From the early 90s to the mid-00s, strategies dominated the minds of players, receiving well-deserved honor and respect. Alas, their golden age is over: RTS (real-time strategy) cannot compete in entertainment with the next Battlefield, with the dynamics of Overwatch or the plot of Witcher 3. Therefore, gamers have to be content with another replay of the good old classics or wait for the release of the new “Civilization”.

However, not everything is so pessimistic. Our rating of the best strategies will allow us to identify the most worthy representatives of the genre, as well as learn about the latest releases that have given some classic strategies a second life. We hope this TOP 10 will be informative. If not: comments and voting at the bottom of the article will help.

Rating of the best strategies

Stronghold was released during the golden era of RTS - in 2001. At the time, most strategy games tried to emulate either C&C or Warcraft, but Stronghold had other plans.

The game had a well-developed economic component. Although the number of available resources is not far from the standard “wood/iron/gold/stone/food”, an unusual parameter has appeared - “Popularity”. It provided an influx of new residents to the city and depended on many factors: taxation, variety of available food, entertainment.

To hire soldiers, it was not enough to build a barracks. It was necessary to erect buildings that produced weapons. Provide gunsmiths with the necessary building materials. Wait until the limping grandfather, with an imposing gait, delivers a planed bow to the arsenal... Now you can hire one archer. And so with all types of troops! You can’t just set up a barracks and “knock” any units - this was preceded by organization full cycle production of weapons and ammunition. It is not surprising that the game had a number of economic missions that were not inferior in complexity to military ones.

A typical, serene morning in Stronghold Crusader

However, it was not the first part that gained particular popularity, but its sequel: Stronghold Crusaders, which appeared the following year, 2002. As the name suggests, the game was dedicated to the confrontation between the Arabs and the Crusaders. Unfortunately, the castle attack/defense mode disappeared (the only thing worth paying attention to in the first part), but more units appeared, some of which could be hired for gold without producing weapons. Only desert warriors were hired for money, while European soldiers had to continue to be equipped with weapons of their own production.

The game remains popular to this day thanks to multiplayer and the release of the Crusaders Extreme add-on. This is also facilitated by a simple but quite diverse system for constructing fortifications: Stronghold allows you to surround the castle with battlements and high towers, equip them with defensive weapons and archers, install additional traps and dig a moat with water.

The first part of Command & Conquer was released in 1995, becoming at that time a real breakthrough in the genre and posing serious competition to Warcraft and Dune. Many now familiar gameplay features looked revolutionary at that time:

Selecting and directing a group of units with just one click;
The presence of neutral units, buildings and other objects with which you can interact (read “smash into trash”);
System for dividing units by class. The principle of “rock, paper, scissors” appeared - the first type of unit is effective against the second, but vulnerable to the third, etc.;
The game began to use videos and animated screensavers. Paired with a cool soundtrack, they allowed players to “get into” the history of the C&C universe, and not perceive it as just another nameless chessboard to hone their tactical abilities;
The presence of only one resource, Tiberium, is what all the wars in the universe of this game are fought for.

C&C turned out to gain popularity with all that it implies: many gameplay elements were spread across other games, becoming familiar elements of most strategies. In addition to the classic C&C series, which still delights its fans with new releases, two “alternative” versions of the game universe have appeared over time. These are Command & Conquer: Generals (2003) and the Red Allert line of games that have become very popular.

Red Allert

The Soviets, as it were, convey ardent greetings to old man Einstein

Red Allert deserves its own article. This game has absorbed an incredible amount of madness and cranberries on the theme cold war and the confrontation between NATO and the USSR. Here's a brief description of the backstory of the game's universe: after seeing enough of the horrors of World War II, in 1946, old man Einstein decides to build a time machine and go back in time to destroy Hitler. As a result, the scales swung in the other direction: Comrade Stalin decides to build his own, communist Reich, and Europe, together with its allies, still has to fight.

