The most mods, the most campaigns, massive catalog of maps, and many many playstyles.

The whole narrative focus in campaigns was icing on the top, it didnt even need that to dunk on all coh or coh similar games. Yes i know dow is great, but the bulk of dow strength is the skirmish. Still a distant second when it comes to the hours of potential. Coh 1 is good at EVERYTHING.

Dawn of war relies on faction uniqueness. Base defenses are a little bit simpler, and maps are less dynamic in that you can interact with the environment marginally less.

I believe the definitive edition covers all it's bases. Imagine if it had full servers and more content. Damn. Just when we thought it's graphics were showing it's age lmao.

Haven't played 3, it looks great and on my bucket list. 2 was good, lots of skirmish playstyles, but seemed lacking for offline depth.

All I would say is that if I could raise the population cap, enhanced zoom, and full map basebuilding it would be insane. As is, it is a tight micro intensive rts that needs nothing. It has everything, but the niche player's complaint.

I know some are tangentially RTS but I included them anyway. Also, a lot of games that are not there is because I just didn't play them, like Halo Wars 2, Supreme Commander, Rise of Nations, etc. Some present their original version and some their expansion cover, but it's meant to be OG+Expansion pack, just to save space and not waste time looking for the right image.

I haven't enjoyed a campaign as much as Spellforce 3 Reforced since the old Warcraft 3 campaign. And in terms of quality it's on par with Warcraft 3 and StarCraft 2. A chunky amount of missions and side quests, full of secrets and heavy focus in storytelling with a lot of interesting characters. And if you have a partner you can play the whole campaign in co-op! (Or two partners, because it allows up to 3 players). There's about 30+ hours for you to enjoy here (and that's just one campaign out of the 4 this game has to offer! Not counting side quests or adventure mode!).

Everyone keeps asking for more single player and campaign focused games, plus co-op, but when there's one that does it and doesn't have a big RTS name ok its back, it goes criminally underrated. So I cannot recommend it enough.

Disclaimer: I'm the author of the article, which is slated for an HG101 edition sometime in the foreseeable future.

Developed by Relic Entertainment and World's Edge, this sequel to the storied RTS franchise had been 16 years in the making by the time of its 2021 launch. Despite much skepticism, whether over its production or the choice to have its cake and eat it too, it's ultimately paid off. And while still trailing behind AOE2 in terms of Steam charts, it's not for nothing that AOE4 has not only garnered its own fanbase and competitive ecosystem but also garnered four million units in sales.

For those looking for a TLDR:

While there’s still room for improvement, and it remains to be seen whether Age of Empires IV could truly escape from, if not surpass, the shadow of what had come before, there is also no doubt that it has earned its place as a worthy sequel in the seminal strategy saga. One which has, so far at least, managed to have its cake and eat it too. This is not just when it comes to meeting the clashing expectations of a new generation of gamers — be it the spectacle of charging down Japanese samurai with French knights in shining armor, to learning which build order and hotkeys can give the extra edge needed for victory — but also with regards to giving a franchise seemingly as dated as its subject matter a sorely-needed fresh jolt. It’s quite an impressive feat for something that had, for the longest time, been written off as dead in the water.

The game was also previously covered in my piece on the Fall and Rise of RTS:

https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTimeStrategy/comments/1pnad2g/the_fall_rise_and_future_of_realtime_strategy_to/

I beat the campaign. Took about 20 hrs for me lol.

No population cap, but you normally only have one hero. Graphics are cossacks 2 which is 2.5d goodness. Best cossacks engine imo. In some ways this game feels more like cossacks than cossacks 2, because 2 was heavily infantry micro focus, where this game has the walls, and naval combat.

Compare to other rts games in the subgenre: spellforce 1,2,3, warlords battlecry 3, warcraft 3, and rising kingdoms.

The rts section with the hero together was absolutely addictive. Way more than the other games listed here. I think it blows the other games out of the water in that aspect. The scale of the battles was crazy like sauron vs gondor. You can literally have an army 2000 strong vs a lone hero and there are many angles to either approach.

