Video games come in many genres, but there are certain games that make the genre defining. Strategy started out by Age of Empires, following up with Age of Mythology and Rise of Nations, eventually leading to StarCraft. Since then, a lack of developer interest in the genre meant a gap in the game catalog for a long time. But there were quite some revelations in 2017, which might mean that 2018 is going to be the return of the strategy games.
While there are many strategy games to look forward to, here are the games we look forward to :
Age of Empires 4 : The grand-dad of all strategy games, Age of Empires is back! After a whopping 12 years will we be seeing another Age of Empires title. Age of Empires started from the Ancient Ages, with the rise and fall of big empires like the Greek, Roman and Persian empires, and moving right up to the Industrial Era and the Age of Colonisation just before the World Wars. This also falls in line with Microsoft’s renewed affection for the PC platform, seeing that Halo Wars saw a PC port 8 years after its actual release, with Halo Wars 2 seeing a PC release as well. While the ages to be covered in the Age of Empires 4 still remains doubtful, seeing that all major eras have been covered (and a world war strategy game doesn’t make sense, as there are tons of them), there is hope that Age of Empires 4 takes a bit of all eras and makes a brilliant piece of story telling about ancient as well as modern history. Age of Empires 4 alone increases the hype tremendously for all other strategy games in the upcoming year.
Tropico 6 : The Leader of Leaders, the Man Above All, the Conqueror Of The Heavens, the Lord of Mankind – El Presidente, is back! There are new elections to rig, more people to oppress, more money to hoard. Tropico has started out being the ideal game of building a fictional banana republic in Tropico 4, which was the first decent entry in the series, improving upon almost everything in Tropico 3, especially the building system. Supply lines were more organized, which means you can monitor the transfer of resources. Then came Tropico 5, with the eras, and unlocks which happened in progressive eras. Now, we have separate islands to manage, new resources to tap, and new ways of traversing between the islands! Tropico 6 does have a lot of good stuff to look into to continue innovating and improving the franchise.
Anno 1800 : Anno is a franchise that made a serious mark in the strategy genre. Anno 1404 being the first game in the series to actually make a mark in the industry. The differences between the Orient and the Occident were brought about in quite a vivid manner. Anno 2070 takes it to the future, and despite the wrath of the public on problems due to the poorly implemented DRM, it still managed to make a decent mark with the struggle between the environmentalists and the industrialists. Anno 2205 takes it to the far future, and the lack of gameplay features like a Continuous Play mode (or in strategy terms, “sandbox” or “skirmish” mode) and multiplayer almost killed off the franchise, until Anno 1800 was announced. Anno 1800 could be the comeback Ubisoft needs, only if the required features are in, besides additional mechanics to keep an interest in the franchise. (Let’s not forget Assassin’s Creed Origins, which prevented a franchise from dying, but couldn’t inspire the interest the Ezio trilogy or the first game did.)
Surviving Mars : Paradox Interactive really needs no introduction (and if they do, they are the developers of Cities Skylines, one of the best city building games, except maybe SimCity 4), and they are back with another game, Surviving Mars! Colonize Mars itself, with its harsh environment opposing every attempt of yours to bring the planet down to its knees. Harsh dust storms, meteor showers, an extremely large amount of sun (too bright for comfort) and an extremely thin atmosphere threaten your advent on the planet surface. Make the surface suitable for human habitation through terraforming, as well as the atmosphere. Protect against dust storms and meteor showers, while growing enough food for your populace. Periodic colonist ships come with more colonists and resources, but until that comes, you’re on your own. Once you establish fully functional self sustaining settlements on the planet surface, export your produce (both finished goods as well as raw products) back to Earth. Considering Paradox’s standards in Cities Skylines, Surviving Mars can be a very good game, if it delivers on its promises.
Jurassic World Evolution : Strictly a simulation game, Jurassic World Evolution has a decent amount of strategy elements in it. Jurassic World is a movie everyone is familiar with, and managing a park full of dinos while getting enough revenue from people visiting it to continue rising through the ranks is a challenge. Dinosaurs aren’t the creatures that tame easily. Safety rails, a lot of trained personnel, besides dedicated equipment like helicopters and jeeps as well as instructors to tell the public about the dinosaurs is required. Expand to make entertainment centers, monorails for travelling from place to place, as well as research centers for developing new species of dinosaurs. Frontier Development, the devs behind Jurassic World Evolution, have already been in charge of games like Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, Zoo Tycoon, and Planet Coaster Tycoon, which means that they certainly know how to make a simulation, and Jurassic World Evolution should be another blockbuster title, if they deliver on their promises.
Disagree with any game on the list, or found a game to better suit its place? Let us know in the comments below.