Top 4 Real-Time Strategy Games To Play On PC In 2022

Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real-time". In an RTS game, each player creates additional units and structures and then maneuvers them to secure areas of the map and/or destroy their opponents' assets. It is a hard but rewarding type of video game that a lot of PC players might enjoy.

In this article, Gurugamer is going to showcase the top 4 real-time strategy games to play on PC in 2022.

1. Age of Empires IV

AOE4 is the best parts of AOE2 and AOE3 combined into one beautiful masterpiece. If you like real-time strategy games, I do recommend Age of Empires 4. The gameplay is fun and quick. I can play with friends of any skill level and we can have fun. The game is gorgeous, it runs well and the battlefield is highly readable. The audio design is astonishing with the chirps of your units changing in language over the ages, units conversing together, scouts calling out what they spot as they explore. The UI is not impressive, but it does what it needs to do. There is some interesting Quality of Life ideas that were introduced to make the genre a bit more accessible.

Most importantly, they succeeded in making an RTS that's a bit more accessible. Many of the changes they did tend to focus on the Macro side of things (strategy) as opposed to the micro. It emphasizes less on doing a thousand actions a minute and more on having a solid build, controlling the map, and seeking information. If you enjoyed playing some Starcraft 2 or Age of Empires 2 but was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of investment required to improve, Age of Empires 4 is much more accessible.

2. Northgard

Northgard seems at first like your typical base building and economy RTS with one of the most popular settings in recent years.

However, you can perceive this game as a survival game, in which you have some colony of villagers that can gather food, woods, mines, etc. However, surviving is not the objective of this game. You have other players in the game that will most probably not make peace with you, therefore you need to prepare a military that is ready to defend/attack for you. Attacking doesn't necessarily mean immediately destroying their base, but seeing this as a pressure to hurt their resource supplies. There are a few different victory conditions in the game but basically, you can either gather resources as much as possible or hurt the enemies as much as possible.

The clans' (or tribes') uniqueness is great. I think it's the best aspect of the game, allowing a variety of different strategies that fit your gameplay.

3. Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation

Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation is something of a pleasant surprise in this day and age. For the past ten years or so, the RTS genre has (mostly) been about speeding things up. Developers would make RTS games smaller in scale, faster, and with more and more emphasis on aggressive play at the expense of defensive play. This makes sense in a competitive/e-sport/twitch streaming context where "turtling" players are (apparently) not interesting to watch.

Where Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation really sets itself apart is in its willingness to let the player play how they like. It rewards both aggressive and defensive play and never, ever seems to push you in one way or another. Whereas other RTS might restrict or even not include the building of defensive structures, Ashes does no such thing. It lets you reinforce any portion of the map that you wish and to whatever level you want. This may seem like a bad thing but in this day and age, it is a unique and almost precious quality.

Additionally, it places more emphasis on your standard units. This game has no "hero units" per se and instead relies on the building of small, medium, and dreadnought-sized vehicles that are all very capable if used properly. You will find yourself using groups of eight or ten small frigates to rush ahead and destroy neutral "creeps" that guard resource points while using larger frigate and cruiser combination forces for backup. All the while, you can use massive forces composed of all types to assault other enemy fleets and attack their bases and defenses.

4. Total War: WARHAMMER II

Total Warhammer (because let's be honest, that's what it ought to be called), however, has struck gold. It turns out that the minutiae and scope of Total War mesh very nicely with all details and stats of tabletop Warhammer, and the vast array of troops at your disposal gives room for even the most obscure unit or character to be realized in an all-encompassing global battlefield that is arguably the most thorough representation of the setting in any single medium.

What strikes me most about Total Warhammer is the variety that's on display. From 17th century Germany to Aztec lizards that ride dinosaurs. From Arthurian Britain and France to ratmen with gatling guns powered by solidified hell. From garden variety wood elves to vampire pirates and their zombie crews. Bizarrely, the disparate factions are more-or-less balanced, and the vast mix of factions, units and tactics on display means that the nature of engagements - and the strategies the player must employ - vary wildly from fight to fight and campaign to campaign.

Visually, the game is impressive, even if the larger battles may become chaotic, and the level of detail given to each unit is surprising given that there are often several thousands of them at play on a single battlefield. I'm also fond of the art that accompanies events on the world map, which all seem to match a similar aesthetic and quality, and serve to give more life to what would otherwise just be a pop-up.

>>> Read more: 6 Best Survival Games To Play On PC In 2022