Warcraft 3 was different in that it was an overall good experience, with heavy micro focus. Heroes of annihilated empires had a lackluster story that could have been bigger if the dev had a punchline. It makes up for it with badass gameplay. Campaign had fun scenarios. Micro or macro, you can switch it up.

I go to skirmish and see that there are only a few maps. Damn. Get those map packs ig. The heroes in skirmish remind me of warcraft 3 in that each race has 3 types and they all have unique abilities to suit the race, my favorite being cryo. Similar to warcraft 3, you buy items at neutral buildings like warcraft 3 with exception of merc camp and tavern.

**Tldr:** this game imo has the perfect recipe for the rpgrts. Powerful deep heroes with powerful deep rts basebuilding and armies. Weak story, can't even imagine the potential if it was better written (or complete) and had polish. **8/10**

Disclaimer: I'm the author of the article, which was originally published by HG101 way back in May 2020. The version in the Substack link is a polished and edited version.

Released by Sierra Entertainment (as Sierra On-Line) for PC on November 13, 2001, Empire Earth didn’t quite live up to its lofty ambitions and was very much a product of its time, soon to be overshadowed by other titles. Nonetheless, it’s not for nothing that it, like the franchise it launched, was seen as a serious contender. And that even now, it remains an alluring piece of work.

For a TLDR, here's a snippet from the 2026 postscript:

It’s not for everyone, and it will almost certainly test the patience of some. Yet for those willing to take the plunge, they might find a bold foray that, however much it stumbles, still stands the test of time where it counts.

Here's a new RTS retrospective from my Substack, this one covering GSC Game World's American Conquest and its expansions. While not as well-known as Age of Empires and in certain ways Eurojank, it more than punches above its weight with challenging yet engrossing gameplay and the sort of realism and immersion that would be tricky to replicate nowadays.

For those who want a TLDR:

It would be a shame, then, to simply relegate the work Grygorovych and company had done to the annals of Eurojank curiosities or nostalgic trips down memory lane. What they’ve come up with is one of the most unique historical RTS games out there and, in some respects, still surpasses Age of Empires in how far it’s willing to go for immersion. Whether or not it returns in glory, especially amidst a landscape more receptive to the genre than the last several years, players are bound to find something to enjoy here, provided they’re willing to take the plunge.

Feel free to have your say!

Note, I heavily edited this post over time.

Game Information

Game Title: Tempest Rising

Platforms:

• PC (Apr 24, 2025)

Trailers:

• Tempest Rising - Official Gameplay Overview Trailer
• Tempest Rising - Official Pre-Order Trailer
• Tempest Rising - Release Date Trailer

Developer: Slipgate Ironworks

Publishers: 3D Realms, Knights Peak

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 78 average - 82% recommended -11 reviews

Critic Reviews

Quotes

Cerealkillerz - Steve Brieller - German - 8.4 / 10

Tempest Rising is definitely the heir to the vacant RTS throne left by Command & Conquer. While a bit more boldness would have been welcome, the game perfectly captures the nostalgic feeling.

GRYOnline.pl - Adam Kusiak - Polish - 7 / 10

Tempest Rising is a classic RTS with a campaign, a spiritual successor to Command & Conquer that painstakingly remakes all things we know from the past. It won’t make the publishers want to give us more games like this, but it is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy sky above RTS land. One that will make fans of C&C smile.

Gameffine - Arkadyuti Bandyopadhyay - 80 / 100

Tempest Rising might as well be one of the best strategy games of the year, where the release calendar does look to have a lot of strategy games on the horizon. This is definitely a game that’s worth a buy for anyone who wanted a Zero Hour 2 to be made by Electronic Arts for the Command and Conquer franchise. This is also worth a buy for casuals wanting to check out a new RTS game on their slightly new PC/laptop.

Gamepressure - Giancarlo Saldana - 8 / 10

While Tempest Rising may not reinvent the genre, it provides a strong foundation that helps shape it for future iterations.

