Strategy game suggestions

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Strangelove

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So out of the blue, I have a curious itch to try out a strategy game. So what would you guys suggest for a beginner?

My genres are pretty much everything except RPGs.

I have a laptop with a Core 2 Duo processor :erm: :o, and a PS3

Preference (feel free to deviate from my list - this is just to help things down):
-Decent story/characters/personality
-Modern
-No aliens/marines
-Either RTS or TB is fine
-Doesn't take an eternity to finish/has an actual end
-No fantasy
-Existence of females
-Superpowers are lovely
The only encounter I've had with a strategy is a Warhammer demo on PSP which I surprisingly enjoyed (that was 5 years ago)

Like I said feel free to deviate or even ignore my list, I just want to know if a game that's along my preferences exists becuase it doesn't seem like it. I'm aware of the popular franchises i.e. Starcraft, XCOM, Civilisation, also googled top ten lists - I want a personal opinion, experience etc. I guess I'm willing to try out anything- just sell me on it.

Oh, and I need more puzzle games, too.

Edit: Like I said, you guys can scrap the list - I was just craving something along those lines at the moment. I don't mind the any of the stuff I excluded. If it's making things difficult, forget I mentioned it - just consider my hardware and that I'm new to the genre (but a story is a definite bonus for now).

I'm already playing the original Deus Ex, so graphics don't really concern - as long as the game can run (even if it's ultra low).
 
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Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 / 3
Act of War: Direct Action / Expansion: High Treason

Warhammer / Warhammer 4K is fantasy
 
Command and Conquer 3 has aliens, but not in an obtrusive way. They only come into the story late into the campaign. It's one of my favorite RTS games of the last decade and should run on very old hardware, depending on what chipset you have.

That processor should be fine for a lot of games, but what chipset does it have or does it have a dedicated graphics processor?
 
Yagami said:
So out of the blue, I have a curious itch to try out a strategy game. So what would you guys suggest for a beginner?

My genres are pretty much everything except RPGs.

I have a laptop with a Core 2 Duo processor :erm: :o, and a PS3

Preference (feel free to deviate from my list - this is just to help things down):
-Decent story/characters/personality
-Modern
-No aliens/marines
-Either RTS or TB is fine
-Doesn't take an eternity to finish/has an actual end
-No fantasy
-Existence of females
-Superpowers are lovely
The only encounter I've had with a strategy is a Warhammer demo on PSP which I surprisingly enjoyed (that was 5 years ago)

Like I said feel free to deviate or even ignore my list, I just want to know if a game that's along my preferences exists becuase it doesn't seem like it. I'm aware of the popular franchises i.e. Starcraft, XCOM, Civilisation, also googled top ten lists - I want a personal opinion, experience etc. I guess I'm willing to try out anything- just sell me on it.

Oh, and I need more puzzle games, too.
Click to expand...

I quite enjoy playing Stronghold Crusader. Oldish game but fun none the less. Not exactly what you're looking for but I enjoy it.
 
Ok, without Aliens or Fantasy, you will miss out on some seriously good strategy games.

With Aliens:
Xcoms: new and old

No Aliens:
World in Conflict
Master of Orion 1+2 ( Old but Gold )
Commando's\Desperados

World\Scenario Building:
Cities in Motion
Civilization
Anno 2070
Stronghold
Age of Empires

Fantasy:
Dungeon Keeper 1+2
 
Zewp said:
Command and Conquer 3 has aliens, but not in an obtrusive way. They only come into the story late into the campaign. It's one of my favorite RTS games of the last decade and should run on very old hardware, depending on what chipset you have.

That processor should be fine for a lot of games, but what chipset does it have or does it have a dedicated graphics processor?
Click to expand...
I might actually try this. I had an itch a while back and got Starcraft II but I found the story very meh at the beginning. It probably gets better very soon thereafter but yeah...gave up.
 
age of mythology has been updated

C&C Generals

Stronghold HD

the anno games are brilliant if you just want to build stuff
 
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Devill said:
Chess
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Already on my backlog

Zewp said:
Command and Conquer 3 has aliens, but not in an obtrusive way. They only come into the story late into the campaign. It's one of my favorite RTS games of the last decade and should run on very old hardware, depending on what chipset you have.

That processor should be fine for a lot of games, but what chipset does it have or does it have a dedicated graphics processor?
Click to expand...

Mobile Intel GM45 Express. No graphics.


