10 – Starcraft II

Here’s another title that could (and might have, eventually) have a list of its own as well. Starcraft II is, after Age of Empires II, the most well-known RTS game ever made. While Age of Empires II became popular mostly because of its historical themes and singleplayer content, Starcraft II is still the premier choice for players who want to test their mettle in multiplayer, and it’s still the RTS to go and play if you’re looking for a competitive experience like no other. Of course, singleplayer-minded folk need not worry, because Starcraft II came out during a time when Blizzard was at the top of their storytelling game, and the SC2 campaigns are some of the best ever made. As for mechanics, all the basics are here, nailed down to perfection.

9 – Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

If we were to rank this list on influential titles, I don’t think anyone would contest that Warcraft III should rank supreme amongst all. This title alone is responsible for birthing World of Warcraft, which in turn made the MMO the most dominant genre in gaming for well over a decade, with its influence still being felt to this very day. It was also the basis for the Defense of the Ancients mod, also leading to a new genre being born, that of MOBAs. Released in 2002, and having all the hallmarks of a great traditional RTS, Warcraft III innovated by focusing the gameplay around its hero units, which had active abilities and would slowly develop the more experience they accrued, being one of the first instances of an RTS game being mixed with RPG mechanics, a trend all too familiar these days.

8 – Stronghold: Definitive Edition and Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition

I remember being in an FNAC store, back when stores would have games on display on PCs and consoles for you to try them out, and I vividly remember seeing someone play Stronghold and being quite intrigued by two things: First, the graphics, which looked so realistic to 9-year-old me. The second was the fact that, unlike Age of Empires 2, the player was able to put arches on top of the walls. What a wild concept, I know. For some reason, I forgot about that for the next couple of months until one of my cousis got this cool new game for Christmas called Stronghold, and when we first played it together, that core memory was unlocked for good, and I have since become a massive fan of Stronghold, to the point where I always have the game install in whatever PC I’m currently using at the moment.

Like Age of Mythology: Retold, the best way to experience Stronghold in 2026 is to pick up the Definitive Editions, either for Stronghold or Stronghold Crusader, which add a whole plethora of improvements, like 4K graphics, new singleplayer and multiplayer content, new units, AI Lords, and a ton of quality-of-life improvements.

7 – Company of Heroes

Before you start typing away in the comments section about how Company of Heroes has nothing to do with Age of Empires II, do hear me out. The year was 2006, and by then Age of Empires II had been out for 7 years, and the RTS genre had been on a downward spiral, with World War 2 shooters being the gaming scene darling. When Company of Heroes came out, it completely broke the RTS mold that had been popularized and mostly standardized by AoE II all those years ago. The basics are all there, with resource gathering being present in the form of capture points, base building was mostly the same, but allowed for a lot more defensive options, and the biggest revolution came with combat, with the team at Relic going to great lengths to transform combat from traditional doom-stacking to making sure that superior tactics trounce bigger numbers. Also, there’s a definitive edition coming out soon, so this is a great time to jump back into this classic if you never had the chance!

6 – American Conquest

The early 2000s were an amazing time to be an RTS player. As we have seen by going down this list, almost all of these classics were released within months of each other! Welcome to the fray, American Conquest, which came out of Ukraine in 2002, by GSC Game World (more famous for creating the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Cossacks series of games). American Conquest takes the basic gameplay mechanics of Cossacks (more on Cossacks next), which in turn was inspired by AoE II, and placed the game’s setting during the European discovery of the Americas, something that’s seldom explored in gaming, and even less so in strategy. That alone is enough for me to recommend American Conquest, especially if you enjoy Cossacks as well as Age of Empires II.

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