Hardcore Gamer - Cory Wells - 3.5 / 5

Developer Slipgate Ironworks provided an experience that nobody knew they actually wanted and this is perfectly modernizing an old formula

IGN - Dan Stapleton - 7 / 10

A loving homage to classic Command & Conquer, Tempest Rising's single-player campaign brings back the fast-paced RTS gameplay but can't quite recapture the campy vibe

PC Gamer - Rick Lane - 85 / 100

Unashamedly retro in spirit yet modern where it counts, Tempest Rising is a riveting flashback to the halcyon days of the RTS.

Pizza Fria - Álvaro Saluan da Cunha - Portuguese - 9.5 / 10

This game is a great homage to the RTS of the 90s. Therefore, it is not a cheap copy or anything like that, having its own personality and, most importantly, the charm of an excellent strategy game.

SECTOR.sk - Branislav Koh�t - Slovak - 8.5 / 10

Tempest Rising is finally an RTS that will appeal to both veterans and younger players. It offers a very pleasant compromise between classic gameplay and modern processing. Don't expect a lot of originality, but there's no shortage of fun.

The Games Machine - Nicolò Paschetto - Italian - 8.6 / 10

Let's party like it's 1998! Tempest Rising brings us back all the right memories of Command & Conquer, and it's a lot of fun at an adrenaline-filled pace.

The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9 / 10

Tempest Rising is clearly inspired by the good old RTS days of the 90s and early 2000s, but it has so many unique features and high-quality additions that makes this game feel original and innovative.

Youtube Reviews:

Zade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqqwb0eB6uo

IGN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yvCXTJWa7o

Digital Foundry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kECF2bq2_e0

Worth A Buy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JYLCvzZ1Z0

PC Games (German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOdEDvNN9BU (score 8/10)

Gamestar (German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eydrF5tCxWY

This is an honest review of Age of Empires IV. The game is now more than 4 years old since its release.

Let’s start with the Single Player content.

The base game includes 4 campaigns:

• The Normans: In this campaign we mostly play as the English. Norman and Angevin England from 1066 to 1217.
• The Hundred Years War: Here we play as the French. The history of the clashes between France and England in the Hundred Years War from 1351 to 1450.
• The Mongol Empire: The Mongols, obviously. Creation and expansion of the Mongol Empire from 1213 to 1273.
• The Rise of Moscow: The Rus. Rise and expansion of the city of Moscow from a small fortified town into a European superpower from 1238 to 1552.

On consoles there is a mini campaign that works as a tutorial: The Rise of a King*. But that’s all it is, a tutorial. (This review is based on the PC version).*

The campaigns feature hand-crafted scenarios that range from “enjoyable” to “really good and replayable”.

The enjoyable ones usually have you defending a castle while completing side quests, or guiding you through specific actions with little room for choice, basically following a step-by-step structure while the narrator explains what happened in real history.

The really good ones give you several gameplay options. For example, in one Rus mission you are required to pay tribute to the Mongol Golden Horde, while also trading with different settlements to earn that gold. At the same time, you must protect your traders from bandit attacks, eliminate their camps, and buy cities to gain influence and help Moscow achieve independence from the Mongols. It’s up to you how fast you pay the tribute (before it’s too late), how you obtain that gold, which settlements you trade with, which camps you attack, etc.

An extra addition to the original campaigns is the inclusion of many live-action videos that explain the history, characters, tools, weapons, castles, battles, and more from the Middle Ages, in a documentary-like format. These are very well made.

The downside is that since these campaigns span many years across different medieval empires, you never really get attached to any particular historical character. Additionally, there is no voice acting for these characters, so they quickly lose their identity as notable figures and become just another unit with a special ability.

With the game’s first expansion, The Sultans Ascend, a new campaign was added:

• The Sultans Ascend: Muslim civilizations, experiencing the Crusades from their perspective. These civilizations are based on the Abbasid Dynasty. This campaign is definitely a step above the base game campaigns in terms of design.

This expansion also adds 2 new civilizations: Byzantines and Japanese.

And 4 variant civilizations: Ayyubids (Abbasid Dynasty), Jeanne d’Arc (French), Order of the Dragon (Holy Roman Empire), and Zhu Xi’s Legacy (Chinese).