Like I said, you guys can scrap the list - I was just craving something along those lines at the moment. I don't mind the any of the stuff I excluded. If it's making things difficult, forget I mentioned it - just consider my hardware and that I'm new to the genre (but a story is a definite bonus for now).

I'm already playing the original Deus Ex, so graphics don't really concern - as long as the game can run (even if it's ultra low).
 
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You can't really go wrong with the Command and Conquer series. The original C&C, the expansion - Covert Ops, Tiberian Sun, Tiberian Sun Firestorm was also pretty good. Red Alert 1 with Aftermath and Counterstrike addons were also quite fun back in the day, and Red Alert 2 has the expansion of Yuri's Revenge. Also, there is C&C Generals but the storyline was quite meh.

C&C 3 was pretty spectacular as well, despite the aliens later on in the game (they need to be in the Tiberium universe though). Kane's Wrath (C&C4) was not as good, unfortunately.

These might not fit what you are looking for but it is a good start :)

EDIT: I read the thread properly, I see you want something that will run well on your hardware and that has a good storyline.

If you can get the original Command & Conquer to run, that has a great storyline that continues through to Covert Ops (extra missions), then to Tiberian Sun and Firestorm, and to C&C3.

A while ago EA released Tiberian Sun and I think Firestorm as a free download so you can grab that here: http://www.fileplanet.com/210105/210000/fileinfo/Command-&-Conquer:-Tiberian-Sun-(Full-Game)

HTH
 
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Here are classic old games...
Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn and others up to Red Alert 2 and Tiberian Sun. A game that started it all. Should work on any computer.
*Future-Modern setting
*No aliens
*Female interface voice
*Terrorists/CT armies theme (can play for both!)
*Light learning curve (start with GDI, NOD are harder)

Warcraft series. Should work on any computer up to Warcraft 3, I think.
*Fantasy-Medieval-Steam setting
*Light learning curve
*Humans and orcs (can play for both!)
-Fantasy
-Graphics in first instalment may turn off

Total Annihilation.
*Future setting
*No aliens
*Interesting resource management
*3D! (no, not 3D screen, the other 3D!)

EDIT: wabbit16 beaten me to it
 
Yagami said:
Mobile Intel GM45 Express. No graphics.
Click to expand...

If you're not averse to tinkering with your laptop, there's a custom driver out for it that improves performance in games by a lot. I've got the same chipset on my laptop and I installed that driver. It improves performance by quite a bit. Basically pushes the chipset from 64mb vram to 128mb vram.

It's called the Royal BNA Driver and can be found here. It's not difficult to install, provided you follow the instructions properly.

Obviously everyone uses it at their own risk, seeing as it's not official drivers, but I've been using it for two years now without any problems. I even played Dishonored on this laptop, albeit at low settings.
 
Oh, seeing as you don't mind TBS either, have you ever played Jagged Alliance 2? It's a great TBS game and it's actually one of the few that fits the list in your original post. It's 15 years old, so it will definitely run on your laptop.
 
Thanks, guys! The general consensus seems to be C&C for now I'll definitely check out the other suggestions, too. The chronology seems confusing. Where should I start?

Zewp said:
If you're not averse to tinkering with your laptop, there's a custom driver out for it that improves performance in games by a lot. I've got the same chipset on my laptop and I installed that driver. It improves performance by quite a bit. Basically pushes the chipset from 64mb vram to 128mb vram.

It's called the Royal BNA Driver and can be found here. It's not difficult to install, provided you follow the instructions properly.

Obviously everyone uses it at their own risk, seeing as it's not official drivers, but I've been using it for two years now without any problems. I even played Dishonored on this laptop, albeit at low settings.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
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Yagami said:
Thanks, guys! The general consensus seems to be C&C for now I'll definitely check out the other suggestions, too. The chronology seems confusing. Where should I start?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

There are three "paths" in C&C.

- Command and Conquer - Tiberuim universe - Any title that just states C&C and none of the keywords below.
- Red Alert - Alternative world war II history based universe
- Generals - Not really story driven as much as the others but good strategy play. Seems to fall between the two regarding technology.

If you want to follow the story chronologically then play the games in sequence as per their universes above.
 
I found a decent deal on CC. I know gamers avoid Origin like the plague but why again? They were hacked but so were so Sony and everything is dandy, right? They collect info but so does Steam and every other company? So why?
 
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