StarCraft
2: Wings of
Liberty
In additiontobeingthe
preeminentcompetitivestrategy
gameofthelastdecade,StarCraft
II deservescreditforrethinking
howa traditionalRTScampaign
is structured.HeartoftheSwarm
is a goodexampleofthis,butthe
human-centricWingsofLiberty
instalmentis theplacetostart:an
inventiveadventurethatmixesup
thefamiliarformulaateverystage.
Fromzombiedefencescenarios
toplanetsthatfloodwithlava
everyfewminutes,you’reforcedto
learnandrelearnStarCraft’s basic
elements as you go.
Galactic
Civilizations 2
If you’veeverwantedtoconquerspace
withanarmyofcustomisabledoom-
ships,thisis thestrategygameforyou.
It hassmart,creativeAI,anda full-size
gamecantakeweekstocomplete.You
havetobalanceeconomic,technological,
diplomatic,culturalandmilitarypowerto
forgealliances,fightwarsanddominate
thegalaxy.ReminiscentoftheCivilization
games,butona muchgranderscale, and
with a lot more depth in places.Homeworld
Mechanically,Homeworldis a phenomenal
three-dimensionalstrategygame,among
thefirsttosuccessfullydetachtheRTS
froma singleplane.It’smorethanthat,
though:it’sa majorvictoryforatmosphere
andsounddesign,whetherthat’sAdagio
forStringsplayingoverthehaunting
openingmissionsorthebeatofdrumsas
shipsengagein a multiplayerbattle.If you
likedtheBattlestarGalactica reboot, you
should play this.Supreme
Commander
OnlyTotalWarcancompetewiththescale
ofSupremeCommander’sreal-timebattles.
It’sstillexhilaratingtoflickthemousewheel
andflyfromanindividualengineertoa map
oftheentirebattlefield,thenflickit again
todivedowntogiveorderstoanotherunit
kilometresaway.Whenarmiesdoclash– in
sprawlinghundred-strongcolumnsofrobots- you’rerewardedwiththemostglorious
firefightsa CPUcanrender.It’soneofthe
fewreal-timestrategygamestocombine
air,groundandnavalcombatintosingle
encounters,butSupComgoesevenfurther,
withartillery,long-rangenuclearordnance
and megalithic experimental bots.
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