Judge for yourself how successful the game was: 35 million copies were sold worldwide. An entry appeared in the Guinness Book of Records stating that Red Allert is the best-selling RTS in the world. Red Allert 2 and Red Allert 2 were released in 2000 and 2001: Yuri’s Revenge, which are still a classic choice for oldfags. However, for fans of more modern graphics, there is a third part of RA.

Warhammer is a vast fictional universe on which many books, comics, films, computer and board games are based. However, there are two versions of this universe: Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. In the first case, as the name suggests, Warhammer is faithful to the canons of fantasy and pleases fans of Tolkien and other “elves.” And Warhammer 40,000 creates a kind of mix of fantasy and fantasy, pushing the confrontation closer to the stars.

There are about 20 games related to Warhammer 40,000. But only one of them is always associated with the word “Warhammer” by any strategy fan: this is the one and only Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, released in 2004.

Strategy, in the usual sense of the word, is not given much space: the focus is on tactics. Buildings are built quickly, and there are only 2 resources: energy, for which you need to build generators, and special points that you can get by holding checkpoints under enemy pressure.

From the very first minutes, the creators of the game directly state: leave all this fuss with base construction and economic development for the nerds. The WH40K universe was created solely for the purpose of forcing armored paratroopers to fight various monsters (from orcs to more exotic creatures). So no long-term economic development is expected in it: only battles from the first to the last minute.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 looks like it was created for Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear: with a cry of “Power!!!”, the player will scatter all the enemies in his path. Tactics? No, have not heard.

In 2009, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 was released, which received high ratings from players and was thoroughly praised by many gaming publications, but... suddenly it turned out to be not a strategy. Loyal fans of the first part were horrified to discover that the long-awaited Dawn of War 2 began to resemble a Diablo-type RPG more than it did 5 years ago. True, this did not prevent the game from finding its fans, who claim that the multiplayer has retained all the necessary elements of an RTS and is quite satisfactory.

7. Total War

It's funny that Total War and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War are located next door in the ranking of the best strategies, because just in May of this year Total War: Warhammer was released - the first TW dedicated to the Warhammer universe. True, not Warhammer 40,000, but Warhammer Fantasy - so it will, first of all, appeal to fans of fantasy worlds. However, let's talk about everything in order - after all, the release of this game was preceded by 9 other parts, which brought TW worldwide fame.

Home distinctive feature Total War is a successful combination of turn-based mode and RTS: the level of each of them is selected separately. The main action takes place on a global map of the world, in which everything happens step by step. But battles are loaded separately and rapidly develop in real time. Players will have to wisely use the terrain and different types of units, which allows them to gain an advantage even over superior enemy forces.

The first TW came out in 2000. But the series' worldwide fame was brought by its third part, Rome: Total War, which used a 3D engine. As the title suggests, the story took place during the Roman Empire. In addition to the “classic” European nations, Arab empires (Egypt) and even barbarians were available in the game. Depending on the side chosen, not only the units, but also the architecture of the cities differed. Subsequent TWs were never able to surpass the popularity of this part.

In 2013, Rome: Total War II was released - initially buggy, but later brought to mind with the help of numerous patches. Perhaps inspired by Civilization, the developers of Rome 2 added the ability to win not only through conquest, but also through culture and trade. However, this is not the only part, worthy of attention: Napoleon, Attila, Shogun 2 and the previously mentioned Warhammer are also interesting in their own way.

If I had managed to create a product as successful as Warcraft, I would have rested on my laurels for 20 years, wasting all my money in some completely senseless way. But the guys from Blizzard are not like that: having received a well-deserved ovation after the release of Warcraft 2, Blizzard got to work on a space RTS. True, as a result, they still ended up with Warcraft: the beta version was mercilessly criticized and perceived as “orcs in space.” Fortunately, the developers listened to the criticism and completely redesigned the graphics engine and setting. Thus, in 1998, the legendary StarCraft was born.

The game features 3 races: Zerg, Protoss and Terrans, which are borrowed from the Warhammer 40,000 universe (Tyranids, Eldar, Imperial Guard). However, the similarity is extremely superficial: when StarCraft was born, it followed its own path of development - the universe of this game acquired its own characteristics and now has little in common with Warhammer.