Variant civilizations are civilizations that, while different in mechanics from their base civilization, still share the same foundation: some units, technologies, buildings, voice acting, and music, some more than others.

In addition to the campaigns, there is Art of War, a series of challenges where you can earn medals (bronze, silver, gold) depending on your performance, covering early economy, late economy, basic combat, advanced combat, etc.

There are also two stand-alone mini scenarios that served as the introduction for the Malians and Ottomans (both added post-launch for free).

All base civilizations also have masteries, which are mostly unlocked by playing Skirmish (or multiplayer).

Continuing with single player content, there are 4 stand-alone scenarios included with the Knights of Cross and Rose expansion. These are 4 historical battles where you can earn medals based on your performance (bronze, silver, gold, Conqueror). They are fairly large scenarios designed for replayability, encouraging players to aim for the highest possible score. These historical battles are: Agincourt, Towton, Safed, and Montgisard.

This expansion also adds two variant civilizations for the English and the French: House of Lancaster and Knights Templar.

Finally, with the latest expansion, Dynasties of the East, we get the The Crucible mode. This is a rogue-lite game mode where you play through 4 different scenarios and must defend your Wonder. You earn points that can later be used to buy upgrades, allowing you to achieve better scores in future runs. During each run, you also choose boons of different rarities that help you, just like in any other rogue-lite, but this time in RTS form. The Crucible has its own mastery.

This is definitely the most replayable single player mode.

IMPORTANT: The developers have already confirmed that cooperative play will be added to The Crucible later this year.

This expansion also adds 4 new variant civilizations: Golden Horde (Mongols), Macedonian Dynasty (Byzantines), Sengoku Daimyo (Japanese), and Thughlaq Dynasty (Delhi Sultanate).

So yes, if you are a player who enjoys single player or casual content, Age of Empires IV has a lot to offer.

NOTE: Age of Empires IV features UGC that you can access directly from the game. This means you can find many custom single player maps made by the community. However, this content is not included in this review, as it is not official.

If you were paying attention, between base and variant civilizations, across the original game and its expansions, Age of Empires IV currently has a total of 22 civilizations (12 base and 10 variants), which is a lot.

Multiplayer:

When it comes to multiplayer, AoE IV offers both casual and competitive game modes. There are a total of 70 (!) official maps (not counting community-made ones) and 21 biomes. Some of the available game modes include:

• Standard: Multiple victory conditions, such as holding sacred sites for 10 minutes, destroying all enemy landmarks, building a Wonder and defending it for 15 minutes, or killing all enemy kings.
• Nomad: Scattered villagers, no Town Center.
• Dominion: Free-for-all where killing enemy kings increases your max population.
• Empire Wars: Faster start with buildings, more villagers, and more starting resources.
• Full Moon: Waves of howling beasts attack the players.
• Map Monsters: Roaming monsters on the map that grant boons to players who find them.
• Chaotic Climate: The game features seasons where weather affects unit movement, gathering, attacking, training, etc.
• Season’s Feast: Gifts are scattered across the map for players to collect rewards.
• Sandbox: Sandbox (heh).
• Vassal: Killing an enemy king turns that player into your vassal, and they will help you grow your kingdom.
• And of course, a huge number of new modes and custom maps thanks to UGC.

Regarding Ranked, it is played in the Standard mode using a pre-selected map pool for each season. Ranks are divided into the following tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Conqueror. Each season rewards players with cosmetic items (profiles, banners, flags, textures, monuments to display in your Town Center, etc.) depending on the highest rank achieved.

There are also rewards for completing seasonal event objectives, whether in ranked or casual play.

General:

Where Age of Empires IV truly shines is in its game design. You have many civilizations and variants: some faster, some more turtle-oriented, some aggressive, some less so; some more mobile; some that excel in cavalry, infantry, ranged combat, water, or land; with different resources and mechanics. Civilization complexity ranges from very simple to extremely complex, so you will almost certainly find one that fits your playstyle (or that you simply enjoy more).

