[Music]
tanks and planes are alright but you
know what’s really cool aliens welcome
to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
sci-fi strategy games forces we need to
clear that area while many people
consider science fiction and action to
be a match made in heaven
we feel that a game only truly becomes
special when we put our minds to work
for this list we’re focusing on those
titles that in their gameplay require
quick thinking deft reflexes and above
all else a heavy use of strategy number
10 Warhammer 40k Dawn of War
the classic tabletop franchise comes to
life thanks to relic entertainments
sci-fi epic controlling your squads of
Space Marines through the orc camps is
as visually impressive as it is
satisfying requiring a quick mind and
strategic thinking
while only four of the universe’s
factions are playable in the first
iteration of the series the gameplay
remains buried and interesting
throughout never feeling limited as you
might have thought base building tends
to take a backseat to the combat through
the game’s relatively simple
single-player campaign but after seeing
how satisfying gunning down the enemy
with your squads can be you probably
wouldn’t have it any other way
number nine Star Wars and pirate war
we’re on our way anyone who’s ever
wished themselves a part of science
fiction’s most celebrated franchise
would do well to take a hard look at
this entry set during the Galactic Civil
War with gameplay focused on large epic
space battles it’s easy to see why this
10 year old classic has continued to
stay relevant in modern gaming bring the
death star and range of the planet and
show this pitiful insurgency the true
power of this fully functional battle
station planning out attacks on
different planets through the galaxy and
executing them with proper tactics and a
string of well-timed reinforcements
feels as epic as any of the battles from
the movies and impresses us every time
we come back to this gem though it’s as
good as the franchise that inspired it
this is one game that can still get by
on its own merit number eight
sins of a solar Empire planet a melon
one diminished while perhaps underrated
when going up against the established
Titans of the genre we feel that this
hybrid is well deserving of a spot on
this list when it comes to sci-fi a
sense of scale is crucially important
and sins of a solar Empire has that in
spades
with the ability to zoom in and out it
will inspecting anything from a small
segment of a battle to the vast reaches
of your empire truly immerses you in the
universe that you’re creating taking the
best parts of the RTS and Forex genres
and throwing them together into an
engaging end product this is one game
that definitely punches above its weight
class where do you need me
number seven total annihilation
[Music]
while Supreme Commander is a great game
in its own right
we feel that its predecessor is a little
more deserving of a spot on this list
featuring massive battles that take
place throughout the entirety of the map
and all the resources you could ever
need to support it this entry gives you
the keys to the generals quarters and
lets you go nuts
[Music]
disappointed at first by the simplistic
resource management once the battles
kicked in and got more hectic players
quickly grew thankful that they had one
less thing to worry about with gameplay
focusing on the big picture instead of
small menial tasks its strategy not hand
speed that will get you through these
missions
number six XCOM to approaching position
you were right XCOM UFO defense set the
standard for a long-running
alien invasion series but over a decade
later XCOM – puts everything together
into what we feel is the best entry of
them all expanding on the hit 2012
reboot of the original this sequel
provides improvements pretty much
everywhere there are more mission types
more weapons more interaction on the
battlefield a faster pace of play and of
course infinitely more frustration when
your best soldier gets taken down by a
lucky critical hit keeping the core
elements of a series intact and cranking
everything else up to 11 this is one
game that continues to take entire
weekends away from our lives it won’t be
easy but sure here’s to that number 5
Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri world
civilization beyond Earth got a lot of
praise for taking the classic formula
into a bold new direction but this cult
classic by the same company did it all
16 years earlier right from the get-go
we were thrust into a world where
exploration discovery and strategy would
be the only pathways to victory
indigenous life form the eerie setting
of a planet cloaked in shadows does a
great job of setting up the story and
had us wary of running into progeny ders
at every turn while the gameplay
elements aren’t quite as refined as
we’ve come to expect from its sister
series they remain complex engaging and
worth a look to anyone who hasn’t
experienced it after the ship breaks
apart the seven leaders guide their
chosen crew down to the surface of
planet seeking their destiny beneath an
alien sky number 4 homeworld
with you throwing heavy fire for the
curva conclude requiring the honing of
different skills in order to conquer the
game this entry has plenty to offer for
anyone looking to flex their mental
muscles taking place entirely in 3d
which was a big deal in 1999 navigation
and combat are some of the most engaging
we’ve ever seen in a strategy game
whether it’s individually harvesting
minerals from a nearby asteroid or
executing attack on a large fleet we
always felt that success or failure
rested entirely on our shoulders and not
on spotty AI decisions the cryo trays
are under attack defend them
adding strategic depth to a potentially