In most strategies, in order to maintain a fragile balance, all nations have the same set of units and buildings + several unique buildings/soldiers, which add some variety, but do not fundamentally affect the tactics of the game. StarCraft doesn't care about these canons. All 3 races are completely different:

Zerg far from technology and science, they achieve superiority solely in quantity.
Highly spiritual protoss are the exact opposite of the zerg: every protoss imagines himself as an important person with wealth inner world, therefore it costs a lot of resources, but it also hits, respectively, painfully and strongly.
Terrans(from the word “terra”) represent people in the game. They are the “golden mean” between zerg and protoss.

The beautiful lights of Star Craft 2 lure gullible schoolchildren and cause a skeptical smile from oldfags

Such striking differences between the races gave the game a solid advantage over other RTS, earning it a reputation as a “smart” strategy, in which you not only need to “generate” as large an army as possible, but to think through your actions in advance, demonstrating strategic and tactical skills. Microcontrol also plays an important role: if the Protoss are not particularly demanding on precision control, the success of the offensive operations of other races, especially the Zerg, directly depends on the speed and accuracy of the player’s reaction.

StarCraft II was released in 2010. Modern graphics and excellent multiplayer allowed the game to return to its former glory and take its rightful place in e-sports. Although oldfags claim that the unique balance of the first SC has been partially lost, StarCraft 2 received high ratings from a variety of gaming publications (an average of 9 out of 10) and gave it a second life.

5.Age of Empires

In 1997, the first part of Age of Empires was released: the same Warcraft, only in profile. Instead of fantasy races, the game featured 12 human nations that could develop from the Stone Age to antiquity. This game did not make a splash in the gaming world, but on the whole it was received favorably, which inspired its creators to start working on the second part.

2 years later, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings was released, which became truly legendary. It eclipsed not only the first part, but also many of the then “whales” of this genre, winning over a decent army of fans. In 2000, the add-on Age of Empires II: The Conquerors appeared, which added 5 new nations with unique units, as well as additional missions and technologies to the game. It was this part of the game that became the most popular in the Age of Empires series. What is the reason for its success?

Diversity of nations. There were 18 nations in The Conquerors, many of which were quite exotic: Huns, Teutons, Saracens, Celts, Persians, Aztecs, Mayans, etc. In fact, it was this game that started the fashion for strategies with many different civilizations.
Opportunity for development. The second “feature”, which was implemented for the first time among strategies in AoE 2, is the transition from one historical era to another. All this was accompanied by a fairly extensive tree of technologies, for the research of which it was necessary to build various buildings and spend resources.
Balance. Of course, nations differed not only in color and different designs buildings. Each of them had its own bonuses and unique units. Some had an economic advantage, others had stronger cavalry, others had excellent siege weapons, others had long-range fleets, etc. All this variety was fairly balanced with no clear favorites. As a result, Age of Empires 2 attracted many fans of online battles.

As it turned out, a beautiful picture cannot replace interesting gameplay

Age of Empires III was released in 2005. She wasn't bad, but she didn't come close to the success of her predecessor. As a result, after several addons, Microsoft gave up and, to the delight of fans, returned to Age of Empires 2. In 2013, they released Age of Empires 2: HD edition, and then 2 more addons: The Forgotten (5 new nations, including the Slavs) and The African Kingdoms (4 more nations and “African” campaigns). So today, AoE 2 continues to develop and delight fans with new additions.

4. Cossacks

The success of Age of Empires attracted the attention of many game makers: they stopped trying to create their own "Warcraft" and switched to "Age of Empires" (which was undoubtedly inspired by Warcraft). So the guys from the Ukrainian company GSC Game World created an RTS, which conceptually has a lot in common with AoE.

The game "Cossacks", released in 2001, turned out to be so successful that in the eyes of many domestic strategists it overshadowed "Epoch" for a long time. If you believe "Gaming Mania", then at one time "Cossacks" became the best-selling domestic game (more than 1 million copies).

