Festival

[@Zade_95]

yeah i messed that one up big time

[@rubz1390]

What was this?

[@vvolfbelorven7084]

@@rubz1390 He looks like the guy who organized the debacle fyre festival

[@iamdopeasfcuk]

just googled the fyre festival guy and the resemblance is uncanny lmao

[@natedogg890]

​@@vvolfbelorven7084He's just got that MLM type of face

[@gesus6613]

Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty Campiagn is free. It also has Co-op mission which are tons of fun.

[@FrostGiantStudios]

Would love to see Stormgate added to a video like this soon!

[@VexingRaven]

I assume the reason Supreme Commander isn't listed under the PVP section is because you don't want to talk about mods, but FAF is IMO one of the best ways to play PVP RTS today. I'm also a bit curious at the lack of Company of Heroes as it seems to have a pretty vibrant community for PVP, although maybe a bit suffering from fragmentation now with COH3 being out.

[@silversolver7809]

Zade, excellent idea for a video, and very nicely done. A future similar would be intro to RTS depending on your current genre. For example: • Coming from shooters and action, recommend fast-paced with minimal base building, iow RTT. • Coming from 4X, recommend the opposite, ie heavy on the strategy. • and so on :)

[@ZyklonBeast12]

What is RTT?

[@silversolver7809]

@@ZyklonBeast12 Real Time Tactics en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_tactics

[@inquisitorbenediktanders3142]

​@@ZyklonBeast12real Time Tactics

[@BeyondAllReason]

Thanks for mentioning BAR! ❤

[@Zade_95]

Always!

[@Thompsoncs]

I'd add rise of nations in general, but especially for newcomers, given the focus is more on tech and big picture than actual micromanagement (especially with resource gathering requiring fairly little oversight by the player)

[@jeremyalgood7230]

Gonna go ahead and mention the StarCraft (1&2) series as well, as It slots beautifully into every single one of your categories.

[@DSzaks]

It's probably got the biggest multiplayer community, though I would temper that recommendation by including its one of the most toxic and difficult to get into, especially considering how much the competitive gameplay is dominated by twitch reactions and APM more than most other RTS. It also really only supports 1 type of gameplay strategy (2 if you consider cheese a strategy). Single player is great though, even if the story gets stupidly cleche and cringe near the end. Coop is pretty fun though and lots of options due to the custom game types, though not sure how those are still faring w/ the recent Blizz "We own everything you make" service changes. One of the oddest things about the game is how different the campaigns and multiplayer games are though with massive changes to units and gameplay.

[@devmar9500]

I think you SHOULD have added a "love to mod" section. A HUGE part of single player RTS is modding! I dont think many genre's of games have the expansive modding seen that rts have. I pourd countly hours modding Red Alert 2 Yuri's revenge and Generals. I couldnt play enough of those two games and each mod was like getting a full DLC. Its nuts.

[@silversolver7809]

A later video-it's not a good idea to give new players lots of info :)

[@StormKnight1]

Modding is a huge part of RTS in general, singleplayer and multiplayer.

[@zackrodriguez6653]

No Brood War / Warcraft 3 / Starcraft 2? Blizzard will remember this insult.

[@kctx3]

@1:43 lmao I've been looking for this game for literally 9 years thank you. I used to binge wic multiplayer on my school laptop in 2014. Tried to find it again years later and couldnt remember the name for the life of me. My itch/inability to find this game is what got me into Wargame red dragon. Cheers!

[@Zade_95]

lets goooooo

[@wesleyferreira7511]

Great video, and exactly what i need to finally start playing this genre

[@igorthelight]

I would do that in other way around: what setting do you like? Fantasy, Sci-fi, medieval? Than you could choose the best game in that category and start with it ;-)

[@silversolver7809]

I agree with Igor, I find setting to make a major difference-there are some I just don't enjoy. Other choices to make are pacing-slow or fast-and base building or not. Many games which call themselves RTS are actually RTT, ie very little strategic play, almost all tactical.

[@igorthelight]

@@silversolver7809 Agree!

[@Farstors]

For a new game that i think is good for newcomers i would reccomend Starship troopers, its not hard, almost no base building, you manage a low amount of units and the campiagn is really fun.

[@BFG-Based]

Liked the video, I play mostly solo and I like Campaigns, really think you should have included StarCraft 2's first campaign for the single player suggestions - SC1 can gen very hard in the Brood War expansion, better go with SC2 :)

[@jeremyalgood7230]

StarCraft 2 arguably fits into all of these categories.

