Real Time Strategy Games & Travelling Games

[acappellasaurus]

It's been a while since I have travelled, but I used to have a good time playing realt-time strategy games on my laptop while waiting in the airport or in flight. I guess I like the genre while travelling, because they usually play well on a laptop, and are easily manage with just the laptop keyboard and trackpad. I've enjoyed games like Rise Of Nations, Star Trek Armada (1 &2), that sort of game.

So...I've lost track of the genre at this point, and I have a trip upcoming later this month. I'm looking for recommendations on games of this ilk to get for the trip, and also any other games, even from other genres, that might be fun to play. Again, looking for games that will play well on my laptop, using a keyboard and trackpad. I have a brand new Dell XPS, just got it this month.

 

[archeryguy1701]

Ah, good old RTS games. Starcraft II is a really good one that I just finished the campaign on recently. Command & Conquer has released several new games in recent years, though I hear that C&C4 is a bit of a departure from traditional RTS gameplay (can't speak to that yet as I haven't gotten it). I really like Supreme Commander because it involves giant maps and you can zoom a lot farther out. Sins of a Solar Empire is a really good 4X space RTS, and the two recent expansions add some really neat features to the game.

 

[FPAlpha]

Playing with a track pad? You sir are either extremely patient, skilled or just painless

Depending on the power of your laptop i'd recommend the Total War Series (playing Shogun 2 right now) and with the right setting it should work fine (my laptop was maybe higher medium class when i bought it more than 1.5 years ago and it runs just fine).

Other games i'd recommend is Ruse (nice WW2 RTS with a cool game mechanic twist) or Dawn of War 2 and its sequels for some fast paced action (though maybe not that well playable without a mouse).

Other than that there are still quite some excellent turn based games out there (or near turn based).. Hearts of Iron for example which is a very deep but rewarding game.

 

[Jono]

I think C&C4 requires an always on internet connection and if you liked the older games it is drastically different as it is not about base building, but point capturing. It also has a more Red Alert art style than C&C3. The campaign is also extremely weak with a rubbish story that ends Kane's saga with a whimper.

Company of Heroes is a good game. Its expansions are decent and has good campaigns as well.

World in Conflict is a very good game. It's all about point capturing, so if you're not a fan of that style its not likely to work for you. Its skirmish is more geared towards co-operative play. I can't say I've played a skirmish on my own against the AI before, but had lots of fun with friends playing it and enjoyed the campaign.

Dawn of War is a decent series, which mixes base and point capturing, though the last expansion is not great, so if you want to get them just stop after the second one. The sequel is also pretty good and a much bigger focus on point capturing. The sequels also are fairly good and again add armies to play with.

Sins of a Solar Empire is also a good game. It's not the type of game you want if you just want a quick bit of furious action. It has big maps and a lot of slow, grinding play.