Will RTS Games Make A Comeback?
There was a time when RTS games, or real time strategy games, were all the rage. Age of Empires was the game of choice for many gamers, and Warcraft was all but the stuff of legend. But, it wasn’t long before these demanding, highly strategic games began to lose attention. They were replaced by faster paced games, most of which had a much lower skill threshold. And, say what you will about real time strategy games, they demanded that those who played them learned a great deal in order to be proficient.
Today, unlike the myriad of online Bingo Australia games on offer, there are only a handful of real time strategy games around. Starcraft 2 is still a favourite of many, despite it being many years old, but new releases are few and far between. But, this doesn’t mean that RTS games are out for the count. The ever popular Total War series is still going strong, and Microsoft has recently announced a new Age of Empires game. Could RTS be headed for a major comeback?
What Makes RTS So Niche?
As already mentioned, RTS games are extremely demanding, and extremely difficult to be good at. The very nature of the games is that they demand a player be extremely good at understanding them, and playing them efficiently. And, as anyone familiar with RTS games knows, this is often an extremely tall order.
Starcraft, for example, often determines a winner by how quickly a player can establish a base, how well the player know the map, how expertly they know the upgrade systems, and being aware of how best to attack the race chosen by the opposing player. A person jumping into the game without prior knowledge would not only certainly lose, but they would lose humiliatingly. This makes the game extremely uninviting, to anyone but the most dedicated of players.
Why Are The Games Appealing?
On the other hand, those dedicated to RTS games are fanatical. The very thing that makes the games so niche is also the thing that makes them so loved. A person must be committed to their RTS game of choice, to a degree that is all but passionate. And this, of course, gives RTS games very dedicated fans. And fans who are willing to put in the hours.
The now popular Dark Souls games demand an equal level of dedication, but despite the reputation of the Dark Souls games, they are a great deal more approachable than the majority of RTS games. But, given the rise of popularity thats grow like some kind of jackpot, perhaps the time is right for the RTS genre to gain more ultra-dedicated fans.
As already mentioned, Microsoft has announced a new Age of Empires games, which seems to suggest that interest has again returned to the RTS genre. Should the game see success, there is little doubt that more RTS games will quickly follow suit. Only time will tell, however, if RTS games will once again be major players in the video game market.