[@vaniellys]

StarCraft II is overall the best RTS for both newcomers and veterans. It's free to play, has the best tutorial of any RTS, great campaigns, and coop missions is the best PvE mode of any RTS game. Also, best pathfinding.

[@clemenscohn7371]

@@pumpkinpie8235 Mate, that's how the internet in general works. Don't assume SC2 as special toxic. Not to mention your previous poster didn't assume PVP in the first place - that is purely on your sorry arse.

[@pumpkinpie8235]

@clemenscohn7371 no, that's not how internet works, not in other RTS games which generally have more mature communities, not even close. I have seen quite a bit of internet in my life, and the toxicity in SC2 far surpasses even toxic communities like CoD. When it comes to RTS, it is even more of a shock. For example what in SC2 is something normal now to spam extremely vulgar stuff in chat, in AoE2 is almost unheard of. People will even wait if you pause the game there. Even unpausing someone's pause is considered extremely rude and very rarely happens. While in SC2 forget about it, no chance for any sportsmanship or decency. Also, SC2 was mostly made for 1v1s, any other options you have better alternatives.

[@TyphoonJig]

No, it's not the best. Far from it. It's the most mainstream and the one with the biggest marketing budget behind it but isn't that great as either co-op or solo play. Campaigns in particular are extremely lazily designed. It's a good spectacle RTS for high level VS play but average in other categories. Still manage to be a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, but there's better stuff out there.

[@eleven2435]

Vaniellis, Damn right!

[@dahalofreeek]

@@pumpkinpie8235 This must be a new thing. I played SC2 from about 2012-2015 and don't remember it being toxic. I was playing League of Legends in that era and that was incredibly toxic. StarCraft 2 is usually 1v1 and usually all that is said is "GL HF" and "gg."

[@leech8303]

The 8-bit series from petroglyph include both single and multiplayer campaigns;the skirmish mode is simple in both good and bad ways(there aren't many game modes)but it is engaging,mostly if you have at least 2 games of the series,allowing things like a facing between aliens and orcs.

[@Zade_95]

Yeah great suggestion!

[@Manwu5]

Great video buddy! Glad i found your channel!

[@Zade_95]

Thanks mate, welcome :)

[@daveinthemicrowave4810]

Got into rts with AOE2 De in 2021 after watching some videos from T90(shoutout to his Low Elo Legends series for showing that even noobs like myself can get into ranked multiplayer and have a good time) played all the campaigns and countless ranked 1v1 and quite a few 4v4 coop vs ai. Also played dawn of war since i like the warhammer setting. Tried totalwar warhammer2 but it was a bit too complex, I'll give it another shot sometime. Currently quite excited to playthrough the c&c series since they finally got released on steam. oh and creeper world 3 is a quite fun rts/tower defense hybrid.

[@NeityYT]

I'd add the "Ground Control" games for a single player experience, nice campaigns and no building : you choose your units when the mission starts. Kind of felt like a Tabletop game on PC when it released. And Total Annihilation + Total Annihilation Kingdoms. Somehow I love the music in those 2 games.

[@XmortoxX1990]

0:06 Yeah, that's me. Played a lot of RTS back in the 90 and early 2000's but I'm returning to the genre this year (and FIghting games too), but mainly for campaign and custom maps, at least for now. Then I'll see if I jump to PvP

[@TyphoonJig]

IMO the GOAT of co-op multiplayer is still zero-k. It have a 71 missions campaign that you can play co-op (archon mode) and that is a lot of fun. IMO it's a better pick than BAR that is currently unfinished. And it's also free. Plus the campaign is still awesome alone. Another good pick for co-op campaign is Red alert 3, its campaign are though as co-op (which is what makes them meh in solo) and can be a great time with a friend. The Uprising commander's challenge makes for a really good solo campaign. For the "introductions" to RTS from other genres : Good old Spellforce will be able to introduce CRPG players to the genre with ease. Something quite slow, like Sins of a Solar Empire, can also help those who might feel intimidated by the popular fast paced RTS. Even Starcraft 2, which have a lot of it free now, can be fun in co-op mode and its campaigns aren't that hard. Plus the arcade modes can ease you in with some mini-games that do not involve all the mechanics at once. I also absolutely disagree on C&C3 being good skirmish : the version you buy is broken by some already included multiplayer patch. The AI does not even gather ressources (they don't make refineries because they're too expensive now and softlock themselves). If you want to play C&C3 on a more free-form gameplay then I would reccommend the global conquest mode from Kane's wrath. The original campaign is also broken, with dead triggers, wild imbalance (for example infantry efficiency was almost trippled by the patch and the campaign isn't made with that in mind, ressource gathering was also heavily nerfed without compensation) and stupidly productive AI. It's also quite hard to find C&C Generals, Tib Sun and RA2 or their extensions. As there's no legal way to buy them now except finding a 15-20 YO installation disc that works (and finding a way to run it on 5 generations of windows later than their original one) If you manage to find it : Battle for the middle earth 1 have an extremely good campaign and skirmish mode and the IP helps getting into it. BFME2 is also great but a IMO a lesser game.