sparse setting by including
environmental factors that can play
havoc with ship movement this entry
infused a breath of fresh air to a jar
on that at times can be guilty of a lack
of innovation cryo trays loaded and
secured hyperspace module charged number
three command & Conquer red alert 2
while command & Conquer red alert may be
the better game we feel that the
follow-up has much stronger sci-fi
elements and that earned it the top
three spot on our list whether it’s the
chrono Legionnaires the Sai commandos or
cosmonauts the available arsenals to
both sides of the conflict are extremely
diverse here and very high-tech even by
today’s standards let alone for a game
set in 1972 destination commander I’m
going to be low-drag by the way it’s set
in an alternate timeline where the Cold
War escalated and heated up
significantly so both the Soviet and
American campaigns provide everything
we’d expect from our science fiction
including some deliberately hammy voice
acting general a Tamiya is a non-person
he’s now considered refuse to be
collected number 2 dune 2
reporting the archetypal real-time
strategy game this forefather of the
genre laid the foundations for almost
every example that followed the
permanent our Conan our Mr deployed
based upon the film adaptation of the
book dune 2 gives you control over one
of the three houses in your quest to
control Arrakis also known as dune the
foundations may not be as polished as
we’ve come to experienced in the decades
that followed but for their first ever
implementation in the video game we
would have expected far worse our conan
units deployed while purists might not
like the inclusion of non-canon more to
the game’s story after all there’s
supposed to only be two houses without
this time-tested gem this list might
just not have even existed at all now
before permanent yes sir movin out yes
sir before we unveil our topic here a
few honorable mentions
[Music]
number one
Starcraft Starcraft 2 may have brought
the lore to a whole new generation of
gamers and sparked a heightened interest
in eSports in the West but none of it
would have been possible without the
first entry in the series immersing us
in a bleak universe populated by three
unique memorable races Blizzard
smash-hit is one of those legendary
games that we just keep coming back to
meticulously balanced to make each race
feel different challenging and above all
fun to play the gameplay has endured as
some of the most rewarding in the
history of the genre if not in gaming in
general requiring a very quick mind and
even quicker hands this Titan of sci-fi
is deserving of its place atop our list
so do you agree with our choices do you
have any other favorite sci-fi strategy
games one hell of a ship you got here
Jimmy
for more fun top 10s published every day
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
Oh
tanks and planes are alright but you
know what’s really cool aliens welcome
to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
sci-fi strategy games forces we need to
clear that area while many people
consider science fiction and action to
be a match made in heaven
we feel that a game only truly becomes
special when we put our minds to work
for this list we’re focusing on those
titles that in their gameplay require
quick thinking deft reflexes and above
all else a heavy use of strategy number
10 Warhammer 40k Dawn of War
the classic tabletop franchise comes to
life thanks to relic entertainments
sci-fi epic controlling your squads of
Space Marines through the orc camps is
as visually impressive as it is
satisfying requiring a quick mind and
strategic thinking
while only four of the universe’s
factions are playable in the first
iteration of the series the gameplay
remains buried and interesting
throughout never feeling limited as you
might have thought base building tends
to take a backseat to the combat through
the game’s relatively simple
single-player campaign but after seeing
how satisfying gunning down the enemy
with your squads can be you probably
wouldn’t have it any other way
number nine Star Wars and pirate war
we’re on our way anyone who’s ever
wished themselves a part of science
fiction’s most celebrated franchise
would do well to take a hard look at
this entry set during the Galactic Civil
War with gameplay focused on large epic
space battles it’s easy to see why this
10 year old classic has continued to
stay relevant in modern gaming bring the
death star and range of the planet and
show this pitiful insurgency the true
power of this fully functional battle
station planning out attacks on
different planets through the galaxy and
executing them with proper tactics and a
string of well-timed reinforcements
feels as epic as any of the battles from
the movies and impresses us every time
we come back to this gem though it’s as
good as the franchise that inspired it
this is one game that can still get by
on its own merit number eight
sins of a solar Empire planet a melon
one diminished while perhaps underrated
when going up against the established
Titans of the genre we feel that this
hybrid is well deserving of a spot on
this list when it comes to sci-fi a
sense of scale is crucially important
and sins of a solar Empire has that in
spades
with the ability to zoom in and out it
will inspecting anything from a small
segment of a battle to the vast reaches
of your empire truly immerses you in the
universe that you’re creating taking the
best parts of the RTS and Forex genres
and throwing them together into an
engaging end product this is one game
that definitely punches above its weight
class where do you need me
number seven total annihilation
[Music]
while Supreme Commander is a great game
in its own right
we feel that its predecessor is a little
