Was wondering if anyone out there could provide/suggest some good fantasy RTS (or turn-based) games for the PC?
Thanks in advance,
AJC
In real-time, there's not a huge amount out there that's good. WARHAMMER: MARK OF CHAOS is meh whilst WARCRAFT 1, 2 and 3 are decent but not great (WC3 suffers in particular from trying to be STARCRAFT but just isn't anywhere near as good).
AGE OF MYTHOLOGY and its expansion, THE TITANS, is decent fun, especially if you are already familiar with the AGE OF EMPIRES series. It's not fantastic, but it does its job well. TOTAL ANNIHILATION: KINGDOMS is also okay, but gets a bit repetitive.
THE BATTLE FOR MIDDLE-EARTH is weak but also hilarious, especially since the game lets you change the plot of the books/movies, so Boromir can survive the battle on Amon Hen and the Balrog can put in an appearance on the Pelennor Fields. BATTLE FOR MIDDLE-EARTH II is actually much better, with stronger gameplay and turn-based strategic mode which is not very deep, but adds longevity to the game.
I would STRONGLY recommend checking out the THIRD AGE: TOTAL WAR and WESTEROS: TOTAL WAR mods for MEDIEVAL II: TOTAL WAR, which are excellent mods to a pretty good game which mixes a much stronger turn-based strategic mode with a real-time battlefield mode which emphasises the use of proper battlefield tactics. There's also a lot of other fantasy mods based on the game as well.
For purely turn-based, the classic HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC series is worth a look.
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An Excellent Fantasy RTS I am surprised no one mentioned is Spellforce. THis is a great game I had a lot of fun with. Both the original and sequel.
Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions - will be doing some research this weekend.
AJC
If you enjoy(ed) Warcraft and/or Starcraft, I highly recommend Battle Realms. Made by Ubisoft and Feudal(Fantasy) Japan theme. Still sells for around $30, but comes with the expansion now. It plays and feels just like a Blizzard product in a different setting, and unique enough to not be boring for the same reason.
One of my all time favorites would be Total Annihilation by Cavedog, robot theme. Amazing soundtrack. Huge community support with 3rd party created units. Available with 2 expansions for under $20 now. Great RTS game, though not fantasy-themed.
Cavedog attempted a fantasy version, Total Annihilation: Kingdoms, but it bombed pretty bad. I didn't think Kingdoms was all that bad, but without the community support the original had it died a horrible death. They went on to create the Dungeon Siege(co-op rpg) series as 'Gas Power Games' under Microsoft Corp. (Think Diablo in 'real' 3D)
Both games have large, colorful, well-drawn units... I don't like itty-bitty units that disappear behind scenery, like in the Command & Conquer series.
One of my all time favorites would be Total Annihilation by Cavedog, robot theme. Amazing soundtrack. Huge community support with 3rd party created units. Available with 2 expansions for under $20 now. Great RTS game, though not fantasy-themed.
Cavedog attempted a fantasy version, Total Annihilation: Kingdoms, but it bombed pretty bad. I didn't think Kingdoms was all that bad, but without the community support the original had it died a horrible death. They went on to create the Dungeon Siege(co-op rpg) series as 'Gas Power Games' under Microsoft Corp. (Think Diablo in 'real' 3D)
TA was AWESOME! Man I loved that game. Kingdoms was crap. Absolutely awful imo. Flying units were useless because the couldn't fire unless they were in "open airspace", so you get more than a couple of them and they do this dance where they fly strafing runs but don't actually shoot and instead get eaten alive by AA fire. Also, the defenses were too strong: a porcupine strategy was virtually unbreakable in my experience. The death dudes had these lightning towers, a couple of them on a choke point made it impassible because most units were melee.
Thanks again for all the suggestions. Picked up a copy of Torchlight this past weekend (pretty sure I saw the link somewhere on the boards here) and am having a great time carving up baddies. Not exactly an RTS, but fun nonetheless.
AJC