[@mmcb2910]

I have to agree on supreme commander 2, it is much easier for people to get their heads around and also has the best campaign as a bonus. I convinced one of my friends who dislikes RTS to play Iron Harvest (which he could tolerate in the same way your friend did) and Supreme Commander 2, and he did okay. One thing I will say about SupCom 2 is that though the game is simpler the AI is MUCH harder than in non-loud mod FA, meaning that co-op games can be more difficult than expected.

[@DigitalSunGames]

We're working on Cataclismo, and appealing to newcomers has always been a top priority. We do think that our build-by-brick building system can help as it feels kinda like playing with legos. That being said, one such game we love that's especially welcoming for those new into RTS is Thronefall. It's super minimal, intuitive, and gripping. Highly recommended!

[@jefflokanata]

Coop in Starcraft 2 is very fun. There is Coop match with variable faction and leveling for more customization. Also it has archon mode where 2 player play as one faction .

[@greendragon2002]

Honorable mention here to Eugene Systems with Wargame Red Dragon, Steel Division 2 and their latest Warno. If you never play an RTS before then I would recommend SD2 since it at least has a workable tutorial. Wargame and Warno you should definitely try if you want a semi modern setting with a large units selection. W:RD is a lot more micro managing compare to SD2 and Warno since it is older

[@hozic9929]

I love rts games so much but im terrible at them but i just love to watch the battles

[@natedogg890]

I feel like that Tooth and Tail was really onto something with how it simplified RTS gameplay, economy, added MOBA elements etc. It just didnt catch on enough, which is such a shame

[@jonathanamsberry3971]

Sins of a Solar Empire 2 would be my addition, it gives my favorite setting of space ships, and it’s relatively simple. It is a longer game, lacks any campaign/story, but simple resources and depth of strategy (blob up to hit and run tactics).

[@andybrown4284]

In terms of learning resource management side I'd say that C&C might be better starting off since you only need tiberium/ore and power and then moving into AoE for the addition of population cap and progression via technology.

[@saffral]

That's definitely the process I went through, though I can't recommend that anyone starts off with C&C1 on the N64 like I did. It's the full game rebuilt with 3D graphics, but they did not know how to do good unit control on a controller in the 90s.

[@andybrown4284]

@@saffral It'll have still been better than the voice controls for endwar on the 360, an experience I recommend to anyone who hates their life as a gamer

[@saffral]

@@andybrown4284 I believe you, C&C64 just mapped a mouse pointer to the analogue stick, it wasn't egregious, but I don't remember there being any shortcuts or unit grouping (though maybe to open the purchase UI). The 3D aspect was relatively new for RTSes in 1999, and in particular it was the first 3D C&C game, three years before even Renegade.

[@silversolver7809]

Agreed, especially since the first 2 games + 3 major expansions were all remastered in 2020, and it was excellently done.

[@Argacyan]

In terms of Total War games I'd recommend a version of Empire TW with Darthmod or alternatively Rome 2 TW. The main difference there is merely what country people want to do map-painting with on global maps & if they want there to be guns.

[@weylinstoeppelmann9858]

Zero-K is another free game, very similar to BAR, but it has an entire campaign of like 100 missions that is excellent for learning new units and strategies as you go. You can also play shared-unit co-op for the campaigns, wave defense co-op against raptors, and of course co-op against the AI. The AI is really good in that game, as in it doesn't cheat and it has enough sense to run away from bad fights and look for vulnerable positions. The UI and economy is elegant and simple yet still having a great deal of depth to it. I'd say that maybe the game is thematically a bit alien and unfamiliar, also not the prettiest of the batch, but the variety of units and strategies/tactics you can pull off is unparalleled.