more deserving of a spot on this list
featuring massive battles that take
place throughout the entirety of the map
and all the resources you could ever
need to support it this entry gives you
the keys to the generals quarters and
lets you go nuts
[Music]
disappointed at first by the simplistic
resource management once the battles
kicked in and got more hectic players
quickly grew thankful that they had one
less thing to worry about with gameplay
focusing on the big picture instead of
small menial tasks its strategy not hand
speed that will get you through these
missions
number six XCOM to approaching position
you were right XCOM UFO defense set the
standard for a long-running
alien invasion series but over a decade
later XCOM – puts everything together
into what we feel is the best entry of
them all expanding on the hit 2012
reboot of the original this sequel
provides improvements pretty much
everywhere there are more mission types
more weapons more interaction on the
battlefield a faster pace of play and of
course infinitely more frustration when
your best soldier gets taken down by a
lucky critical hit keeping the core
elements of a series intact and cranking
everything else up to 11 this is one
game that continues to take entire
weekends away from our lives it won’t be
easy but sure here’s to that number 5
Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri world
civilization beyond Earth got a lot of
praise for taking the classic formula
into a bold new direction but this cult
classic by the same company did it all
16 years earlier right from the get-go
we were thrust into a world where
exploration discovery and strategy would
be the only pathways to victory
indigenous life form the eerie setting
of a planet cloaked in shadows does a
great job of setting up the story and
had us wary of running into progeny ders
at every turn while the gameplay
elements aren’t quite as refined as
we’ve come to expect from its sister
series they remain complex engaging and
worth a look to anyone who hasn’t
experienced it after the ship breaks
apart the seven leaders guide their
chosen crew down to the surface of
planet seeking their destiny beneath an
alien sky number 4 homeworld
with you throwing heavy fire for the
curva conclude requiring the honing of
different skills in order to conquer the
game this entry has plenty to offer for
anyone looking to flex their mental
muscles taking place entirely in 3d
which was a big deal in 1999 navigation
and combat are some of the most engaging
we’ve ever seen in a strategy game
whether it’s individually harvesting
minerals from a nearby asteroid or
executing attack on a large fleet we
always felt that success or failure
rested entirely on our shoulders and not
on spotty AI decisions the cryo trays
are under attack defend them
adding strategic depth to a potentially
sparse setting by including
environmental factors that can play
havoc with ship movement this entry
infused a breath of fresh air to a jar
on that at times can be guilty of a lack
of innovation cryo trays loaded and
secured hyperspace module charged number
three command & Conquer red alert 2
while command & Conquer red alert may be
the better game we feel that the
follow-up has much stronger sci-fi
elements and that earned it the top
three spot on our list whether it’s the
chrono Legionnaires the Sai commandos or
cosmonauts the available arsenals to
both sides of the conflict are extremely
diverse here and very high-tech even by
today’s standards let alone for a game
set in 1972 destination commander I’m
going to be low-drag by the way it’s set
in an alternate timeline where the Cold
War escalated and heated up
significantly so both the Soviet and
American campaigns provide everything
we’d expect from our science fiction
including some deliberately hammy voice
acting general a Tamiya is a non-person
he’s now considered refuse to be
collected number 2 dune 2
reporting the archetypal real-time
strategy game this forefather of the
genre laid the foundations for almost
every example that followed the
permanent our Conan our Mr deployed
based upon the film adaptation of the
book dune 2 gives you control over one
of the three houses in your quest to
control Arrakis also known as dune the
foundations may not be as polished as
we’ve come to experienced in the decades
that followed but for their first ever
implementation in the video game we
would have expected far worse our conan
units deployed while purists might not
like the inclusion of non-canon more to
the game’s story after all there’s
supposed to only be two houses without
this time-tested gem this list might
just not have even existed at all now
before permanent yes sir movin out yes
sir before we unveil our topic here a
few honorable mentions
[Music]
number one
Starcraft Starcraft 2 may have brought
the lore to a whole new generation of
gamers and sparked a heightened interest
in eSports in the West but none of it
would have been possible without the
first entry in the series immersing us
in a bleak universe populated by three
unique memorable races Blizzard
smash-hit is one of those legendary
games that we just keep coming back to
meticulously balanced to make each race
feel different challenging and above all
fun to play the gameplay has endured as
some of the most rewarding in the
history of the genre if not in gaming in
general requiring a very quick mind and
even quicker hands this Titan of sci-fi
is deserving of its place atop our list
so do you agree with our choices do you
have any other favorite sci-fi strategy
games one hell of a ship you got here
Jimmy
for more fun top 10s published every day
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
Oh
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