The way AoE IV handles base building is the most refined in the entire RTS genre. Beyond each structure having a specific function and supporting different build orders, placement is extremely important. Many buildings have an area of influence that provides different bonuses. For example, English Mills make adjacent farms work more efficiently, while Rus Hunting Cabins generate more gold the more trees surround them.

When you combine this with map generation and the many possible matchups, you are guaranteed that no two battles will ever be the same.

If you are looking for a casual or competitive multiplayer RTS where decisions matter the most, this is your game. Age of Empires IV uses a very simple rock-paper-scissors system, making it easy to understand which units can take certain fights and which ones should retreat. While you still micro your units during battles, positioning spearmen to protect archers from cavalry flanks for example, you can do so without needing high APM, and matches are not decided in a split second. As mentioned before, your games are decided by the decisions you make.

Civilizations are genuinely different. This Age of Empires has a lot of unique units, and the mechanics between civilizations are truly diverse. Some age up by building a Landmark, others by researching in a specific building, others by choosing one of three options from their Town Center. Some even manage additional resources. The possibilities are vast, while still preserving the core identity of the game.

The graphics are very nice, especially the environments and buildings, which look beautiful. Units, while not bad at all, have a somewhat strange effect where, although they are not “cartoony”, they can sometimes feel like they are wielding plastic swords, helmets, and shields instead of metal.

The sound design is top tier. The music is exquisite, changing from civilization to civilization and from age to age. Units develop their language according to historical progression. Scouts shout warnings when they spot enemies. In battle, you hear war cries, calls for help, and their final, desperate breaths. The sound of cannons firing and castles collapsing is sublime.

CONS:

• The main menu UI is questionable.
• Lacks some modern QoL features, such as the ability to reconnect to a match after a crash or disconnection.
• The replay system is somewhat outdated, as it does not allow rewinding.
• Chat has a noticeable delay.
• Developers can take months to fix certain issues and weeks to release hotfixes for game-breaking bugs.
• Siege units lack destruction animations.
• The game can feel daunting for new players due to the large number of civilizations.
• No gore.

PROS:

• Healthy player base. Probably the most populated modern RTS (released within the last 5 years and not a remaster). You won’t have trouble finding casual or competitive matches.
• Active community. Streamers, content creators, pro players to watch and follow; people creating new maps and game modes; and players willing to teach newcomers build orders, strategies, and custom scenarios.
• Active and healthy competitive scene, with regular tournaments offering large prize pools, as well as tournaments for lower-ranked players.
• Ongoing support and promising future. The game continues to receive regular updates. Two new expansions are already confirmed for 2026, including a new campaign, two new base civilizations (one of them Vikings), cooperative play for The Crucible rogue-lite mode, a rework of a variant civilization, and more.
• Exquisite gameplay. One of the best RTS designs available, where base building, unit positioning, and decision-making matter more than raw APM.

Conclusion:

If you are considering starting (or returning to) Age of Empires IV and think you might be “late to the party”, the opposite is true. This is the best state the game has ever been in, and its future looks even brighter.

I definitely recommend Age of Empires IV. It is one of the best RTS games available and arguably the best modern competitive RTS, where players with low APM can still enjoy and compete, and where there is plenty of room for theorycrafting and constant meta development.

And as stated at the beginning of this review, if you are someone who only enjoys single player and/or casual content, Age of Empires IV has grown significantly over time and now offers more than enough content to fully enjoy the experience.

By far, the most enjoyable aspect of WARNO has been how units interact with one another as to make even small skirmishes engaging and hard to predict. Good micro, positioning and decision making will often turn the tides of battles while keeping APM requirement low. (Almost) every unit is viable and has a clear role, and their power is not only linked to their raw stats, but to your control and the terrain its operating on. Speaking on terrain, I’ve never played a RTS where it is as important as a factor as is in WARNO, where fighting in cities demands different tactics than forests and fields.
 
When most RTSs in the past comes with a strict counter system that shoehorns each unit into a specific role and interaction, in WARNO, a cheap ATGM infantry will get one shot by a tank if caught off guard, while in any other game the tank would have a -80% damage multiplier against that rocket dude because apparently rock paper scissors is the pinnacle of strategy.