"Cossacks" continued the idea of numerous gaming nations. In the second addon of the first part, which was called “War Again,” 20 different countries were available. And if in “Epoch” there was not a single Slavic nation, then in “Cossacks” not only Russia, but also Ukraine was available (which is logical, following from the name and geographical location of the developers). There were also more sophisticated nations, like Piedmont and Saxony.

Unlike other strategies, in “Cossacks” resources were spent not only on acquiring units, but also on their maintenance. Without food, famine began, and mercenaries, purchased for gold, rebelled as soon as the treasury was empty. To use firearms, iron and coal were needed - without them, riflemen and artillery were defenseless.

Also in the game it was possible to capture some enemy buildings, artillery and peasants (except for Ukrainian ones, with them as usual: will or death). Compared to Age of Empires, Cossacks seemed more dynamic, allowing you to create an incredible number of some crazy and fearless units - in a network game, the battles of such hordes looked epic and exciting.

Cossacks 2

In 2005, “Cossacks 2” was released: despite the high ratings of many gaming publications, the game did not evoke the same enthusiasm as the first part. Absolutely everything in it has been redesigned: it has become more realistic and thoughtful. No “disputed” nations, raids by hordes of fearless madmen and upgrades of ancient guns to such a degree of efficiency that even Kalashnikov becomes envious.

The battles in “Cossacks II” forced you to take into account the terrain, reload your guns for a long time and monitor the morale of the soldiers, who could become cowardly and rush into chaos. It sounds like a good idea, but in the online game there is no trace of the former fun left.

Cossacks 3

And on September 21, 2016, the long-awaited “Cossacks 3” was released, which no one had even dreamed of. And everything would be fine if it weren’t for the number 3 in the title - everyone was expecting a continuation of the series, but they received a remastering of the first part. The old game was transferred to a new graphics engine, the gameplay was completely taken from the original “Cossacks”. Add to this a decent number of bugs that GSC Game World actively corrected after release using various patches, and you can understand why many gamers felt deceived. Still, GSC should have announced that the game is a remastering of the first part before release, not after him.

3. Heroes of Might and Magic

The first part of the turn-based strategy Heroes of Might and Magic was released back in 1995. Its predecessor was King's Bounty, which appeared back in 1991. But universal love and recognition for HoMM came gradually, covering Heroes of Might and Magic III somewhere closer to 1999.

The action of all “Heroes” takes place in a certain fantasy universe. There are races, but the player is not tied to them: the hero can conquer castles of any factions and hire any available units. So the most diverse and wild brethren can gather under the same banners: elves and skeletons, centaurs and dragons, people and elementals.

Battles take place on a field divided into tiles (hexagons). Units of the same type occupy one cell, regardless of their number. The moves are carried out in turns, while the hero looks at this action from the outside, from time to time trying to help his army by casting various spells. Gradually, the hero gains experience, learns new skills and collects various artifacts that make him better and higher.

HoMM IV came out in 2004 and was received, to put it mildly, ambiguously: there were too many innovations. The main and key innovation concerned the heroes: from passive observers they turned into active participants in battles who could move, cause damage and be attacked like other units. Heroes could travel without troops at all: alone or in a gang of 7 characters. Having pumped up properly, a lone hero could independently take out a large army.

There was also the other side of the coin: if you managed to kill the enemy hero at the beginning of the battle, you could get a solid advantage. For example, it made sense to organize a sabotage attack on the enemy, kill the leader of the army and retreat - the headless army lost the opportunity to capture mines and castles, which forced it to retreat and drag the lifeless carcass of the commander home.

All these innovations have given rise to countless opportunities for controversy and hollivars: since 6 years have passed since the release of the third part, a new generation of gamers has appeared who had never seen “Heroes” before - they liked HoMM4. But those who grew up on the previous parts experienced mixed feelings.

Heroes of Might and Magic V

The debate between supporters and opponents of the fourth part was stopped by the release of Heroes of Might and Magic V, which took place in 2006: yesterday's opponents joined forces in a common impulse to express complaints about cartoon graphics for anime fans. If you close your eyes to the picture, the gameplay of “Heroes 5” was a modernized copy of the third part - obviously, the developers did not experiment in order to make money on the nostalgia of fans of the series.

