I would also like to add that Starcraft and its expansion Brood War is very commonly played game in Korea. So famous in fact, that it is considered a national sport, and that people earn money playing it. I was on an aeroplane trip to China once when I saw on TV there were in fact, dedicated TV channels to Korean Starcraft gaming. Quite hardcore for us casual gamers however. Starcraft series, according to Wikipedia, is 89th best selling video game franchise, with games like Mario, GTA, Final Fantasy, Sims, and Pokemon being the top 5. But that is because they've made and sold alot of games, whereas the majority of sales from Starcraft come from the original game (selling more than 9 million copies).

I have been playing RTS games for quite a while now, and its just as Goosestaf said, there are MANY of them out there.

Well, getting straight to the point then. All the games mentioned in the above posts will surely show you a good time, as a few of them are among my all-time RTS favorites. I would however like to add a couple to this queue. Quite a while back I played this game called Dune (yes the RTS, not the RPG). It is a bit old, but for its time, the graphics and gameplay was pretty neat.

As for the other one, its a game by THQ, called Warhammer 40000. Its basically a series; search wiki for it and you'll find loads on it. The part that you should play first is Warhammer 40000: Dark Crusade. A recent release is an addition to the series called Warhammer 40000: Soulstorm. I've just started playing it, and I think its a welcome addition to the franchise. Top notch graphics, awesome depth and gameplay and a great AI, its a must play. Oh and they're working on a sequel and an MMORpg. Check it out.

Well if you want a newer game I reccomend the Age of Empires series, or Command & Conquer. Both excellent games. If you don't mind the game being a bit old I'd suggest getting Total Annihilation. It was released back in 1998 by Cavedog. You can download the base game and all it's expansion packs on the internet or buy them from an online store. It won a few awards back in the 2000 - 2002 for best RTS I think. Mayb not be the newest but it's till great!

If you're looking for a very involved rts, try the total war series. I don't think that simulated war gets any more realistic than that.
I've played Rome:Total War, just to qualify.

The basic over-arching play style is turn based, meaning that all troop movements and city building take place on a large map with territories dotting it. You don't actually see the cities unless you click an option to see the city, and it loads the map of the city. You regulate your empire, keep the senate happy and build stuff during your turn. The real time element doesn't come in until an actual fight. Whether you initiate or your enemy initiates, you load up and move your troops around normally.

However, the troops are in battalion formation, so it makes troop movement different from a lot of other rts games. And then you have added on that the troops have fairly specialized uses: Foot vs. Spear, Spear vs. Horse, Horse vs. Archers, Archers vs. Foot & Spear... and if you pit any one against the wrong type, you lose troops faster than candy on Halloween. Also, the troops have morale. This is excellent when the enemy breaks and flees, but not so good when your own troops are doing the fleeing.

Tactics such as troop placement and attack patterns really play into this game. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then right on, there you go. This is the game for you.

I always play red alert 2. And i wait Red Alert now.

I have played warcraft and i found it really amazing.....i haven't played the others mentioned here but i think i will try them sometime later....

This post has been edited by klusk: Oct 8 2008, 02:57 PM

all my clan friends play
Company of heroes : opposing front

They love it i think it looks like a really good game
aswell it got a high meta score!