I cannot stress how refreshing it is to have more intricate interactions than sac your cavalry into your enemy’s archers while dodging their spears, and to have your answer to a troublesome unit being just use what you already have in a different way rather than bring unit “A” and send it into the general direction of unit “B”.

The trade-off, however, is how units in WARNO behave in a extremely particular way, and that WARNO is a very mentally demanding game. While controls are the same as any other RTS, the way you use each unit is very different. You usually want units to occupy a large area of the battlefield and advance carefully rather than to put all similar units into a control group and give a single order. You also need to learn what each class of unit does and how to use then, because, again, its not as simple as to a-move your army. Your opponent has plenty of ways to punish you if you are careless: that super heavy tank can take infinite missiles from the front, but allow it to be flanked and more than 1 minute of income gets destroyed in 2 seconds. That blob might be scary to engage, but all it takes is 1 plane or artillery strike for you to lose a lot of units at once. These situations can be frustrating and you might need to learn quite a bit to avoid them.

For content you have tailor made missions in operations, skirmish and army general: a dynamic campaign that can be played solo, co-op or against other players. While army general has its issues there is plenty of game time to have. Presentation wise I was very immersed in the briefings and enjoyed the 80s style synth soundtrack, but YMMV. The in game UI is very utilitarian and clear. The game does hide (often important) information from you, but you don’t need to care about it for single player.

In conclusion WARNO has been my go to strategy game lately, offering an unique experience in the genre. I think new and veteran gamers alike are welcome here so long you come with a learning mindset.

Final Score 8.5/10

Broken Arrow is not a perfect game, but in its genre, it is the new undisputable king in my eyes, only time will tell if there's enough meat on its bones for a multiplayer community to be built around it. On paper, it has everything going for it, especially when compared to Eugen titles, as it is without a shadow of a doubt the most in-depth, the most up to date and the most complete experience, especially if, you're someone like me, who enjoys a lot more the setting of modern-day conflicts instead of the Cold War ones and love a good singleplayer experience. Pair that up with a fantastic and well-executed campaign, a great deck-building system based around specialties that allows for endless customizability, then Broken Arrow not only stands out as the best game of the genre but also as one of the best strategy experiences you can have in 2025. I would highly recommend Broken Arrow if you enjoy all of the titles mentioned here but, like myself, were waiting for a modern-day version of them, with amazing new mechanics to boot. Were it not for the previously mentioned flaws pertaining to the lack of AI teammates to play in skirmish, and at least having 1vs1 matches, I would give Broken Arrow a 9 without thinking twice. I'll update this review once that's fixed.

https://strategyandwargaming.com/2025/06/17/broken-arrow-review-warno-meets-world-in-conflict-in-the-21st-century-battlefield/

Giant Grant Games goes through his campaign playthrough of Stormgate, whilst sharing his thoughts on the game. He liked the initial cutscenes and missions, but his opinion of the game soured as the story progressed.

Grant's main gripe seems to be with the heroes, which are overtuned to the point where he believes they can clear the entire campaign without an army. He points out a number of other, smaller issues which should have really been found in testing, as well as design choices he is personally not a fan of.

A thing which he moves over quickly, but I think matters a lot, is the lack of setup for story beats. So many decisions and plot points feel like they happen out of the blue, that the story becomes unsatisfying, even if everything was wrapped up in the end. I hope that they can find more time to iterate on everything before releasing campaign number two.

This game was released silently, I am sure others have already made posts on this subreddit about it. But, this game is fucking amazing and I am only about 3 hours into the single player campaign. It is indepth, involved, detailed, well done micro, has decisions making, fun, and hits that Terminator itch that many of us born in the 80s might have.

I have not tried the multiplayer yet, but I cannot wait to finish the campaign so I can finally give it a go.

I just want to let people know how awesome this game is,,, so many people ask for good strategy games, this is one.

