Real-Time Stratember: that’s a wrap. Eleven campaigns across some of the best, with a couple of the roughest, real-time strategy games ever made. Westwood classics, Blizzard staples, an Australian curveball and even a trip to a galaxy far, far away. There’s been some genuine highs, a few lows and some properly challenging moments throughout the whole month. I pushed hard to keep the momentum going from start to finish and looking back, I think this has been the most successful themed month I’ve run to date. I knew this genre meant a lot to me going in, but actually sitting down and playing through this much RTS history back-to-back really drove it home more than I expected. Some of these games I’d been itching to revisit for years, others I’d barely touched growing up and knew only by reputation and at least one tested my patience more than any game has in a long while. Ranking them all against each other wasn’t easy either, these games span three decades and almost as many design philosophies. I’ve landed on an order that I managed to convince myself I’m happy with and I absolutely stand behind it. Until I change it. Well, here goes…
11. Command & Conquer: Generals – USA Campaign
There is no bigger disappointment than a game that doesn’t live up to the hype. For years, I thought I’d missed out on a truly great Command & Conquer game and Real-Time Stratember provided the perfect excuse to finally give it a proper run. To my surprise: swing and a miss. Not what I was expecting from the team that brought us Red Alert 2. Generals did away with what made the series great and instead embraces a forgettable, modern military style which comes off feeling generic.
10. Dark Reign – Freedom Guard Campaign
Let me get this straight: Dark Reign is not a bad game. There’s a lot to like here and I think a lot to be impressed by. This Australian-made RTS has some of the most brutal and technically advanced AI there is, with a line-of-sight system that’s probably more ambitious than it is worthwhile. It’ll test your patience, it won’t be much fun for a newcomer but it’s an interesting piece of real-time strategy history nonetheless.
9. Warcraft 2: Remastered – Orc Campaign
Blizzard had the opportunity to really update their old classics and they… they didn’t. That’s not to say Warcraft 2: Remastered isn’t worth your time. The story of the Second War is still unreal, naval combat is great and the whole roster of units feels strong. Managing three resources might sound like a challenge, but they’re all implemented in a practical way. Warcraft 2, like all Blizzard games, knows when to ramp up the difficulty and it does it really well. Truly a fun trip down memory lane.
8. Warcraft 3: Eternity’s End – Night Elf Campaign
It’s a little strange seeing a game of Warcraft 3’s pedigree this far down the list. But it’s relatively short, some units require more maintenance than I’d like and series favourite Illidan Stormrage barely sees any screen time. Even some of the levels quickly become tiresome, I’m looking at you Barrow Deeps. Even still, Eternity’s End features some of the best mechanics of the entire game and easily one of the best final levels out of the entire list. Structural issues aside, Warcraft 3’s Night Elf campaign remains a deadset classic.
7. Star Wars: Empire at War – Empire Campaign
Empire at War is way better than I remember and now knowing about the huge modding community behind it, I’m keen to play even more of it. It’s probably the most unique this month as it blends both real-time strategy and grand strategy. It only ends up down the list due to a somewhat light story and end-game that begins to feel a little tired. Honestly, I can’t wait to get stuck into some of the fan-made campaigns that work to extend the life of the game. Seriously, count me in.
6. Command & Conquer: Remastered – Nod Campaign
Command & Conquer will always be one of the real-time strategy greats and the Remastered collection makes it even easier to see why, it’s up there with one of the best remasters of all time. Command & Conquer might come off as fairly simple by today’s standards, but that simplicity is nothing but an asset. There’s undoubtedly some early RTS jank, but that doesn’t really hold it back. With a banger soundtrack and unforgettable B-movie aesthetic, this is truly one of the best of all time.
5. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War – Blood Ravens Campaign
Dawn of War in the middle of the pack? Checks list. Looking at what’s ahead, fair enough. Ditching the normal resource loop for a strategic point system and squad-based combat, Dawn of War bridges the gap between the old school classics and modern bangers by forcing you to venture out into the battlefield to increase your resources. You don’t need to know all that much, if anything, about Warhammer or 40K to have a good time and I can confirm: Dawn of War will absolutely deliver.
4. StarCraft: Remastered – Terran Campaign
StarCraft is where Blizzard really got everything right. Engaging story, great mechanics and they’re both intertwined with each other rather than being two separate entities. The Terran have a well thought out roster of units, some with unique abilities and even the potential to just lift up and move your base at will. The campaign truly delivers a masterclass in design, while the remaster does nothing but polish it further.
3. Red Alert 2 – Allied Campaign
With Ray Wise and Barry Corbin as President Dugan and General Carville, it’s hard not to love Red Alert 2’s Allied Campaign. The gameplay and mechanics speak for themselves and clawing back the United States block by block is legitimately satisfying after the opening level with the Statue of Liberty in ruins. The FMV sequences are cheesier than ever and the Tanya missions will properly test your strategic skills. It might sit a spot below its Soviet counterpart, but it’s every bit as essential.
2. Red Alert 2 – Soviet Campaign
Again, I really couldn’t have kicked off Real-Time Stratember any other way. Steamrolling entire bases with a squad of Apocalypse tanks is still one of my top moments of the entire month. It might be tied with Tesla-charging the Eiffel Tower. Red Alert 2’s Soviet Campaign effortlessly holds up without a single part of it showing its age and it’s hard to find any real flaws worth mentioning. If you’ve only got time for one campaign, this is the one. This is about as close to real-time strategy perfection as it gets.
1. StarCraft 2 – Wings of Liberty Campaign
StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty represents Blizzard at the peak of their real-time strategy powers. They produced a deadset masterpiece here. StarCraft 2 perfected real-time strategy mechanics, while providing a solid, engaging story with legitimately fresh mission variety. Like its predecessor, it feels like you’re actually playing through the story rather than a huge pre-mission lore dump that never lives up to the hype. StarCraft 2 delivers and there’s plenty more story available aboard the Hyperion if you want to buy in. This is the gold standard in the real-time strategy genre and it remains unmatched over a decade later.
And that’s it, that’s a wrap on Real-Time Stratember. Eleven campaigns, three decades of real-time strategy history and a ranking I’ll probably second guess for weeks to come. The top of the list is clearly dominated by Blizzard and Westwood which says a lot about who built the genre. This month was a reminder that the best of it was never just about the big names. Dawn of War tried things differently, Empire at War mashed two genres into something even more unique and I’m still keen to dig into a heap of mods for it. Even the lows of the month like Generals and the oh, so brutal Dark Reign managed to show me different parts of what makes an RTS tick. Playing all of these back to back and considering what I cut from the month, it’s pretty obvious how much the genre runs on those original, basic ideas from decades ago. It’s unfortunate that the genre doesn’t get made like it used to, if anything it stings that little bit more after a whole month in the thick of it. But, the classics are still here, they’re easily playable on modern systems (I played all of these on a Steam Deck, what’s your excuse?) and they’re STILL every bit as unreal as I remembered.
Thanks for following along. Whether you jumped in at Red Alert 2 or just wanted to see the overall ranking, it’s been my favourite themed month to date. If you think I got the order wrong, don’t be shy and shout out in the comments. Well, until the next themed month.
Real-Time Stratember is complete, Commander.
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