This is where the classic “Heroes” ends and something completely incomprehensible begins. HoMM 6 and 7 have turned into some kind of alternative product, so far from the original that even “Heroes 4” looks like a standard of kosher against their background. Therefore, most fans of “Heroes” prefer to play the earlier versions, from 3 to 5. But the Third HoMMs remain the most popular. Moreover, the HD version of this game was released in 2015.

2. Civilization

The first “Civilization” appeared in the shaggy year of 1991 and, as they say, was a digital version of the board game of the same name from the early 80s. Since in those days ordinary mortals did not have computers, few people suspected the new strategic toy: mainly employees of research institutes and other interesting enterprises.

Nevertheless, the game turned out to be quite successful: what engineer could resist the temptation after a tense work shift try on the role of Stalin or Gandhi? The presence of the Civilopedia, a detailed gaming encyclopedia, distinguished Civilization from other strategies of that time.

Civilization II

In 1996, Sid Meier and company released the second part of Ziva, which, thanks to the increased prevalence of computers, became a completely successful commercial product. Despite the mediocre graphics, the game had cool moments: for example, during the construction of a wonder of the world, a video clip of a real newsreel was played. You could see the launch of Apollo or nuclear missile, filming the Sistine Chapel or Notre Dame de Paris. In subsequent parts, cinema was replaced by regular animation.

Civilization III

2001 was marked by the release of Civilization III: the first Civ with nice graphics. Even now she looks quite attractive, but in 2001 this picture caused real delight. The gameplay has also undergone certain changes. In Civ 2, players tried not to collect many units on one cell, because... in the event of an enemy attack and the death of one of them, everyone who stood on the cell died. In Civ 3, nothing like this happened: in order to clear the cell of enemies, it was necessary to destroy them all.

Therefore, the obvious and only tactic of waging war in the third Civ: creating a so-called stack - a crowd of motley units on one cell. From time to time a leader would appear who could unite 3 units under his banner. This formation was called an army and was a kind of thick unit with 20HP. With the help of the army it was possible to cut out almost anything.

City Window - the best thing in Civilization III

A signature feature of the second and third Civs was the situation in which a technologically backward unit, having more combat experience, could easily destroy some miracle weapon of the future. For example, in the order of things there was a situation when a spearman tore an enemy tank to shreds with a precise blow, or an archer, properly pulling the bowstring, shot down an enemy bomber. Particularly amusing was the fact that the plane was shot down equally successfully not only by an archer, but also by a swordsman. In subsequent parts this problem was partly solved, but in the first Civs such events gave rise to many attacks of hysteria.

Civilization III had a number of innovations that migrated to all subsequent games in the series: various resources on the map, the Golden Age, cultural influence on neighboring cities, with the help of which it was possible to assimilate a neighboring settlement, a technology tree (in previous parts you had to memorize or write down the sequence discoveries of various sciences).

Civilization IV

Civilization IV, released in 2005, acquired a three-dimensional image. Players who were accustomed to the third Civa were wary of the unusual graphics, which were so different from the previous part. Religion and espionage have appeared in the game (Beyond addon the Sword), and the actions of aviation became more realistic: planes carried out raids from the city and could not be shot down by some harsh spearman. The problem of accumulation of a large number of units on one cell was partly solved precisely by aviation or artillery: all units in the stack received damage from their attack.

2010 came and Civilization V was released. Square cells were replaced by more convenient and practical hexes: with them, state borders got rid of the strange linear angularity and became more believable. The system of accumulating a huge number of units on one cell was completely demolished: now only one military unit could be placed on one hexagon. At the same time, they were made more efficient and stronger.

The maintenance of certain units required the expenditure of strategic resources: horses, iron, oil, coal or uranium. Without them at hand, the state risked being left without cavalry, battleships, nuclear weapons and aviation, which not only added realism, but also forced players to carefully manage resources instead of riveting in incredible quantities whatever they wanted.