[@VeryWetLeaf]

everyone I know has this presumption that in order to play an RTS you must have pro level APM like what they see in Starcraft 2. Being arguably the most popular RTS game out there, it's not hard to see why newcomers would be intimidated to try out any other RTS.

[@royasturias1784]

🥱 Same old story that makes me fall asleep real fast 🥱

[@ryder4515]

In my opinion Stronghold (Crusader) in terms of Singleplayer Content but also Coop Comp-Stomping is really great. Multiplayer Competitive is sadly kind of toxic. And since these 2 games being about 20 years old its pretty cheap.

[@LeandroNeumann]

My first RTS experience was in 2020, watching a streamer play AoE4. It looked amazing, so I started looking into the genre. I played AoE2, AoE4, Company of Heroes, Starcraft II and a bit of some others. Since I got to the genre fairly recently there's still lots of games I didn't even try out. I had a big issue with many of the RTS I have played: they felt clunky and unresponsive. Even AoE4, which is one of the most recent big RTS, didn't feel great to me. AoE2 is clearly a work of art for the time it was made, but it feels mechanically dated. So I'd like to help other newcomers out there who might have similar limitations. For sure try out Age of Empires, but if you fall into the same feeling I had, don't rule out the whole genre. Here are some games I found that play really smoothly: - Singleplayer: Starcraft 2 (beautiful campaign. Starcraft 1 story is also great, but game feels too dated to me) - 1v1 multiplayer: Starcraft 2, Supreme Commander 2 - Co-Op multiplayer: BAR, Starcraft 2 Additionaly, Company of Heroes style games feel and play really nice, but like the video says, are a thing of it's own, not really my kind of game. I recommend to try it out (either Company of Heroes or other, like Iron Harvest).

[@dj_koen1265]

Im personally not a fan of sc2 but it does have the most responsive unit control out of any rts

[@jandamz1119]

CoH-likes are really a niche and shame not much games do it. Iron Harvest has been the closest I've seen another studio try their hand at this and a shame that it didn't really pop off.

[@michamalinowski8015]

Fun video. I'm a bit mixed on the Age of Empires 2 DE as a game for newcomers. It's the best RTS out ther in my opinion but for newcomers AoE1 would be more forgiving. For me the best entry point in the genere would be 8-Bit Armies, 8-Bit Hordes and 8-Bit Invaders. Very playable and they strip down the RTS genere into basics.

[@dj_koen1265]

Aoe1 is awful imo, or at least i think most people would be put off by it Better suggest aoe4 if aoe2 is too hard

[@hyperthecarry6527]

Still a really underated game series that players looking for great Singleplayer/Co-op: Spellforce (especially Spellforce 3) It is the only Game that i know of that pulls the RTS-RPG Hybridisation off in a really good way.

[@mcsmash4905]

if only the first game wasnt somewhat obnoxious with some of its mission , ESPECIALY that goddamn demon canyon i got that far and then lost all my will to play the game

[@ancientgamer3645]

Remember the mods, many that make the popular RTS (Real Time Strategy) games better, or like a whole new game. AWESOMENESS! Thanks for sharing. 👍👍

[@KingOskar4]

This is a really good introduction to RTS genre 😮 niiiice! I myself Research RTS games and as you said in Total War Warhammer 3 segment: The SETTING of Total War. I am surprised to see a lot of Historical, Medieval and Fantasy, but very little Sci-Fi 😢 Edit: Addendum: Due to increased 😅 interest in Mind Control, I am looking for a Sci-Fi setting for an RTS or a 4X game. So far, I have: Warhammer 40k Dawn of War , Stellaris , StarCraft , Age of Wonders: Planetfall and... that's it 😅 there isn't much with Mind Control

[@Zade_95]

Thanks mate :)

[@silversolver7809]

Endless Space, HomeWorld series.

[@hozic9929]

In my opinion Warcraft 3 should also be recomended

[@iamdopeasfcuk]

the single player part of this video could be a lot longer since there are so many great campaigns, but i understand you wanna keep the video short and sweet, so i'll list some of my favorites not mentioned (some of these may not be strict classic rts style, but still good!): the homeworld remastered collection + deserts of kharak warcraft 3 starcraft 1 & 2 starship troopers: terran command aliens: dark descent creeper world halo wars dungeons series spellforce series could probably list more, but this is just off the top of my head. :)

[@fearan9406]

Starcraft 2 is F2P aswell excellent first campaign , they are billions is also a good one..

