Reccommend me a gameFollow

I'm not much of a gamer (EQ, CivII, Fallout, couple others are all I've played on the PC) but recent reading has left me desiring a decent real-time war game. I prefer something not insanely complex, medieval milieu, and I don't mind resource production so long as I'm not playing SimPeasant collecting grain. Somewhere tactics matter and unit types make a difference (i.e. archers attacking from distance, maybe polearm/pike vs mounted, etc). I'm not real interested in magic and goblins though if the best games include them, so be it. I know there's some big name titles out there but I suck at picking out games based on the box so I turn to you.

Yes I know there's the multi-game forum. If I gave a rat's *** about it, I'd post there.

Ohhh Starcraft, that was my first addiction to online games. I eagerly awaited the release of SC2, but alas bliz worked on Ghost, and never got around to SC2, so I gave up on it. Now the battle chest sits on my shelf at home, uninstalled.

Midevil: Total War sounds cool though.

In case it matters:

1.8 GHz Pentium 4, 1gig RAM, some crappy GeForce4-MX card.

56k modem but not interested in online play.

I really anjoyed WC3. Probably moreso than the first two.

Age of Empires bored me in short order. I never even came close to losing a scenario. Sit back, defend a bit, expand a bit, max out tech, build to army limit and then wipe out the opponent in a single rush.

What I miss is Total Annihilation. I'd love to see a good sequel.

yeah because cave men sat around in caves with one guy who already new the alphabet and he taught them, i'm sure thats exactly how it happened

yeah that'd be better, though i'm sure they didn't sit down and think one up over lunch one sunday afternoon



I'm not saying the game is a bad game because its inaccurate, i'm just saying i couldn't play a game that was so wrong in its depiction of history and seeing as this whole thread is based around personal opinion, your'e all wrong and i win.

One of my favorite games to play is still Age of Empires II. You can build your own scenarios/maps to fight against. I like making the PC players really tough. I have some saved games that have been going for many hours now and I still enjoy picking away at the goal. Minutia is your friend when creating maps though. Detail is key to a fun one.

I always loved AoE and AoE2...Civ2 as well.

Yup, Ages of Empires is too easy, at least it was a few years ago when I played. (Jav was just a twerp and won the battles almost as easily)

I'm trying really hard to remember the name of the war game I used to get so completely engulfed in, but can't, maybe someone else can???

It started with a map that you choose your little section from (I know, many do). You got an army which was just little individuals designated by color, your "general" was your visual representation of your army. As you defeated armies you'd get another general added to your screen and would click on said general's medallion to control his colored people army. It was hard. Some missions took me many attempts, lots of strategy with little complexity. When the army was medding it made a goofy little, murmurmurmurmrur sound (that's what people will remember I hope).....If this game is still around in an updated version I'd try it.

Or, there's always Chess.

Geesh, now I'm gonna have to go game shopping!!!

Ever play a game called Enemy Nations? Of course not -- I was the only idiot on the planet to buy it.

Worst AI ever.

Check out Gamespot's reviews section for your game genre to help with your decision making - usually decent reviews.

Not sure if this falls in line with the type of real-time game you are looking for, but one of my all-time fave games was Myth. Myth 2 was fun as well. I have Myth 3 lying around here somewhere but haven't had time to play (been too busy with City of Heroes).

There's nothing like blowing up your own troops with molotav cocktails by your Dwarfs - "Damn your eyes!" ..."Sorry 'bout that!"

Enemy Nations was some RTS future themed game where you developed resources and kicked the other guy's *** with hovertanks and laser howitzers. That sort of thing.

The AI had two charming traits. First, your enemy would inexplicably change races now and then. Each race had their own pluses and minuses and the game would just take its civilization and flip between them. It didn't even flip intelligently like going from the agriculture experts to a warfaring race, it was just random. It'd go from the warfaring race to the gimp race put in only to allow players to handicap themselves.

Secondly, once you destroyed a certain percentage of the enemy, it'd respond with the stunning tactic of... giving up. It'd just stop trying. You'd leave it with sufficent resources and building to build new units but it'd just sit there, its tanks puttering about. They'd respond if fired upon but wouldn't launch any attacks of their own. It was like playing Monopoly with your brother when he quits once you have all four railroads. I guess it was probably a bug but a bug that makes the computer AI get up and go watch TV halfway through the game is a pretty severe bug.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. Feel free to keep chiming in, but I have enough to know which boxes to read the backs of at the store now. That includes Samira's suggestions as Roman era conflict is closer to Medieval than space platforms and plasma cannons.