10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

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Age of Empires IV is one of the best strategy games out there but these 10 great titles should be sought out before playing.

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10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

Age of Empires is one of the most popular video game strategy franchises of all time, and it helped open doors for other developers to capitalize on the formula, and draw players in. Its focus on balancing resource management with epic battles has turned it into a legend, and Microsoft is now ready to drop the fourth installment on the franchise on us in short order.

Before Age of Empires IV goes gold, it’s wise to go back and have a go at some of the best strategy video games ever released. Not all have to focus on ancient history, either. Some of the best take players into the cold recesses of outer space, while others can take them on adventures through fantasy lands with mythological monsters lurking around every corner.

10 Ashes Of The Singularity

10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

It may not be the best of the bunch, but Ashes of the Singularity does its best to take a page out of Starcraft’s strategy game playbook. Its claim to fame lies in the scope of its space battles which allow players to oversee thousands of troops at any given time, as opposed to dozens on a battlefield.

This means less individual micro-managing of units as they pertain to a smaller-scale battle, and more emphasis on overall direction. Some prefer this style, others do not. The fact that the game required an entirely customized engine to leverage multicore processors is a testament to its ambition, and Ashes of the Singularity definitely deserves praise for that.

9 Homeworld: Remastered

10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

The original Homeworld took RTS gaming by storm, and changed the way players interacted with a 3D space. For the first time, gamers were able to chart nav points, explore large maps, and engage in massive space battles on three separate axis, as opposed to ground-based strategy games like Command & Conquer.

This, combined with haunting music, amazing graphics and a truly gripping sci-fi storyline made Homeworld one of the best strategy games ever released. The game and its sequel material received a massive graphical and UI upgrade in 2015 with the release of the Homeworld: Remastered collection, inviting an entirely new generation of players to experience the magic and majesty of the story.

8 Starcraft 2

10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

The long road to Starcraft 2’s development was over 10 years in the making, but the resulting game pleased hardcore fans of the original. The Starcraft series is best known for its rabid fan base, particularly in South Korea, and its highly competitive (and lucrative) tournaments that attract the best players from around the globe.

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Critics and players praised the massive bump in graphical quality and effects, the refining of traditional Starcraft RTS mechanics, and add-on packs like the much-loved Wings of Liberty chapter. It’s already over a decade old at this point, which means a third chapter could be around the corner, but that remains to be seen.

7 Warcraft III

10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

Long before World of Warcraft redefined the MMORPG genre (and took over the lives of millions of players in the process), fans of the series were busy playing the original strategy titles. This helped set the lore that would later expand into the World of Warcraft universe, giving players a kind of launching off point.

Warcraft III remains the most popular of the first three titles, and for good reason. The game was lauded for its strategy game mechanics, brilliant graphics, and highly detailed units, not to mention excellent (for the time) cinematics. The true linchpin of the game was the storyline, which is no surprise for anyone who has even a novice-level knowledge of the Warcraft universe.

6 Supreme Commander

10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

Although the Age of Empires series takes place in Earth’s historical past, that’s no reason to overlook a little science fiction futurism in strategy game peers like Supreme Commander. This RTS title won accolades and awards for its massive large-scale battles that even took advantage of multi-monitor setups.

Gameplay-wise, Supreme Commander is a monster of a game, and that can be a bit daunting for first-time players. Some missions are notoriously difficult and require players to constantly be on the move to keep from being overwhelmed by enemy forces. Battles can take hours to complete, which just goes to show the scope of the game. It’s one of the coolest sci-fi strategy titles on the market, however.

5 Halo Wars

10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

Halo is practically a pop culture phenomenon at this point, and it gained its status thanks to an extremely accessible series of FPS titles that debuted on the first Xbox console. The mixture of battle tactics, fast-paced combat, and an awe-inspiring storyline made Halo a success and opened the doors into several other gaming genres.

Halo Wars took the franchise into RTS territory, and the results were excellent. The large-scale overhead battles are married to a robust set of RTS mechanics, and one excellent story that integrates firmly into the Halo-verse. In fact, several facets of the series currently serve as plot points in the upcoming Halo Infinite flagship title, proving that this is no one-off.

4 Rome: Total War Remastered

10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

Few strategy games are as popular as Rome: Total War. For years, the game has acted as a trumpet for how to create a great strategy title, and critics took notice, heaping near-universal praise on it. It recently received a major bump on April 29th, 2021 with a remastered edition of the game, opening it up to a new player base.

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Rome: Total War has been lauded for having a practically perfect level of balance. The use of particular units in relation to environmental terrain is one such mechanic that forces players to stay on their toes in order to gain a strategic advantage. Other mechanics such as a troop morale system, multiple battle formations and advanced-level war tactics help set the game apart from its peers.

3 Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II

10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

The Lord of the Rings strategy titles may be less focused on resource management than they are on battles, but that’s no excuse to stay away. The second chapter in the series is widely regarded as one of the best, scoring high with critics and gamers when it came to the integration of LOTR mythos and RTS gameplay.

It took a bit of a knock for balancing issues within the multiplayer component, but what it lacked in mechanical polish, it made up for with high production values and overall flair. It’s another excuse to get lost in Tolkien’s world, this time from an eagle-eyed perspective.

2 Command & Conquer Remastered

10 Best Strategy Games You Need To Play Before Age Of Empires IV

Command & Conquer continues to carry the torch as the most popular strategy title of all time, and its success helped pave the way for nearly everything that came after. It was the first game to really bring the RTS strategy genre to the mainstream circuit, debuting not just on PC, but multiple video game consoles, as well.

It’s hard to argue with the tried and tested formula of great RTS mechanics, strategy and tactics, and a robust, impassioned player base. It’s also quite long in the tooth, which is why EA released a remastered collection in June of 2020. These days, it’s the best way to play the game, thanks in large part to vastly upgraded visuals.

1 Age Of Mythology: Extended Edition

After exploiting history to make some great RTS titles, Microsoft decided to sink its claws into the world’s greatest mythologies in order to expand the franchise. Age of Mythology was released to massive fanfare, and it was easy to see why. Not only did it adapt relatively the same play mechanics as Age of Empires, but the focus on fantasy elements was far more accessible for many players, as opposed to ancient history.

There’s a good story woven into the game based heavily on Greek mythology, and that helps sell the idea of a warrior traveling various lands and encountering their respective mythological monsters, Gods, and Goddesses. Age of Mythology received a huge upgrade in the form of the Extended Edition of the game, which was released in 2014. It bundles the original game with the Titans expansion pack while beefing up the visuals and UI for the modern age. Definitely recommended.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-strategy-games-like-age-of-empires-iv/

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