[@JavisoGaming]

Great list! I’ve played them all. Don’t forget Rise of Nations!

[@Zade_95]

I could never forget RoN

[@mostafamamdouh9323]

You forgot something important a really important game The lord of the rings battle for middle earth 1 and 2 and the rise of the witch king

[@Zade_95]

Great games but not that easy to download and play for a newcomer imo

[@mostafamamdouh9323]

@@Zade_95 tho i do see your point

[@themotive1547]

starcraft 2 coops mode is one of my favorites!

[@FesterSilently]

Great deconstruction/content, as always. Absolutely stand behind the AoE2, CoH1 and DoW recommendations. But. Homeworld - Cataclysm ("Emergence"), ser? Whence?

[@diego2817]

For single player I still play Rise of Nations conquest the world campaign to this day and Rome total war 1 remaster, for multiplayer coh2 3v3 2-2 and age of empires 2 vs IA/online, Age IV looks pretty cartoon to me. Strongly recommend Dawn of War Dar crusade for single player also.

[@danielarmstrong3963]

I played through the AoE3 Campaign recently and I had a really great time. Recommend if you've never played it.

[@TheDiazDarkness]

An RTS I recommend is AI war 1 and 2. No PVP only PVE and coop against an AI on an asymmetrical war where you and your enemy play different games while try to win against all odds.

[@damyanexssessgeorgiev6]

honorable mentions if it was not in the video - Command & Conquer: Generals Zero Hour and Kane's Wrath! Also BAR - Beyond All Reason - totaly free game, that is being developed now, not the most easy to learn, but great fun and full lobbies of COOP or PVP, BAR is copy of Supreme Commander FA, last but not least Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity!

[@Lorachzwan]

I've been burned out recently from playing other game genres and this video happened to pop up on my recommended so I think it's a signal. I might just get AoM/AoE 3 again and play the campaign on higher difficulty than I did when I was 15

[@kr.pa.1508]

For true Co-Op multiplayer campaing I recommend two games: Red Alert 3 + A Year of Rain.

[@danieladamczyk4024]

Strategy is simple. Think how you want to do it, and do it. Good place to start with RTS is Path of exile.

[@SkyFly19853]

I plan to play many RTS games next year... The year of RTS games for me.

[@mancman-bu4kz]

Only rts I ever played was a few the c&c and warcraft 2 lol only just got pc recent too so c&c UC and remasters were first buys along with fm lol for me it's campaign/solo, also any with free build modes I can just chill with pass the hours away with a beer

[@radicalcentrist4990]

You just have to talk about Starcraft when talking about RTS. I think 2 especially is better to start with. It is the most competitive one if you're looking for competition. It has really well designed campaigns. It has a really well designed co-op mode. It has an in-game browser for community content. Visually it still manages to somehow look like a recent game no matter how much time passes. It simply feels the smoothest to play out of any RTS, very polished. This is what old Blizzard used to be so highly acclaimed for, making the most polished games in their respective genres. Blizzard as a company aged like the milk kept in a car under the sun for the entire summer, but Starcraft 2 might aswell be a new game in terms of how it feels and looks.

[@royasturias1784]

Available on only one storefront

[@JM-yz6zb]

Ever played the Hegemony games? Just tried out the first one, its like what Total War imagines itself to be

[@Zade_95]

I haven't actually. Will try to one day!

[@felixano5048]

Even thought Warcraft 3 Reforged is scuffed as f**k, it needs at the very least an honerable mention on any "best RTS"-List. The Single Player campaign is on of the best if not the best ever made to this date.

[@cal.3626]

WOW why did you have to remind me of the Fairlie Bakery...so good but so far away

[@lathamtk]

AoE2:DE recommended 3x... this pleases me greatly. It is, BY FAR the best RTS on the market currently. It has a small but dedicated community and its always fun to jump in with friends to comp stomp AIs on Black Forest.

[@Zade_95]

I would say the community's pretty big! For RTS anyway. And yes, couldn't agree more :D that or wet woods

[@Buffaloguy1991]

I don't know if you count it but for co op and specificity co op vs co op. Carrier command 2 might count? Community is small but growing slowly.

