2009: good year for strategy games

[acheron]

So it's looking to me like 2009 is going to be an awesome year for strategy games, both military and economic/city-building.

Empire Total War and Starcraft 2 are the big ones of course, but also Anno 1404, Grand Ages Rome, Cities XL, Tropico 3... it looks like a great list. Any others I'm leaving off?

ETW and Grand Ages Rome both seem to be scheduled for March, Cities XL is probably earlier in the year and the rest are probably later, though as far as I know none of the others have definite release dates.

I'm kind of excited, it seems like there's been a bit of a drought in good strategy games in recent years. The only thing that could make it better would be some cool announcement from Firaxis.

 

[Martimus]

You are missing Demigod and Elemental (The game I am most interested in).

Throw in the ones you already mentioned, and I agree that it will be a banner year for strategy games.

 

[Kreon]

I'm excited for ETW. I hope it doesn't end up sucking...

I'm also now excited for Tropico 3. I didn't know a third was in production. I loved the first one. In fact, it's one of the few games I keep coming back to

 

[evident]

I really doubt SC2 will be coming out this year. Unless there was an announcement i haven't heard of, I'm thinking it will come out summer of 2010. the total war series was always good but not my cup of tea.

 

[vshah]

Originally posted by: evident
I really doubt SC2 will be coming out this year. Unless there was an announcement i haven't heard of, I'm thinking it will come out summer of 2010. the total war series was always good but not my cup of tea.

sup com 2 or starcraft 2? starcraft is split into stupid separate games now

 

[TidusZ]

If supcom 2 lives up to the original 1, I have no doubt it will be better than starcraft 2. And I'm a blizzard fanboi.

 

[fingersmcknee]

Tropico 3?! That could be fantastic, or not. I still remember the moment a 12 year old girl died of hunger in one playthrough of Tropico when I was intent on pinching every dollar... Guilt drove me to build several new farms right after that.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: vshah

Originally posted by: evident
I really doubt SC2 will be coming out this year. Unless there was an announcement i haven't heard of, I'm thinking it will come out summer of 2010. the total war series was always good but not my cup of tea.

sup com 2 or starcraft 2? starcraft is split into stupid separate games now

OP mentioned starcraft2, not sup com 2. I personally was not a fan of sup com's gameplay, but i am very highly opinionated when it comes to RTS games

 

[TehMac]

I'm afraid to say, 2009 is probably going to be a crummy year for decent RTS games, I was hoping to see what Rick Goodman is working on, but I wonder if his company died before their products ever saw light of day.

The number one strat game for this year is Empire: Total War, but sadly, I don't know if there's anything besides that. Kind of a crummy year for PC Games in general, or at least, worse than I thought it would be.

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: evident
I really doubt SC2 will be coming out this year. Unless there was an announcement i haven't heard of, I'm thinking it will come out summer of 2010. the total war series was always good but not my cup of tea.

Theres hints of a 2009 release for the first SCII game.

 

[Modelworks]

Sins of a Solar Empire has a 2nd expansion in the works.

Focused on the non military aspect of the game and that the mission system to keep your allies will get a major overhaul.

 

[biostud]

DoW II

 

[BladeVenom]

Battlestations Pacific, not exactly a hardcore strategy game, but it should be entertaining.

 

[Gautama2]

mmm, Tropico 3..

 

[invidia]

Activision is pushing SC2 for this year (which might be bad news). Beta for the game has been already confirmed for this year. I think the game will really come out this year or very early next year, since Blizzard betas normally don't last over 3-5 months.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: invidia
Activision is pushing SC2 for this year (which might be bad news). Beta for the game has been already confirmed for this year. I think the game will really come out this year or very early next year, since Blizzard betas normally don't last over 3-5 months.

Any words on open beta???

 

[AVP]

So, I have never really liked "card-based" games, never thought they really looked cool or anything, But Battleforge, a new EA card based strategy game might be the most fun RTS game I have ever played. Check it out, I was/am in Beta but don't have the time to play in school.

In my opinion it is only second to Starcraft, and I have played quite a few.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Sins of a Solar Empire will also probably decrease in price some. It's already gone on sale for $19 (for a week or two) this year.