As the gaming landscape evolves with cutting-edge graphics and immersive mechanics, it’s easy for older strategy games to be overlooked. However, many of these forgotten classics still hold a special place in the hearts of gamers, mine especially, and they’re still capable of offering deep, engaging experiences that modern titles often miss. Whether you’re a veteran gamer seeking nostalgia or a newcomer eager to explore the roots of strategic gameplay, there’s a treasure trove of older strategy games waiting to be rediscovered. In this article, I’ll highlight some of the best-forgotten gems from the past, proving that great strategy knows no expiration date.
Of course, this is a list of my personal favourites, so if you’d like to add anything, please let me know, and I’ll be sure to update this article with your input!
10 – Cossacks: Back to War
The Cossacks series of real-time strategy games holds a special place in my heart, and I’m sure, in the hearts of many of you. The first game came about during the golden age of RTS, and it was a pretty copy of Age of Empires with a lot of flairs added on top and set in a period unexplored at the time: The Age of Discovery and, I think that’s what made it so great. You had many different nations, from Portugal, to France, to Prussian, and Turkey, and each one of those had their own unique building and unit art styles. Also, the focus on musket combat instead of melee changed how the game played quite a bit when compared to its genre predecessors, as you could now create unit formations for more effective fire, and the introduction of cannons to the battlefield was devastating.
9 – Imperial Glory
Some people will say that Imperial Glory is an off-brand Total War. I, being the educated gentlemen that I am, say to the masses that Total War: Empire is the off-brand knockoff of Imperial Glory, the Napoleonic real-time strategy with grand-strategy elements that came out all the way back in 2005. Playfulness aside, Imperial Glory was rather impressive for its time. It blended the grand-strategy elements of Total War and Paradox games of the time and implemented a real-time strategy layer that was very well executed. It had fantastic graphics, each nation had its own unique units, and each section of the European map, when fought over, had a custom-designed map attached to it, so you could plan ahead for the battle you were about to have. There’s still an active community of players to this day, as Imperial Glory went down in videogame history as a cult classic.
8 – Impossible Creatures
I never played this when it came out, but I know that if I didn’t include Impossible Creatures, people would get mad at me! I distinctly remember seeing this game on sale in every brick-and-mortar store back then, but being as it came from the team that had released Homeworld, it’s no wonder people were anticipating their next title. What I know damn well is how the premise of this game and how much we all love it: you’re able to splice animal parts together to get an unholy, yet overpowered beast with which to fight your battles: Flying bear? You can have it. Cameleon Cheetah? Why Not. Lemming Rat? Just go for it.
8 – World War 2: Frontline Command
One of my favourite games on the list, and one that nobody ever talks about. I even went as far as venturing into the hellhole that is Reddit to see if anyone had anything to say about it but found absolutely nothing. World War II: Frontline Command is a real-time strategy game from 2003 and plays very much like Company of Heroes if it was made in 2003: the game had everything: bombastic set pieces, a massive campaign, in-depth cover mechanics with suppression, a lot of unit variety and plenty of ways to tackle every mission. I played it until the very end and absolutely loved it. So sad to see. This one is very difficult to get your hands on, so you’ll either have to shop around online or look for abandonware copies of it.
7 – Mech Commander 2
Want to know what my experience with Mech Commander 2 was? It was Christmas Eve of 2001 and small me was spending some well-earned time on my father’s computer and it had a Mech Commander 2 demo installed. Don’t ask me how it got there, it just was. 20 years had gone by, and when I finally decided it was time to look for it, I couldn’t figure out what game it was, fortunately, my memory of the Bushwacker mech never wanned, and when I saw it online, I knew it was the game I played on that Christmas Eve. But enough about me, as Mech Commander is one of the most different RTS games of the early 2000s, and instead of controlling just basic units, you controlled modular mechs, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, that could be modified with salvaged parts from other mechs you found in the field. Similar to other games at the time, it had a massive single-player component, with 3 large campaigns. The game’s impossible to buy today, but there are a lot of abandonware sites that have it.
6 – Praetorians
Praetorians isn’t your run-of-the-mill RTS of the early 2000s. When most titles were focused on following the Age of Empires and Starcraft success formula, Praetorians ditched the based building and resource-collecting aspect of strategy and decided to go all in on the tactical aspect of RTS battles. There are no individual units, you control formations (imagine Rome: Total War), that you can change formations on, activate special abilities like the testudo to defend from archers, or lay down a spear wall to counter a cavalry charge. But what sets it apart from the games at the time, I think, is the Roman theme, that people just love, and you didn’t have a lot of choice back then. Remember that Rome: Total War only came out in 2024, over a year after Praetorians did. There’s an HD remaster from 2020 that was quite well-received, so you can give this classic a go without any tinkering.
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