Strategy gamesoften forgo cutting-edge graphics, in exchange for complex gameplay that requires significant micromanagement. Put simply, when a player is controlling potentially hundreds of units on an overhead map, there is little need to render each unit in high definition.
However, there are some strategy games that manage to combine fantastic gameplay with great graphics, and not all of these are modern titles. There are real-time strategy gamesthat render each unit in great detail, and grand strategy games that use impressive visuals to deliver an immersive experience, for example. No longer does being a strategy game fan mean missing out on top-notch visuals.
StarCraft 2is not a new game by any means, and it doesn’t have what would be termed cutting-edge graphics in today’s gaming space. However, what it does do, is give a more modern flavor of the classicStarCraftgraphics.
Anyone who played the originalStarCraftand has fond memories of it, will likely balk at reinstalling it, as it just looks so completely outdated today. However, they could giveStarCraft 2a try. It is a lot less dated, and still looks great. All of the old units are remodeled with better definition and animation.
The Crustis an interesting strategy game, which borrows aspects of the colony builder genre, and also adds an interesting story arc. The gameplaytakes place on the moon, across two separate maps. The surface map of the moon, and also the subterranean map.
The surface map is incredibly well rendered, with the surface of the moon being very convincing. However, over time, the player will cover vast areas of the moon’s surface with infrastructure. This can result in hundreds of structures, all interlinked, animated, and working as a huge factory on the moon’s surface. It looks amazing once this stage of the game is reached.
5Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharak
Dry And Dusty Desert Backdrop
TheHomeworldfranchise is famed for its excellent real-time strategy space games. However, there is a single ground-based RTS in the franchise;Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharak. This game covers the story of an expedition to excavate the original mothership that became the basis of the plot for the originalHomeworldgame.
Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharakis a fantastic-looking game. All of the gameplay takes place in a barren, desert landscape that has been very well crafted. The unit models all look great, with the huge land-based carrier being the most impressive of all.
Colorful RTS Mayhem
Ashes of the Singularity
The human race has expanded into the galaxy thanks to the wonders of the technological singularity. You have become so powerful that you can manage vast armies across an entire world that provide you with an ever greater galactic empire.Now, humanity is under assault by a new enemy. Calling themselves the Substrate, they seek to annihilate the human race from existence. You, as an up and coming member of the Post-Human Coalition, must deal with both this new menace as well as renegade humans trying to lay claim to their own worlds.Play as the Post Human Coalition or their eternal foes the Substrate and battle for control of the galaxy. Experience maps of unprecedented size and detail with the unparalleled power of the world’s first native 64-bit RTS engine, Nitrous.Enjoy the game online with friends in ranked or unranked multiplayer mode or play it by yourself against a powerful non-cheating AI in skirmish or campaign mode. No matter what mode you play, strategy is the key: deciding what technologies to research, where to send your armies, how to manage your economy, and what units to construct are crucial to victory.Experience a massive-scale real time strategy game where you wage war across worlds with thousands of units. The conflict has escalated, and it’s time to choose a side.
Any fans of the old real-time strategy gameTotal Annihilation, will recognize the fact thatAshes Of The Singularityfollows a similar recipe. This means hundreds of units on the battlefield at a time, and total chaos across the screen during huge combat encounters.
All of the units are colorful and well-modeled, with their own animation and particle effects for their weapons. When a fight starts later in the game, with each side fielding hundreds of units, the visual effect is impressive, even overwhelming at times in thissci-fi RTS.
It is a shame thatStargate: Timekeepersdidn’t receive more hype before it was launched, as many strategy game fans likely overlooked it entirely. This is quite sad, as the game has a lot to offer, especially for fans of theStargate SG-1TV show, as the game draws on much of the lore from the series.
Visually, the game looks great. Some of the cut scenes have been rendered to mimic actual scenes from the TV show. Such as X302 hyperspace fighters engaging death gliders and alkesh over Antarctica. Many of the units in the game are easily recognizable, from Jaffa to Kull Warriors.
Sins Of A Solar Empire 2is a modern take on sci-fi grand strategy games. Bringing slick gameplay and a real-time rather than turn-based approach, players battle to take control of the galaxy map.
The galaxy map itself looks great, with planets and asteroids having realistic-looking models. Ships are low polygon models, but great attention to detail has been paid in designing them, so that, despite this, they still look great. But it is the space battles that earnedSins Of A Solar Empire 2a place on this list. The sheer number of laser beams, missiles, shield boosts, and explosions that occur in a large battle is visually appealing.
At the time of writing,Homeworld 3was the latest release in theHomeworldfranchise. The game differs from previous games in the franchise by simplifying gameplay, and removing some of the over-complex features. In exchange, the graphics are now bang up to date.
Homeworld 3is still recognizable as a game that has its roots in a title that was released over two decades ago, it retains that basic flavor. But it upgrades the visuals considerably. The game maps are especially good, from both a design and visual viewpoint.Homeworld 3takes the top spot on this list for delivering a no-compromise strategy game, that still manages to look visually stunning, even during franticspace combat.