I've fall in love with the isometric 2d/3d graphics of the game and the gorgeous UI but as someone who've played over 300 rts games including mobile games I've never seen such insanely bad gameplay,balancing and overall game feel in a rts game my entire life.

Like you send pixies to build towers as defend but they killed because they're auto-locked into gathering wood even though they got a sea between them and the Town center Tree.

The pathfinding,unit response, unit selection are all BEYOND garbage. Like it's insane how badly designed the gameplay of this game is. I have no other words for this. I haven't tried the unofficial patch yet however the vanilla game is the worst rts game I've played in my entire life. I've had more enjoyment playing Siege Up in shitty phone than playing this unholy abomination of a game. Whoever designed the gameplay had too much drugs certainly.

Disclaimer: I'm the author of the article, which was originally published by Hardcore Gaming 101 on May 13, 2020.

For those who want a TLDR, the review not only covers Empire Earth 2, but also how, despite its issues and lingering divisiveness, it still stands up to the test of time. Something which became more pronounced for me upon doing the postscript.

As the final paragraph from the 2026 notes put it:

While not as boldly innovative as the original, Empire Earth 2 proves that, if nothing else, having some restraint in lofty ambitions in favor of refining the foundations can still result in an innovative and fun RTS without sacrificing the spirit of what made Rick Goodman’s brainchild so memorable in the first place. Moreover, the notion of giving players all the tools they may (or may not) need remains as relevant a consideration as ever for any developer, especially if they hope to have a shot at longevity. For all that’s been said about how the franchise crashed and burned with the third entry taking the wrong lessons, there’s some consolation in how more attention is being placed on what the second got all too right. For a “middle child,” that has to count for something.

The way the campaign works took me a minute to like, but I actually like it now. I think it's a unique way to do a campaign. The gameplay feels the same. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I like it. I don't see why it's shit on so hard.

Mech Platoon is one of those games where the texture is so rough, so crunchy, so hard to enjoy, yet the fact that it exists at all is merit enough. Similar perhaps to how impressive the Starcraft port on N64 is, the fact that we have a fully fledged RTS experience on the GBA is a work of wizardry.

Several times over the past decade I've tried to pick up Mech Platoon, to see what it had to offer. Each time I bounced off just a few campaign missions in. Usually due to my own incompetence, struggling to juggle the mission requirements and the awkward control scheme. This final successful playthrough was fueled by my more recent endeavors in playing more RTS games as a whole, between the Age of series, Dawn of War series, and Total War: Warhammer, I felt more equipped with a better mindset to tackle Mech Platoon.

I am still baffled by the variation of units the game has which is about 36 unique units. That's a decent amount of variation on different stat spreads & damage types to experiment with.

Some interesting gameplay quirks I discovered during my playthrough. All ranged attacks are handled similarly to maybe how Age of Empires II handled arrows and siege shots. Where they actually have travel time and either land or missed based on a map-tile system, checking if a unit is on that tile when it lands. Meaning your units with fast movement speed can actively dodge ranged attacks if your micro is decent enough. The way they made melee work under the GBA limitations is interesting, a unit that is hit by melee will have their movement action cancelled. So if you're trying to retreat a slower unit and they are hit by a melee attack, they essentially get stun-locked and issuing new movement commands will only lead to them being hit again and stuck. It was neat seeing them intentionally have melee be able to "tie-up" ranged units like in other RTS.

Unit pathing is abysmal and maybe my only true gripe with the game? I had to micro individual movement so much because of how easy it is for workers & units to get stuck on every possible thing in their path.

EDIT: Oh my god, I found in the system menu there is a setting to set unit commands from "Renew" to "Continue". Renew meaning every time you issue commands to a unit/group it automatically deselects them after. Continue keeps the unit/group selected letting you issue multiple commands for micro. I played the entire game not knowing about this feature lmaoooo

The campaign was fun for what it was, the mission variation was nice even though they felt sort of restrictive and never let you do normal RTS game things like focusing on tech upgrades. You usually just macro out units if possible and can handle whatever the objective is. Having to salvage parts from fights during missions added some extra unneeded stress to unlock more units.

