The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Kotaku

Mar 11, 2013

StarCraft II's expansion pack, Heart of the Swarm, is already out in some parts of the world, and it's launching tomorrow in North America. To celebrate, let's take the opportunity to examine more than 20 years' worth of real-time strategy history in today's Show Us gallery, and see how much the genre has evolved visually. Since the StarCraft games are set in Earth's 25th century, we're focusing only on RTS games in sci-fi settings.

Herzog Zwei (1990)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Dune 2: The Building of a Dynasty (1992)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Command & Conquer (1995)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

KKnD (1997)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Total Annihilation (1997)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

StarCraft: Brood War (1998)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Machines (1999)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Earth 2150 (2000)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Dark Reign 2 (2000)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War (2004)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Star Wars: Empire at War (2006)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Halo Wars (2009)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

Supreme Commander 2 (2010)

The Visual Evolution of Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy Games

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (2013)

Were there any real-time strategy games that blew your mind when they came out? Any great-looking unreleased ones you're really looking forward to? Show us in the comments below with visual support.

sources: Avtoandlevan's LP, RTSGuru, Renegade Forums, Acantophis3rd's LP, Total Annihilation Wiki, TeamLiquid.net, NostalgicGames, DawnOfWarGame.com, LucasArts, HaloWars.com, SupremeCommander2.com, StarCraft Facebook

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4 Comments

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slrkappa May 11, 2014 @ 4:39pm

I just noticed Dune 2 was next on the list. Another one of my old favorites. I even played Dune for a bit before the second came out.

slrkappa May 11, 2014 @ 4:38pm

Herzog Zwei was one of my old favorites. I used to play that one a lot growing up.

TerminatorSigma Apr 27, 2013 @ 10:00am

In my opinion ALL the C&Cs need to be on this. Okay, not the fourth one... but Tib Wars and Generals need to at least be on it

Downer36 Mar 11, 2013 @ 6:03pm

where is Supreme commander (1,FA)? I like that style loads more than halo wars or even supreme commander 2. Otherwise, this is fantastic!

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