The tactic of building as many cities as possible also became obsolete: large empires received penalties for culture and science, and the population began to show discontent. So several different tactics emerged: developing through 4-5 cities with more population, or building more settlements, but with fewer inhabitants in the cities. Victory became possible with just one city (greetings from Venice).

Another innovation: the emergence of city-states that do not claim world domination. Friendship with them brought various bonuses: resources, science, culture or religion points, units and additional votes in Congress.

It is worth noting that many of the functions, as in previous Civs, were added in addons: religion and espionage, caravans, the ability to pass various resolutions in Congress and the UN - all this was not present in the initial version without addons. Therefore, reading reviews about the game, it is not difficult to see how the anger of fans of the series gradually gave way to mercy.

Civilization VI was released on October 21, 2016. Among the notable innovations: 2 technology trees, cultural and scientific, which open independently of each other. Cells around cities must be built up with special areas: scientific, cultural, military, religious, industrial, etc. It’s definitely not possible to build everything - there won’t be enough cells. Moreover, each wonder of the world also requires a separate tile.

It is difficult to describe all the innovations and features of the sixth Civa due to its freshness. But the game has already received the highest ratings from various gaming publications, and reviews on Steam are, by and large, very positive. And this despite the fact that usually the first version of Civilization turns out to be somewhat damp and only over time, with the help of several add-ons, it turns into a masterpiece. But, apparently, the sixth Civilization may become the first representative of the series that is good from the very beginning.

The plot of Warcraft: Orcs and Humans is tied to the confrontation between humans and orcs. As in the film, orcs fall out of a portal into the human world and a struggle begins between them for a place in the sun. However, the first part did not attract much attention - all the glory went to its sequel, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, which was released just a year later. But just look at the changes in the schedule that have occurred in this short period! Add interesting videos and a good plot to a pleasant picture, and that’s it - a masterpiece is ready.

As if “before” and “after” - the year was not in vain

Warcraft III

But we had to wait a long time for the continuation of the banquet - seven whole years. And the first reaction of the gaming community was ambiguous: too many suspicious innovations appeared in the game:

3D engine;
2 races grew into 4 (night elves and undead were added);
Quite a lot of neutral units and monsters appeared on the maps;
Heroes were added to the game, who accumulated experience, upgraded skills and cast all sorts of things (why not RPG?);
The videos have become even brighter and more beautiful;
The plot is even more twisted and pathetic.

The pinnacle of the evolution of the third part was the release of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne in 2003, which gave birth to the memorable DotA game (I’m unlikely to discover America if I remind you that DotA was created in the regular map editor of Warcraft 3 and was not considered as a full-fledged independent game).

Was Warcraft the father of the RTS genre? Of course not. Can we say that this is the best strategy in the world? I'm sure many will disagree with this: C&C and Civilization, HoMM and Total War have solid armies of fans. But, undoubtedly, Warcraft made a significant contribution to the strategy genre and, since it ended up in first place in our rating, it means... *there should be a life-affirming thesis here, but I don’t have a single similar thesis related to Warcraft. Sorry, guys. There will be options - write in the comments*

The plot of the game will take us to the distant future - 2047. After a long lull, the Brotherhood of Nod, led by leader Kane, launches a full-scale offensive against the GDI factions, marking the beginning of hostilities. The Philadelphia orbital station, where the GDI command was located, was blown up. Tiberius continues to spread. The earth is divided into zones with different levels of habitability.

GDI's fight against Tiberium interferes with the plans of the Brotherhood of Nod, because for them it is a valuable source of energy used for military purposes.

According to the scenario of the fantastic strategy StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, raider Jim Raynor controls the resistance forces of the Dominion empire. Raynor, along with his comrade Tychus, intercept alien artifacts from the empire and look for Sarah Kerrigan. However, the sudden attack of the zerg on the planet Mar Sara mixes up all the cards for the Terrans. The Zerg, led by the Queen of Blades, unleash the Second Galactic War. Raynor and his friends manage to fly away, but their mission is not completed. Now the destruction of the zerg has been added to the to-do list.

