And… Battle for Middle-Earth 2? It was a game I got a lot of entertainment out of for about a week, but after my time with it (beating one campaign entirely, and almost beating another, along with the RISK-esque War of the Rings mode, and a few skirmishes) it feels like the kiddie pool at the RTS resort. The battles looked majestic, the game has the LOTR atmosphere perfect, but the gameplay and race variety just left a lot to be desired in my opinion. Great movie-to-game translation, but merely a “good” RTS.

Adam — I couldn’t get a copy of the Ancient Art of War to actually play for myself (and even if I did, I’m pretty sure I lack the intelligence/resources to actually get it working), so I had to try and figure which of the huge amount of games I researched were actually critical aspects of the genre’s development. I apologize if I completely missed something about the game.

Anonymous — Firstly, don’t feel fear in using an actual name. You can completely make one up such as “I Hate Trent Polack.” Gives me something to work with.

I’m actually not trying to be get preachy about the genre as a whole. I do, in fact, agree that it has really stagnated over the course of the last few years. I happen to like the average RTS formula but that’s just what it is: a formula. It feels like so many games rely on tried-and-tested features and aspects that are now considered “standard.” Now, this is okay for me, but I can’t help but feel that there is just so much more room to try and deviate from the norm. For the most part, I think the developer that has been met with the most success in trying something new is Introversion. I may not actually enjoy some of their games as much as others (Darwinia, despite my attempts, had enjoyment that simply escaped me), but they are an incredibly original studio who released consistently-popular titles. Their latest, DEFCON, is proving a surprisingly entertaining game to play the occasional multiplayer match with my friends.

Anyway, thanks for all the comments. I actually love hearing people who hold different views/thoughts than the ones I express in my articles, so comments like these are generally the most interesting for me to respond to.

But I’m really not here to sing about the virtue of Kohan, but rather to point out that the RTS, contrary to what the author of the article suggest, is a highly stagnant genre. You need simply to look at the recent sales and release figures for evidence. There has been far fewer RTS released in the past years than FPS, and the great majority of sales are dominated by a handful of titles. Considering the size of the market, the imbalance is even greater than that of the FPS.

The fact that it actually a real time strategy game makes a good argument that it has influenced other RTS. Also, it makes a good counter point on what companies of gained or lost by merging both strategy elements with tactical ones.

All in all, I think your ‘article’ is limited by popular perception.

Paraworld has some real depth and tactical gameplay, a giant selection of units, upgradable Heroes that unlock new rare units and fantastic special abilities, and a inventive army control panel. Frankly, Paraworld is like the culmination of everything we know about RTS games. Also don’t forget Battle for Middle Earth 2, fantastic game. Traditional in most ways, but atmospheric and grand in scale like no other.

The five best RTS games I have played in the last 5 years are Paraworld, Company of Heroes, Rise of Nations, Dawn of War and Battle for Middle Earth 2. The joys of Paraworld won’t be realized with a few minutes of casual gameplay, the game is quite deep and each race offers completely different gameplay and tactics.

And Kohan I didn’t forget about, but it was a game that I was never able to really get all that much into despite hearing some reviews which praised some features of the game. And I, somehow, completely missed Battle Realms when it was released. I remember seeing the box in stores every now and again a few years back, but I never really heard much about it otherwise.

The final fourth segment of the series will most definitely include Company of Heroes. And… Paraworld? I mean, thus far my experience with it is tepid at best. The game had a lot of glowing reviews leading up to its release, but when I played it a bit the other day I just came away underwhelmed. Then again, modern “previews” are very, very rarely anything but positive in their treatment of games. So I’m not sure what to expect about the game and, even if it’s enjoyable, it doesn’t seem like there’s much to it that will really stand the test of time. I’ll try to devote some extra time to it over the next few days to see if I’m wrong about or not, though.

I hope the next segment includes Company of Heroes and Paraworld, two recent releases that push the envelope like never before.