[@Mesos92]

Hey, I was wondering if you have ever checked out Relic's Impossible Creatures (2003). Similar feel to Dawn of War 1 and an obsession of mine from childhood. Don't see anyone talking about it or even remembering it though. I remember the campaign being great and getting my friends to play skirmishes at LAN.

[@Zade_95]

Absolutely! It's one of my favorite RTSs of all time. I made a video on it 5 years back or so.... maybe I should make another haha kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYHUimNpa7d3nLc

[@danishdude2191]

Impossible creatures are great too :)

[@Zade_95]

a man of CULTURE

[@21stEuphoria]

Oooo imagine if they had a RTS battle royale 😁 Civ 6 sorta did that with 4x

[@ahmedal-modaifea4457]

Warzone 2100 is great it has co-op & pvp & story. Kinda old but it's community supported.

[@SkyFly19853]

I love those RTS game guides...

[@petersteenkamp]

I'm kinda missing the superb Warcraft III campaign. It does an excellent job introducing players step-by-step while immersing the player in a well-written story. It's many years old but never surpassed.

[@SAMARTBO]

I only play agains A.I LOL. I hope to get into PVP, I purchased AOE4 after DLC update Japanese

[@jackcranmer4904]

No Warcraft 3 for singleplayer at least? Dang that’d be my first pick, I’d also put a smaller gamer impossible creatures somewhere in there coz the making animal combos part is quite fun

[@Perceval777]

For Singleplayer I highly recommend Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 1, the campaign is amazing!

[@keithcastillo5434]

The best RTS game I played is command and conquer generals zero hour. Also, the best RTS game I played and I think most people would like is 'The Lord of the Ring Battle for Middle Earth Rise of the Witch King'. I can see why starcraft is not on this list it is a really really hard game and you're aiming your video at newcomers. However it is a lot of fun too.

[@mcsmash4905]

the older men of war games are also pretty good including some of their offspring like battle of empires (ww1) , and the more recent gates of hell

[@bouldy2]

What!!! Dark reign got a mention! not seen that mentioned anywhere

[@Zade_95]

There's a full video on it coming very soon, too!

[@TheSpicyLeg]

I can’t recommend Age of Empires 2 enough. simple to learn, difficult to master. It is literally built on a basic Rock-Paper-Scissors. As in, Pikeman beats Cavalry, Cavalry beats Archer, Archer beats Pikeman. Now it does get more complicated, but once you learn the counters (monks counter elephants and knights, light cavalry counters monks, bombard cannon counters siege onager and trebuchet, etc) you will find you improve over every game. AoE2 also now has a single player Art of War training course in game that teaches basic competitive strategy like Fast Castle, constant Town Center production, and formations, among other things. You can play the AI and build these skills. The campaigns are also exceptionally fun.

[@Zazume_]

Correction about "You can pick any Total War since like Empire": Don't start with Empire or Napoleon, you will regret it. These are great games, Napoleon even more than Empire, but they are complex as heck. Definitely recommend to start with Warhammer 3, Shogun 2 or Rome 2 to get into the series.

[@shyspacewolf4675]

Very surprsied Dawn of War 2 didn't make it into the co-op section. The campaign was completely co-op and pretty fun.

[@onEmEmbErstudios]

Maybe this is the year and the next year will be rts comeback. And I'm still waiting for C&C2 remake/remastered

[@ReviveHF]

Until now I still play Three Kingdoms Total War and Call to Arms.

[@Jackty89]

Surprised I didn't see stronghold crusader 1 (and 2) in the list, but in all great choices

[@Zade_95]

I couldn't mention every game ofc - Stronghold certainly wasn't far off being included

[@Jackty89]

@@Zade_95 understandable, still a great Single player experience and if I think about it the "trails" campaign also learns new players how to handle difficult scenario's bit by bit. Still as I've said, great list none the less

[@CompleteAnimation]

StarCraft 2 is super beginner friendly if you stay away from PvP. In fact, it has the most approachable campaign out of all of these. It even has a casual difficulty setting which makes it practically impossible to lose for almost any player.

[@royasturias1784]

It's not on Steam (Heaven or Hell forbid Blizzard would do the same attempt as Overbotch 1.8's Steam Edition and then expect positive reception), EGS, GOG or VK

[@karasguro6919]

No Dungeon Keeper 1 and 2 or Warcraft 2 and 3? Ggreat video btw.