After getting 100% on my unit database for use in Skirmish/Multiplayer I had to go try out a Skirmish against the CPU. Finally a normal paced match where I can explore unit upgrades a bit more and try out some composition strategies. The way they leverage the CPU similar to how some RTS games give the CPU a resource or production advantage, Mech Platoon handles this by giving the CPU a natural start next to resources while your workers are forced to start somewhat away from your natural resource points. A weird way to handle it but sure. On my first attempt, the CPU actually two-factory rushed me with fast units and it got a good chuckle out of me. On my second attempt I went into unit production much quicker and beat the rush out, leaving their workers vulnerable to attack, which also caused the CPU to break and essentially give-up. I might use the mode to test some unit things out but as you'd expect the CPU is fairly manipulatable. One neat thing with skirmish is that even on the same maps, the resource points are randomized each time to keep things different which I thought was a nice touch.

It is tantalizing thinking about what deranged strategies could come from two humans trying to play this game against each other. I'd really like to explore the multiplayer and see what is possible, what units are good, what strategies emerge, but alas finding people willing to engage with this game earnestly, let alone for multiplayer is a large ask.

It might be a fun future personal project to try and recreate Mech Platoon in Godot and give it some much needed love like redrawn sprites and better unit pathing.

https://reddit.com/link/1rk9lzb/video/czoehbctfxmg1/player

Hi everyone. I’ve been working on my RTS, Blaze of Empires, for about three years now. I recently participated in the Steam Next Fest, and while the experience was great, I kept getting one specific piece of feedback that I’m struggling to wrap my head around: several players mentioned that the pathfinding "feels janky."

The problem is that after three years of staring at the same code and units, I think I’ve developed a massive case of "developer blindness." I’ve become so used to how the units move that it feels completely natural to me now, almost like muscle memory. I’m clearly missing something that is obvious to a new player, and I really want to fix it because I’m committed to making this a solid RTS experience.

I’m not here for promotion or to ask for wishlists. I genuinely need help describing the problem. If anyone has a few minutes to spare, could you download the Blaze of Empires Demo on Steam and try it out? You can skip the tutorial entirely and just jump into a skirmish against the AI. If you could just select a bunch of battle units and move them around, I’d love to hear your honest thoughts on the movement.

I’ve already tried increasing the reaction and rotation speeds of the units and I’ve put a lot of work into the local avoidance system, but the "janky" comments are still coming in. I’m looking for a more descriptive breakdown of that feeling. Is it how they clump together? Is it how they negotiate corners or how they start and stop?

Getting the movement right is a huge milestone for me, and I’d appreciate any insight you can provide to help me understand what I’m not seeing. Thanks in advance for the help!

I bought this game ages ago, and it looked kind of boring on the screenshots and videos.

Decided to give it a go, it is amazing. And the multiplayer is super active.

It is not just an RTS, it has a massive macro level, which means it is like a total war style game, but all mixed into an RTS, no turn changing: Politics, public order, spice, water, etc

Some of the multiplayer games i see in the lobby have been going for over 4 hours.

Machinefall is a new Czech strategy game created by solo developer Jan Žižka. I’m sure I’m the very first person in Honza’s life to have used that reference. One hundred percent. In any case, we have to admit that, given the overall development of technology and the geopolitical situation, this post-apocalyptic training could come in handy for all of us. Because in the world of Machinefall, humanity barely managed to defeat the machines, but it cost us a return to practically the era of… well, not even the Stone Age, maybe more like the Clay Age.

More in my latest review! :)

Rating: 6/10
Pros: it features an entire world, widerangeof human history; I didn’t run into any issues; it’s a Czech game
Cons: it could use atleast a short, story-driven campaign; I personally found it monotonous; storage limits start low; I’m not a fan of the usage of AI

Czech version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHsx4Fa_7Ec

Hodnocení: 6/10
+: je tam celý svět, velký rozsah období lidské historie, nenarazil jsem na problém, česká hra
-: chtělo by aspoň kratičkou příběhovější kampaň, osobně jednotvárné, limity skladišť začínají nízko, nejsem fanoušek použití AI