5 – Rise of Nations: Extended Edition
I know that some of you are looking at this list and wondering why the heck Rise of Nations is at number 5, and not at the number 1 spot. Well, the first reason is that this list is my opinion, and not the AI slop you find online, and second, I have played almost all of these games concurrently, as they came out, so I have very clear chronolgoical timeline in my mind of what games made the biggest splash in the gaming scene following the success of Age of Empires II, and the truth is, that Rise of Nations came after a ton of other games that had a much larger impact in gaming, like Empire Earth, Cossacks, and Stronghold. Rise of Nations took concepts from those titles, and refined them to near perfection: it took Empire Earth’s massive scope, the complexity of Cossacks combat, and the basic RTS mechanics of Age of Empires II to create a title that has become beloved by fans all over the world, and is arguably still remembered as one of the best RTS games to have ever granced out CTR screens.
It’s just that when I first picked it up, I had already experienced most of what it had to offer in other games. Still, I do recognize how amazing Rise of Nations was, and I even convinced my dad to buy me a new PC for me to play it way back in 2003 or 2004.
4 – Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
What if I told you that there’s a Star Wars RTS that is not Empire at War, and it’s a direct descendant from Age of Empires II? Well, to be more direct, Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds is Age of Empires with a Star Wars skin, and that’s not even a knock at the game. In fact, the game was developed by LucasArts and Ensemble Studios, and was built using the Genie Engine of AoE and AoE II. Everything else aside from it being a Star Wars game is Age of Empires at its core; the resources have been changed around, but they serve the same purpose, and combat is essentially just replacing hand cannoneers for Stormtroopers. This is very much worth experiencing just for the single-player aspect of the game and its phenomenal campaigns, especially if you love the Star Wars universe like myself.
3 – Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
It’s fascinating how many people I have come across during my time playing RTS games and being a part of this Strategy and Wargaming community that have played thousands of hours of AoE II, but have never picked up (or even heard about!) the original game. Even I have come to learn about Age of Empires well after playing Age of Empires II, but since I was about 10 years old back then, with no internet access (because I do live in Portugal), I kind of have an excuse. All jokes aside, the original Age of Empires is a great game in its own right, and it was here that the base mechanics that AoE II made famous were first established, like resource gathering, tech-tree research, and progression through the ages. Besides its historical significance to gaming, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is a pretty fantastic game with a very interesting ancient-era setting that feels remarkably different from its successor, and is well worth going through.
2 – Cossacks: Back to War
Before we go into the game that I think mostly resembles Age of Empires II in all the best ways possible, we have to do a pitstop and talk about Cossacks: Back to War. Released in 2002, Cossacks felt like Age of Empires II on steroids. First, it ditched the Medieval time-frame for the Renaissance and the Age of Sail. The scale was so enormous (for a 2002 game) that when Cossacks removed the 200-unit limit that AoE II had, it genuinely felt like a next-gen RTS. The resource gathering also changed, and wood, gold, food, and stone were now complemented by iron and coal, which were instrumental in warfare, as early muskets and cannons now required them to be manufactured and supplied. Combat became mostly ranged-based, and Cossacks added formation options to better replicate the feeling of controlling battle lines, as Medieval face-to-face encounters were now a lot rarer. Even the naval aspects gained a lot more prominence, with units like Ships of the Line being devastating if left unchecked. I have very fond memories of Cossacks: Back to War, and it’s to this very day, one of my favorite RTS in history.
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