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Strategy games are not just limited to turn-based and real-time subgenres. THey often come together and blend in with others such as city-building, tactical RPGs, and a handful of others.
The genre has truly evolved from the simple drag-and-click strategy titles of the late 90s and early 2000s to a plethora of sub-branches. While one strategy game may demand that players control a large fleet of spaceships in intergalactic warfare, in others, one would be commanding an army of thousands of soldiers on an ancient battlefield.
Since there are so many varieties of strategy games, it becomes hard to pin down the best titles of all time in one list. Hence, this article will go through some of the offerings that have, or are set to make, a mark this year.
Note: This article purely reflects the author’s views.
A look at the coolest strategy games from 2022
1) Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters
- Released on: May 5
- Developers: Complex Games
Over the years, the Warhammer 40,000 universe has grown pretty diverse, and Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate is one of its most recent offspring. It is a fast-paced turn-based tactical RPG title where players get to lead a human coalition called Grey Knights to purge the evils within the Warhammer 40,000 universe and re-shape the fate of the galaxy.
For a turn-based tactical RPG, creators of the Warhammer 40k: Chaos Gate got the gameplay mechanics spot on. The game has a cinematically beautiful combat system. There are a plethora of weapons, and various ways to upgrade one’s character. The title has a ton of cool abilities to get hooked on and the level of detail is applaudable.
2) Starship Troopers: Terran Command
- Released on: June 16
- Developers: The Artistocrats
Inspired by the 1997 movie bearing the same name, Starship Troopers: Terran Command manages to offer an exhilarating single-player experience in which players fight off enemy alien races in an asymmetrical position-focused warfare system with heavy RTS elements.
The game is divided into well-crafted 19 chapters that can easily give similar space thrillers, such as Star Wars Empire, a run for its money.
3) IXION
- Releasing on: December 7 (Planned release)
- Developers: Bulwark Studios
Launching in a few days’ time, IXION is a massive space-faring management title. This is a strategy game that puts users in charge of finding and nurturing a new home for humanity. It’s a sci-fi spacebuilder where they are initially put in charge of a behemoth spaceship headed towards the Proxima Century star system.
IXION is primarily a space infrastructure management offering, with a fair bit of space exploration elements thrown in. This particular strategy game has an advanced docking system where users can send smaller vessels to navigate nearby planets and star systems.
Players will have to progress through chapters, and the overall title promises to provide a healthy mix of many different sub-genres within strategy games.
4) Romans: Age of Caesar
- Released on: April 27
- Developer: Firefly Studios
Romans: Age of Caesar is a massive online strategy title from a team of veteran city-builder developers. This particular strategy game celebrates classic resource gathering and city-building ideas on a much deeper scale, with loads of micromanagement fun added for the community.
There are trade routes to take care of, Barbarian invaders to ward off, and a ton of other challenges in this multiplayer city-builder. Players can team up with up to 16 online members to cooperate and build Rome together one day at a time.
5) Total War: Warhammer III
- Released on: February 17
- Developers: Creative Assembly
Following up on two of Creative Assembly’s previous legendary turn-based RTS titles set in the fantastical Warhammer universe, Total Warhammer III promised a lot at the beginning of the year when it was launched. However, glitches and bugs caused the anticipation to peter out among Total War fans, in otherwise one of the most diverse representations of factions and races in Total War's history.
The main campaign is shorter than the previous title, but does offer a fun story-driven experience regardless of which faction players decide to conquer the world with. The newly introduced factions are fun and inventive.
Developers Creative Assembly had promised to introduce all 15 races showcased in the War hammer’s Fantasy edition. This was fulfilled when they introduced the Ogre Kingdoms and Legions of Chaos as DLC editions later after the initial launch.
The maps are breathtakingly beautiful, yet others look horrifying and chilling, such as the Putrid Swamps. On a tactical scale, siege battles in particular offer many possible ways to breach walls, making the outer defences of a settlement more of a pushover.
Despite a shaky start, Total War Warhammer III still made it into the Best Simulation/Strategy category for this year’s Game Awards, which will be held next week.
6) Terra Invicta
- Released on: September 26 (Early Access only)
- Developers: Pavonis Interactive
Yet another grand strategy game inspired by science fiction, Terra Invicta, is about defending Earth from a wave of hostile enemy invasions. The grand campaign begins with the detection of a small alien probe on the outskirts of our solar system. However, things will soon take an ugly turn.
Players are tasked with uniting the nations of the Earth who are too distracted in their own individual conflicts against the first of many possible alien invasions. The core experience of Terra Invicta involves the decision-making and simulation-systems of an old-school 4X strategy game, built around a gorgeous 3D map of our solar system.
7) Age of Empires IV: Ottomans & Malians
- Released on: October 25
- Developers: Relic Entertainment, World’s Edge
The iconic RTS game Age of Empire IV was released exactly a year ago. It has a lot to offer, from deep dives into history through endless cinematic films explaining the context of the situation players are in with their chosen faction to awe-inspiring graphics that deliver a perfect tribute to the legendary 90s era of RTS titles.
Although released in October 2021, Age of Empires IV celebrated the strategy game franchise's anniversary a year later on October 25, and came up with a free update for fans.
The update introduced two new playable factions, one being the Ottoman Empire, who were the unstoppable force in the Middle East during the late Middle Ages.
The second faction, the Malians, inherited gold-rich lands off the African west coast. One of the wealthiest nations, the Malians also possessed pretty lethal forces, and were experts at ambushing enemies.
