7 – Godsworn
Let’s jump the timeline a bit to more recent times and leave the early 2000s for now. Released in 2024, Godsworn is the game for players who love the historical theme of Age of Empires but also enjoy a dash of mythology. This game provides a similar core gameplay loop of gathering resources, building your town, and expanding your military, but sets itself apart with its focus on heroes and mythological creatures. Each hero provides unique abilities, and a “faith” resource system allows you to summon powerful mythical units, adding a deep layer of fantasy strategy that you won’t find in a traditional historical RTS. Having played it for a while, even before its release, Godsworn might not have impressed me due to its lack of innovation, but it instantly struck me as a very solid, traditional RTS in the vein of Age of Empires II, straight from the get-go.
6 – Tempest Rising
This is one of those games I’m currently going through, and I have to say that I love Tempest Rising. It’s truly a modern RTS that’s a direct love letter to the genre’s golden age, providing a fresh take on the classic “build and battle” formula by introducing crazy new units, but keeping the basic mechanics pretty much the same. The unit controls are snappy, and they react instantly, making the game’s combat as satisfying as other games like Age of Empires II, Red Alert 2, and Starcraft II.
While its sci-fi theme sets it apart, it shares the same economic and base-building loop as Age of Empires, making it instantly familiar, and if you love Age of Empires II, you’ll certainly enjoy this one too. Tempest Rising distinguishes itself with its two highly asymmetrical factions, each with unique resource mechanics and playstyles. The game also features cinematic campaigns and high-octane combat, offering a high-quality experience that feels both nostalgic and new. My hopes for the game are that we see some very high-quality DLC coming out soon, because the game needs a lot more factions, and I could do with a couple of new, smaller campaigns as well!
5 – Command & Conquer: Generals
You guys always get upset whenever Command & Conquer: Generals doesn’t make a show on my lists, so much so that I think this one is quite possibly the favorite real-time strategy game of most players. Now, it’s finally here, amongst all-time greats. Equal in all but theme to Age of Empires II, Command and Conquer: Generals offers a different thematic take on the classic RTS formula. Inspired by the goings-on of the early 2000s, the game centers on a conflict between three highly asymmetrical factions—the high-tech USA, the mass-produced Chinese army, and the guerrilla-tactics-focused GLA—each with its own unique units and strategies. The strategic layer provided by “General’s Points” allows you to unlock powerful abilities like airstrikes and nuclear bombs, adding a new dimension to combat. I would highly advise Command & Conquer: Generals to players who want to experience an excellent single-player campaign, with a lot of cinematic flair, and to witness some of the wildest moments in real-time strategy (RTS) gaming history.
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