1 Warcraft III
A true classic - the first three-dimensional game from Blizzard and one of the best strategies in principle.
At the time of its release in 2002, Warcraft III had it all. Wonderful graphics, which thanks to the unique style looks good even now, exciting gameplay with role-playing elements, which influenced the entire genre of RTS, a great story in a thought-out universe and support for mods.
If it wasn't for Warcraft III, there would be no DotA or MOBA genre as such.
2 XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
A tactical strategy game on the PC in which you have to defend the Earth from aliens.
The main thing about XCOM is the constant need to make tough decisions. Who to send on a difficult mission: a veteran who will have a better chance of winning, or a rookie who is not so sorry to lose? Which one should be given more powerful armor or cannon? Should you order your fighters to attack the strongest alien or deal with the smaller enemies first?
Every aspect of the game - controlling the base, changing the characters' equipment and the battles themselves - is incredibly exciting.
3. Company of Heroes
On the face of it, this is a very ordinary strategy game about World War II, but in fact Company of Heroes is one of the most human games about war. That's because you rarely have more than a few units (as opposed to dozens of units in traditional RTSs) under your command. You worry about your fighters as if they were your own, and you build your tactics to ensure their survival.
With a cutting-edge graphics engine for its time and well-designed missions, Company of Heroes shows the brutality of war. No matter how hard you try, people still die - that's the price of victory.
4. StarCraft II
Starcraft II is the world's premier eSports strategy game. Every millimeter of the map, every special ability of the character, every building available for building - everything is mathematically verified to generate the most exciting matches. Not for nothing tournaments are held on the game almost every couple of weeks, and the prize money in them reaches up to 700,000 dollars.
If you're not too fond of micro-control and multitasking, StarCraft II also has an awesome single player campaign. It's got a great storyline with three races facing each other and a variety of mission types. Plus you won't have to click so much to pass it.
5. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
A prequel to the famous space strategy game Homeworld, set on the sand-covered planet of Karak.
Despite the change in setting and the transition from three-dimensional battlefields to two-dimensional ones, Deserts of Kharak managed to keep the spirit of the original. Here, too, there is no base as such, but there is a carrier ship - the most important unit, the loss of which means defeat.
The game has a fascinating single-player campaign where every mission is related to the previous one: in every new mission the player has exactly the same number of units that were left at the end of the previous one.
Deserts of Kharak is also a very beautiful game. It is hard not to admire when you see how the iron majors furrow the sand dunes.
6. Supreme Commander
The spiritual successor to Total Annihilation, which improves and expands on the ideas of the original. Basically, it's a game about leisurely battles of huge robots on giant maps.
Matches in Supreme Commander rarely last less than an hour. This is the time it takes to build a base with a balanced economy and prepare enough combat units to destroy the enemy.
Supreme Commander is a large-scale strategy in every sense. The number of fighters of one side sometimes reaches thousands, and you need to think through the actions for at least 10 minutes ahead.
7. Total War: Shogun 2
Among the Total War games, it's hard to choose the best, but Lifehacker settled on Shogun 2. Of all the modern parts, it is probably the most solid, concentrated and understandable even for beginners.
In Total War: Shogun 2 the player takes on the role of the head of a clan in medieval Japan. The goal is to take over the entire country. To do this you can use diplomacy, economics and even intrigue - sending assassins and spies.
But the main thing is, of course, epic battles, in which it is very important to correctly place your troops on the location.
8. Age of Empires II HD
In Age of Empires II, the player must lead a civilization through several eras: the Dark Ages, feudalism, the castle era, and so on. You can play as one of several factions, such as Japan, Mongolia or the Celts.
The main trick of the game is a combination of resource management and military operations. While fighting in Age of Empires II, it's not enough to just raise an army, you also need to build a strong economy by building houses, quarries and sawmills, and cultivating fields.
With such an emphasis on the economic component, you can feel like a real ruler, leading your country to prosperity.
9. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Unlike many other parts of Command & Conquer, Red Alert 2 is not about the confrontation between the GDI and NOD factions, but about the battles between the Allies and the USSR.
According to the game's plot, Hitler was erased from history with the help of a time machine, which allowed the Soviet Union to significantly develop its technology. It ended up attacking the United States in the second half of the 20th century.
Red Alert 2 mocks many of the clichés of the Cold War. What stands out is the Soviet supersoldier Boris, who wears a hat with earflaps and AKM. Without the classic for the series cut-scenes filmed in the studio with real actors, too, did not do. Only here they are twice as funny thanks to the crazy setting.
During the battles, though, it can be hard to laugh. Especially when you see a pair of Kirov airships with dozens of powerful bombs on board coming your way.
10. Civilization V
One of the major strategies of the generation, a brilliant representative of the 4X sub-genre. In Civilization V, the player must develop his civilization and bypass all the others. To do this, you can use both brute force and diplomacy, technological and economic development.
The gameplay is divided into turns, because of which the matches can sometimes last several hours. Civilization V has a lot of mechanics. To master it, it may take a lot of time.
But it will be worth it. No game here is the same as the previous one. And even if you spend several hundred hours in this strategy, it still will not cease to amaze you.
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