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Last year a lot of brilliant video games, in a range of different genres, were released. 2019 was an especially good year for the release of great real-time strategy (RTS) games, with the likes of Anno 1800 and Tropico 6 being launched.
There are always exciting things going on in the gaming world, and we can’t wait to see what this year will bring, whether you enjoy fantasy games. Let’s look back at the top five RTS games of 2019.
Anno 1800
Developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubisoft, Anno 1800 is a city-building RTS game that players absolutely loved. It is the seventh game in the Anno series, set during the Industrial Revolution following on from the last two instalments of the series.
Anno 1880 features Victorian architecture, with factory labour serving as the games’ economic engine. It is set in the Old World, where the needs and well-being of citizens and labourers are vital to the management of production and supply chains.
There is a parallel New World which exists; this produces the goods that the labourers in the Old World need to buy, meaning trade routes between the two must be established.
A blueprint feature is available in the game to aid players in the planning and the setup of city — a feature that wasn’t available in previous games in the series like Anno 1701.
They Are Billions
This post-apocalyptic, steampunk themed, real-time strategy survival video game has been highly popular amongst players. It was released onto Steam’s Early Access programme back in December 2017, but fully released in June 2019 with a campaign titled “New Empire”. The game became available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One the following month.
They Are Billions throws its players into a zombie-infested world. Your goal as a player is to build a base to protect yourself from infection. You must plan the layout of your base and its defenses, explore the games’ map and hoard resources whilst simultaneously fighting off the zombie population. “Villagers of Doom” (aka, infected villagers) can be ransacked for their resources, although be warned that this move might result in an angry backlash.
Tropico 6
Tropico 6 was originally scheduled to be released in 2018, but was pushed back to 2019 leaving many fans feeling disappointed. However, when it finally was released, it was well worth the wait. This construction, management and political simulation game allows the player to take on the role of the leader of the Caribbean island Tropico, with the goal of turning the island into a thriving nation. Like previous games in the series, there are four eras: The Colonial era, the World Wars era, the Cold War era and the Modern Day era.
Imperator: Rome
The timeline for this game begins in 304 BCE, involving the establishment period of the Roman Empire and the Wars of Diadochi. Like other games from Paradox, the nations in the game are all playable, with a map that spans from the Iberian Peninsula to India and involves over 7000 cities.
The game boasts an impressive variety of features, such as trade, a diverse population, new battle tactics, character management, barbarians and rebellions.
Steel Division 2
Steel Division 2 takes influence from the Second War World, set during Operation Bagration, the 1944 June to August offensive which threw a monumental number of the Soviet army’s best troops against the German army in occupied Belarus and Poland.
The game includes single-player, multiplayers and cooperative aspects. The single-player is turn-based, unlike the previous game, with each turn equating to half a day. However, all combat within the game is done in real-time.
Players are able to play as both the Red Army and Axis powers, as well as having the option of eighteen different divisions, and players have the capability to pick from over six hundred units when building up their deck.
2019 was undoubtedly a great year for RTS games, with many fans expectations being over-met. RTS games in the future will have to work even harder to maintain the high standards games such as these ones have created for the genre.