So let's talk PC strategy games
 

Which ones do I need to play?

I'm suddenly strategy-curious after playing a few on the DS (Advance Wars, Age of Empires, Anno 1701, Sim City DS if that counts), coupled with my old experiences with Age of Empires II, the only RTS I've ever played. I never realized how fun they can be.

I am currently enjoying Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Before that I used to play Warcraft 3. Both fun.

You should try some turn based ones too. Get Battle for Wesnoth. It's free and you can download it from www.wesnoth.org - very addictive fun little game.

StarCraft. The one and only.

Homeworld 1, 2 & Cataclysm.
Star Craft + Brood wars.
Freedom Force + Third Reich.

The Command and Conquer and War Craft games are alright as well, just not as good as the before mentioned.

warcraft 3 and it will run on older computers like a dream.
Starcraft.

If you have a beefier computer, try command and conquer 3.

And I agree with Freedom Force, one of the most underrated strategy/RPG games ever by people.

Also if you liked Advanced Wars: Dual Strike for the DS (my personal favorite game on the handheld), you can try its prequel Advanced Wars for the GBA if you can find it.

OK so for sure I'll play these in the near future:
Age of Empires II + Conquerors
Age of Mythology + Titans
Age of Empires III
Starcraft + Broodwar
Warcraft III + Frozen whatever
Total Annihilation + expansions and official units
Homeworld + sequels (this sounds really cool, thanks MdaG)
Comman & Conquer series perhaps

Jesus there's a ton of these games. Advance Wars is a no-brainer. I still haven't beaten Dual Strike, though.

The Homeworld games are apart from Freedom Force my favorite RTS games. They're beautiful to watch, has an artistic look to them, has one of the most moving scenes ever accompanied to Adagio for Strings as well as an interesting story. When it comes to Freedom Force it boils down to one thing, do you like super heroes or not? If so, make sure you don't miss this gem. It doesn't get any better than this for any Marvel/DC comic fan.

I'd like to put in a recommendation for the Galactic Civilizations games. I've played the first two, and they're quite fun and creative spacey 4X games. If you do buy them, make sure you visit the Stardock website, since they put out free updates/upgrades and add-ons frequently for GC2 and the expansion. :D

If you're in an oldie mood, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is also enjoyable.

Peace & Luv, Liz

That's a lot of gameplay hours.

I played a lot of Advance Wars, it's addictive. I find strategy games are much better in multiplayer than single player, although the C&C cutscenes are hilarious. Total Annihilation was way ahead of its time, and Age of Empire series is solid (Empire Earth is a similar game).

If you're playing singleplayer, I recommend Starcraft, Warcraft 3, and C&C. For multiplayer, Red Alert 2, Total Annilation, Age of Empire 2.

Perhaps modern RTS games are the way to go:

Civilization IV
Rise of Nations
Surpreme Commander
Dawn of War
Rome: Total War
C&C3
Age of Empire III

These are made by the same people who made the other games in this thread (apart from Advance Wars and Galactic Civilizations).

And after that, to break the spell of repetition: UFO - Enemy Unknown, Myth - The Fallen Lords, Jagged Alliance 2 (still need to aquire a copy of that myself actually heh), Commandos - Behind Enemy Lines. See ya the year after next year! :D

edit: Forget about Myth, or try the demo first, the interface and controls are fairly obsolete by now. Sad, that. Unfortunately Bungie are pretty much entirely freakin' Halo these days..

D'oh, I can't believe I forgot about Jagged Alliance 2, which is definitely on my "awesome games" list. Probably because in many ways it feels a lot more like a combat-oriented RPG than it does a strategy game. Lots of dialogue, quests, puzzles, stat-boosting, and such, and your squad of mercenaries feels a lot like an RP party.

Peace & Luv, Liz

Heroes of Might and Magic games are fun too. Turn based and very different to any of the abovenentioned.

the 2nd one was kinda boring :Z imo
a Classic this one! good memory ;)

Now, if you liked Advance Wars (DS\GBA), try Fire Emblem (made by the same people).. DS release only in November, but there's a GBA version, a great game! its a Turn-Based Strategy RPG

http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/458/458227p1.html

X-com/UFO series are still great. I can play them now and get easily hooked again.

Jagged Alliance 1 & 2, ah get the mercenaries combination wrong and you have your hands full. Fun game though i never got to play part 2 , only 1.

Master of Magic has simplified graphics but has great replay value and a great game.

Dungeon Keeper 1 & 2 are little fun games that lets you play the bad guy.

Space Hulk - tough and very tense , can be pretty scary game with the dark corridors and echos and with those damn genestealers on your radar closing in for the kill.

It's impossible that you won't find something to like about Dungeon Keeper :D

Populous: The Beginning - a great (and fun) game about shamans and stuff.. also from Bullfrog

If you have a top of the line PC, try Supreme Commander. I saw it in action once (my own pc can't handle it) and it looked epic.

http://www.screwylightbulb.com/dl/1.gif http://www.screwylightbulb.com/dl/2.gif http://www.screwylightbulb.com/dl/3.gif

And that is? Looks like one of those games you start playing and after half an hour you're hooked.