Highlights
- Real-time strategy games have evolved to incorporate different forms and perspectives, including isometric, top-down, and first-person views.
- Winter Falling: Battle Tactics is an indie game that combines turn-based tactics with real-time strategy, featuring a unique icon-based aesthetic and gameplay.
- Command & Conquer Remastered Collection updates the classic top-down graphics of the original games while retaining their old-school charm and offering a friendlier UI.
Real-time strategy games have continued to evolve since their heyday in the 90s and the early 2000s, taking on many different forms and perspectives. Many RTS games take on an isometric approach in 3D environments, while games like Mount & Blade put players on the ground from a third/first-person perspective, completely changing the feel of the game.
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However, due to technical and/or budget restraints, a lot of RTS games use a top-down perspective (a "bird's eye view"), often in 2D. Newer games also use the top-down perspective, sometimes completely forgoing the isometric perspective entirely, though this is often found in indie games.
8 Winter Falling: Battle Tactics
This indie game has a unique icon-based aesthetic and gameplay that combines turn-based tactics with real-time strategy inspired by games like Total War, FTL, and Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat.
In Winter Falling: Battle Tactics, players control a band of mercenaries, scouting out their enemies before each battle from a bird's eye view and wearing them down before sending in their troops. Once the battle begins, players can control their units through unique messenger pigeons with their own cooldowns. Although the game's visuals are simplistic, the game is extremely easy on the eyes and highly readable, allowing each unit to be instantly recognizable.
7 Warcraft 2
As the second entry in the wildly popular Warcraft series of RTS games in the 90s and early 2000s, Warcraft 2 is often overshadowed by its successor, Warcraft 3, which was released seven years later in 2002. However, Warcraft 2 is a charming top-down RTS game of orcs and humans battling it out over various territories.
The sprite work of Warcraft 2 is detailed and charming, with bright colors and easily identifiable characters. The gameplay is reminiscent of many classic RTS games, but the amount of strategic options available to the player, as well as the good level of challenge it offers, make Warcraft 2 a memorable experience.
6 Total Annihilation
With a spiritual successor in the form of the revered Supreme Commander series, Total Annihilation was an influential top-down RTS game that features 3D units and environments from a top-down perspective.
Total Annihilation is known for its sci-fi theme and over-the-top weaponry and units that could be criticized for being unbalanced in places. The game is unique for revolving around "Commanders," powerful units that can create structures and other units themselves. Because of this, most matches of Total Annihilation revolve around destroying the enemy's Commander.
5 Mindustry
Mindustry combines the resource gathering and automation of Factorio with traditional tower defense mechanics and RTS elements to create a distinct blend that provides a truly unique and addictive experience.
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In Mindustry, players are tasked with building supply chains to gather materials for constructing and providing their defenses with ammunition. Players can also construct mech units to help defend their base, or take the offensive and attack the enemy head-on, capturing territory and slowly expanding their influence on the map. Furthermore, Mindustry features online cooperative play and PvP.
4 Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal
This strangely unique RTS game has players fighting off a fluid-like alien substance that continuously spreads across each map. As the liquid spreads, players must build up their economy, defenses, and units to prevent the spread and destroy the source.
The game's aesthetic may not be the most visually pleasing, but its uniform appearance fits with the game's tone, and the style is consistent. The constantly spreading alien substance keeps players worrying about multiple lines of defense, making the positioning of units and structures incredibly important. Although Creeper World 3 features a plethora of handcrafted levels, it also has an in-game map editor for players to use, should they want to continue after beating the game.
3 Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
The Command & Conquer series is one of the most revered RTS franchises in gaming history, known for its genre-defining mechanics and narrative, tongue-in-cheek video inserts. There are plenty of great Command & Conquer games, but the originals offer a classic top-down RTS experience.
This remastered edition of the classic Command & Conquer and Red Alert games upgrades the top-down graphics of the originals while keeping its old-school charm intact. Furthermore, players can switch between the new and old graphics at will, the music has been remastered, and there's a friendlier, updated UI that makes the game much more accessible.
2 Particle Fleet: Emergence
This spin-off of the Creeper World games has players designing and building fleets of spaceships to battle an unpredictable abstract enemy visualized by a physics particle simulation.
The gameplay focuses on managing an energy economy while fighting off the particle-based enemy, managing multiple defenses, and positioning the fleet. Managing the fleet is simple and intuitive, allowing for multiple ships to be moved and rotated at once. Particle Fleet: Emergence also features a narrative for those who are interested, and a dramatic soundtrack to match its tone.
1 Rusted Warfare
This retro RTS has gameplay that's reminiscent of Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander, and it's clearly influenced by these titles. However, despite its old-school aesthetic and gameplay, Rusted Warfareis cheap, accessible, and built for more modern audiences.
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Despite its similarities to Total Annihilation, Rusted Warfare has no "Commander" unit to control. Instead, players build their base around a single command building. There's also only one resource to manage in Rusted Warfare, simplifying the game and smoothing out the learning curve dramatically, making this top-down RTS perfect for newcomers.