Key points
- Strategy games range from turn-based to real-time, with multiplayer experiences often adding to the gameplay experience.
- Total War: Shogun 2's complex strategic gameplay makes it suitable for long multiplayer sessions with up to 2 players.
- Games like Wargame: Red Dragon and StarCraft 2 offer refined multiplayer experiences with strategic complexity and historical accuracy.
Strategy games have always been popular and date back to the very early days of gaming. They come in many flavors, from 4X strategy games that can take days or even weeks to complete a campaign, to simpler real-time strategy games that can be played in short sessions.
When it comes to multiplayer in strategy games, the best ones tend to provide a modified gameplay experience from that available in the single-player experience. Some of these games helped challenge the genre. Others were and still are the backbone of competitive eSports tournaments and professional gaming.
7 Total War: Shogun 2
Japanese Feudal Style Fighting
Total War: Shogun 2 is a game that combines aspects of turn-based grand strategy gameplay with real-time strategy battles. A combination that the franchise has repeatedly exploited with great success. Bringing this gameplay to a multiplayer environment must have been quite a challenge.
Total War: Shogun 2 It is on this list because it is a game that perfectly combines strategic multiplayer gameplay on the main map with real-time multiplayer battles on the tactical map. A multiplayer match can last for many hours, especially with more than 2 players.
6 Wargame: Red Dragon
Fight the Cold War
Wargame: Red Dragon is a real-time tactical warfare game. It is set in the Cold War era. Players fight on one of several included maps, based on real-world geographic regions. Most of the available units are historically accurate to some extent.
The game relies heavily on real warfare tactics of the time, taking advantage of the strengths and weaknesses of each unit type. Players must understand the military strategy required to defeat other players in multiplayer, as concepts such as encirclement and other positional attacks come into play in this excellent multiplayer military strategy game.
5 Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos
Four factions fight for supremacy
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos is a classic Western RTS game in every sense. It uses established fantasy tropes such as the races of Men, Elves, Undead and Orcs. It follows the old school RTS gameplay of gathering resources, building a defensive base and training various units to create an invading army,
The game is on this list simply because it offers pure and classic RTS multiplayer gameplay, in the same vein as Astronaut AND Command and Conquer. Skirmish battles were fast, furious, and over pretty quickly. Simply put, it was fun and not too complicated.
4 StarCraft 2 Role Playing Game
A modern update to StarCraft
As far as real-time strategy games go, StarCraft 2 Role Playing Game is a huge success. One of the first games to be used as the basis for big-buck eSports tournaments, and still popular today. A game that is both simple to learn and complex to master.
Why did he do it? StarCraft 2 Role Playing Game create this list and the original Astronaut didn't he do it? Simply because StarCraft 2 Role Playing Game offers a much more refined multiplayer experience. StarCraft 2 Role Playing Game It takes you back to the days when developers wrote netcode for gaming via modem and all the disadvantages of that. StarCraft 2 Role Playing Game It's much more modern and plays very well in multiplayer mode.
3 Age of Empires 2
Historical RTS with great multiplayer
As a single player game, Age of Empires 2 has a lot to offer, with its exquisitely crafted setting that focuses on historical civilizations. It incorporates research, resource management, and multiple ways to win the campaign. But how does this complexity translate into the multiplayer experience?
The developers have done a fantastic job of incorporating multiplayer into Age of Empires 2. They have retained the complexity of the offline game and managed to add a level of strategic complexity beyond the usual skirmish style of gameplay that other strategy games offer. No two games are the same, as players fight to gain control of the game map.
2 Command & Conquer: Generals
Fast-paced RTS combat
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, macOS, classic Mac OS
- Released: 2003
- Developer: Danger Close, Aspyr, EA Pacific, i5works
- Genre: Real-time strategy, Action game, Adventure game, Strategy
THE Command and Conquer The franchise has done much to define the RTS genre. However, the choice of Command & Conquer: Generals for this list might, at first glance, seem a bit strange. The single-player experience in this game has been criticized, mostly because it strayed from tried and tested mechanics.
However, it is those very changes that have been criticized that make it such a great multiplayer game. Command & Conquer: Generals It's much faster paced than previous games in the series, and also requires the player to capture certain areas of the map and defend them. Overall, it's a fun and action-packed game even with just 2 players. With 4 or more players, it's pure chaos.
1 Age of Mythology
Exercises divine powers
Age of Mythology definitely deserves the top spot on this list. With almost grand strategy gameplay elements like resource management and base building, it still manages to pull off some fast-paced real-time combat.
During multiplayer matches, players have access to all the tools and abilities of the single-player experience. This includes all the mythic units and, more importantly, all the god-like powers they can unlock. This results in a real-time strategy game that is much deeper than simply building a defensive base and then launching an endless stream of units at enemy players. Simply put, multiplayer in Age of Mythology requires strategic thinking and thoughtful decisions.