[@CommanderBohn]

[[PROSTAGMA INTENSIFIES]]

[@StormKnight1]

Its over guys, Zade defended C&C Rivals, mission failed. in all seriousness, great video.

[@ElasticTurtle]

Hey there, I was just wondering how I get access to the Discord as a member?

[@Zade_95]

Hey, you just have to connect your Discord account with KZbin then you should be added automatically. This article covers it pretty well: support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/215162978-KZbin-Channel-Memberships-Integration-FAQ#h_01GWJBQZ6TRMNVXW59RNBF4PN4

[@ElasticTurtle]

@@Zade_95 awesome thanks for that!

[@mpo48]

any recommendations for someone who only plays singleplayer and doesn't enjoy fast gameplay with micromanaging i don't have good reactions speed and there doesn't seem to be any rts games like that or if there are the ai always cheats in skirmish and it ruins everything

[@snowdawn]

I am never a fan of pvp rank RTS. I prefer coop with a friend vs AIs and sometimes 1v1 with a friend. I also enjoy solo or singleplayer vs AI. I want to add Age of Empires 3 DE and even original complete AOE3 both on Steam. Aoe3 is my favorite due to deck card system and the setting. Very good lists of RTS games which I have most of them. As always excellent video man.

[@mpo48]

any recommendations for someone who only plays singleplayer and doesn't enjoy fast gameplay with micromanaging i don't have good reactions speed and there doesn't seem to be any rts games like that or if there are the ai always cheats in skirmish and it ruins everything

[@henryhamilton4087]

As a CoH player who made top 200 in CoH 2, I'd say grab CoH 1 if you are there for the single player and coop experience, and grab CoH 2 if you want a better balanced, and more intense multiplayer. CoH 2 is just better balanced since 1 has a lot of bullshit abilities such as free replacements for lost medium tanks, suppression breaks, or the damn british faction as a whole. CoH 1 however has a way superior campaign and expansion missions with the Tales of Valor and Opposing Fronts DLCs giving you two more full length campaings in addition to the base one, and three extra short campaigns. There's also the survival stonewall mode, which is fun to try once a while. Also what do you think about the Homeworld series? Wouldn't that be a good starter as well considering there's going to be a new one next year, if anything Deserts of Kharak might be a good one to grab as well because it is closer to a traditional RTS, the other HW games are 3d.

[@Ethereal311]

The ONLY RTS that I have any hope for at the moment is DORF which really captures what I consider the real 90s feel (it also has an incredible trailer)

[@shlomomarkman6374]

I grew up with those games so I do sometimes take a disk from the collection and load it to play a skirmish to relax. Still, I don't understand why Warcraft-3 is not on this list, is it because of the issues with reforged and the original becoming unavailable? It had very good campaigns and it's not crazily fast as StarCraft. BFME-2 is unfortunately available only through piracy in our days thus I cherish the original DVDs of BFME anthology and they can be taken only from my dead body.

[@iRiDiKi]

Dark Reign was included in this video omg giga based

[@Zade_95]

next video too!

[@slimm774]

I wish I could get all the battle for middle earth games and dlc

[@t.karkov3077]

I'd definitely recommend AoE2... but I'd not recommend multiplayer on it. It's reached Heroes of Might and Magic 3 levels of competition that it just pummels through you 😢

[@SkyFly19853]

I really wish Age of Empires and Total War series could come to GOG platform.

[@ViralVibes61122]

New upcoming rts is terminator dark fate defiance

[@tomaszachar809]

Age of cores ❤❤❤❤❤❤ thx

[@dennisdavidov782]

No Red Alert 3 for the Co-Op section ? The game was basically designed around this feature. For new players the Halo Wars games are rather simple to pick up and play and aren't lacking in spectacle. Also, the C&C Remastered Collection isn't a bad entry point for the genre.

[@deusexmachina2938]

>0 dislikes god bless, hope it stays that way

[@Zade_95]

[@Xm4cgyv3rX]

As already said "StarCraft" but what about Wargame or SteelDiv and surely for campaign you cannot beat World in conflict or homeworld ugh so much choice lol maybe a follow up vid is worth while for this one. Wargame and SD series are not beginner friendly but they do seem to have large followings / communities and i've sunk 100's of hours into the skirmish modes / campaigns. Wish they would release broken arrow already!!!!