Stronghold is a real-time economic and military strategy that will take the player to the ancient Middle Ages. The King of England is captured by bloodthirsty dukes, an allusion to the capture of King Richard I the Lionheart. The player is offered to lead the royal army and free the ruler. The character is also entrusted with the cleansing of English territory from the rebellious dukes nicknamed Rat, Boar, Wolf and Snake. In Stronghold you will have to rebuild the castle, conquer hostile territories and defend your positions.

Warcraft is the first part of a long-running real-time strategy game that has captivated millions of players over the years. Perfectly balanced, thoughtful, with a multifaceted plot and vibrant personalities, Warcraft is a game for generations. Many developers followed Blizzard's path, but they hardly managed to create an equally successful and massive product. To this day, Warcraft remains the standard for high-quality and varied games, combining novelty and excellent graphics, years ahead of its time.

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is another part of the beloved Age of Empires. The game takes place over many thousands of years. There are 13 nations available for management, with which you can go through all eras of development.

To complete all the missions you will need to defeat opponents, collect relics, and also be able to build a Wonder of the World. The game also features a multiplayer mode (up to 8 players), which will allow you to fight on large maps, winning all battles and sieges.

Heroes of Might and Magic V immerses you in the bustling life of Ashan. Or rather, to the wedding ceremony of the king of the Griffin Empire Nikolos with the beautiful Isabelle. Suddenly, the ceremony is interrupted by a terrible horde of demons attacking the service. And this is a treacherous and arrogant declaration of war on the human race. The king is forced to go on a campaign, and hides the failed bride in his palace brother- Godric. However, Isabelle is not your typical princess. Neglecting individual safety, she desperately tries to help her betrothed.

The fifth heroes differ from the first four chapters of the franchise, with full 3D graphics. Also, the gamer will be pleasantly surprised by the appearance of new races, heroes, creatures and redesigned schools of magic. Six are waiting for the player unique companies and more than thirty missions.

In the game Sid Meiers Civilization V, the developers have implemented many innovations. The method of warfare has completely changed, and the system of diplomatic relations has deepened. The map is already divided into hexagons, while the previous version of the game had squares. Due to this form, additional opportunities are opened up for the player. Here you can come up with more attractive and interesting landscapes.

Thanks to the use of an updated engine, the gamer dissolves in the atmosphere of an exciting game. Diplomatic contact is carried out in the entire window, using animation. Communication takes place in languages convenient for the participant in the game. The modernized combat system allows you to reach the enemy from a distance.

Total War: Shogun 2 has become a great continuation of the famous strategy. As many as nine different clans with individual characteristics, single-player mode and the possibility of battles via the Internet. Realistic battles, as well as full-fledged, exciting castle sieges, will require you to demonstrate tactical skill. Among other things, changes also affected naval battles. So, for example, you can use islands as cover for your own ships.

Homeworld Remastered Collection is not a reboot of the series, but rather a re-release of the original games (which are also included in the package). Textures and models were reworked, all video inserts were re-shot, and the same actors were invited to participate in them. Among the innovations, it is worth noting the appearance of a multiplayer mode based on both parts of the original game, including playable races, game modes and maps. It has also become possible to run on more modern screen resolutions.

From the early 90s to the mid-00s, strategies dominated the minds of players, receiving well-deserved honor and respect. Alas, their golden age is over: RTS (real-time strategy) cannot compete in entertainment with the next Battlefield, with the dynamics of Overwatch or the plot of Witcher 3. So we have to be content with another replay of the good old classics or wait for the release of the new “Civilization”.

10. Stronghold

Stronghold was released during the golden era of RTS - in 2001. At the time, most strategy games tried to emulate either C&C or Warcraft, but Stronghold had other plans. Although critics try to claim that this strategy did not bring anything significantly new to its genre, its fans will argue with this and, in my opinion, they will be right.

Stronghold had a fairly developed and extensive economic component. Although the number of available resources is not far from the standard “wood/iron/gold/stone/food”, the game has introduced such an unusual parameter as “Popularity”. It provided an influx of new residents to the city and depended on many factors: taxation, variety of available food, entertainment (taverns with ale) and other things.

To hire soldiers, it was not enough to build a barracks. It was necessary to erect buildings that produced weapons. Provide the gunsmiths with the necessary building material, wait until the limping grandfather with an imposing gait delivers a hand-planed bow to the arsenal, and only after that can you hire... as much as one archer. And so with all types of troops! It was impossible to simply set up a barracks and “click” any units - this was preceded by the organization of a full cycle of production of weapons and ammunition. It is not surprising that the game had a number of economic missions that were not inferior in complexity to military ones.

A typical, serene morning in Stronghold Crusader

However, it was not the first part that gained particular popularity, but its sequel: Stronghold Crusaders, which was released the following year, 2002. As the name suggests, the game was dedicated to the confrontation between the Arabs and the Crusaders. Unfortunately, the castle attack/defense mode disappeared (the only thing worth paying attention to in the first part), but more units appeared, some of which could be hired for gold without producing weapons. Only desert warriors were hired for money, while European soldiers had to continue to be equipped exclusively with weapons of their own production.

The game remains popular to this day thanks to multiplayer and the release of various add-ons (for example, Crusaders Extreme in 2008). This is also facilitated by a simple but quite diverse system for constructing fortifications: Stronghold allows you to surround the castle with high battlements and tall towers, equip them with defensive weapons and archers, install additional traps or dig a ditch with water around the perimeter.

Of course, there is an equally large arsenal of siege weapons, from rams and ladders to catapults and trebuchets, which can fire at enemy fortifications not only with stones, but also... with cows. Add to this the ability to start a fire in the enemy’s city or undermine its economy with the help of hunger: the choice of combat strategy is quite extensive, as for an RTS. This variety made the game quite interesting for online play.

Players could select an entire group of units and command them with just one click;
There were neutral units, buildings and other objects on the map that could be interacted with (read “smashed into trash”);
It was in C&C that the system of dividing units into classes, such as “rock, paper, scissors”, first appeared - the first type of unit is effective against the second, but vulnerable to the third, etc.;
The game began to use videos and animated cutscenes, paired with a cool soundtrack, allowing players to “get into” the history of the C&C universe, and not perceive it as just another nameless chessboard to hone their tactical abilities;
Another signature feature of Command & Conquer is the presence of only one resource, Tiberium - it is for this that all wars in the universe of this game are fought.

C&C turned out to be incredibly popular with all that it implies: many gameplay elements were spread across other games, becoming familiar elements of most strategies. In addition to the classic C&C series, which still delights its fans with new releases, two “alternative” versions of the C&C universe have appeared over time. These are Command & Conquer: Generals (2003) and the Red Allert line of games that have become very popular.

Red Allert

The Soviets, as it were, convey ardent greetings to old man Einstein

Red Allert deserves its own article. This game has absorbed an incredible amount of madness and cranberries on the theme of the Cold War and the confrontation between NATO and the USSR. Here is a brief description of the backstory of the universe of this game: after seeing enough of the horrors of World War II, old man Einstein in 1946 decides to build a time machine and go back in time to destroy Hitler. As a result, the scales swung in the other direction: Comrade Stalin decides to build his own, communist Reich, and Europe, together with its allies, still has to fight.

Judge for yourself how successful the game was: 35 million copies were sold worldwide, and an entry appeared in the Guinness Book of Records stating that Red Allert is the best-selling RTS in the world. Red Allert 2 and Red Allert 2 were released in 2000 and 2001: Yuri’s Revenge, which are still a classic choice for oldfags. However, for fans of more modern graphics, there is a third part of RA.

Warhammer is a vast fictional universe on which many books, comics, films, computer and board games are based. However, there are two versions of this universe: Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. In the first case, as the name suggests, Warhammer is faithful to the canons of fantasy and pleases fans of Tolkien and other “elves.” And Warhammer 40,000 creates a mix of fantasy and science fiction, pushing the confrontation closer to the stars.