Game Developers Conference 2011
One very interesting panel discussion was titled “Strategy Games: the Next Move.” Moderated by veteran game writer Tom Chick, it featured a stellar panel.
Two lead Civilization designers were on the panel, Jon Schafer (Civ 5) and Soren Johnson (Civ 4). Dustin Browder was the lead for Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty and Ian Fischer, who designed and managed the launch of Age of Empires Online and worked on the Age of Empires franchise at Microsoft Studios, is with Robot Entertainment,.
Strategy gaming is in both a golden age (with a vast array of small, medium, and AAA titles available to all types of players) and yet going through the same painful transitions as the rest of the industry. The traditional model--a monolithic game, shipped in a box (or delivered digitally), followed by expansions--is still doing well, as witnessed by Starcraft II. But experiments with DLC have had mixed results with Civilization V, trying to drag a reluctant user base into a business model more familiar to console games.
Meanwhile, free-to-play games like League of Legends are going gangbusters, making their money of the sale of in-game items and characters. Finally, social games on Facebook and other related sites are hugely popular. Soren Johnson is working on a Facebook game for Electronic Arts based on the Dragon Age universe, called Dragon Age Legends. Johnson fervently hopes that Legends will be the Facebook game for more hardcore gamers, yet still have the social elements that have made other Facebook titles so popular.
Even so, small games from indie developers are also doing well. Games like Solium Infernum, AI Wars, and Bronze have captured the imagination of many players, while being developed by small teams (or individuals in some cases). And yet they're excellent games in their own right.
In the end, strategy gaming has made something of a comeback from the time where it looked like all we’d ever see were the same old RTS clones. The future looks bright for strategy gaming, but it’s also likely that what comes out tomorrow may look quite different than what we’ve been playing all these years.
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Strategy games might seem like they've been slowly fading into the background as console shooters and MMOs dominate the hardcore market, but the strategy gaming market hasn't gone anywhere. In fact, there's a lot on the horizon to be excited about, coming hard on the heels of the successful launches of games like StarCraft 2 and Civilization V
A lot of people say that the strategy market needs to expand on the consoles to really be successful, and we're beginning to see small steps in that direction. Last year's Halo Wars proved that strategy games can indeed work on a console, a concept that R.U.S.E. followed up on, but the double whammy of StarCraft and Civilization proved that the PC market can still churn out strategy titles that cause waves throughout the industry.
But what's coming in the future? What should you be planning for that's already on the horizon?
A Game of Thrones: Genesis
Release Date: TBA 2011
Adapted from the extremely successful George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" novels, A Game of Thrones: Genesis will let you take control of the kingdoms of Westeros. While very few details have been released about the game, developer Cyanide Studios has given us a tiny glimmer of what to expect.
The game will allow the player to use different types strategies, kind of like in Civilization 5. So you can win via a military, economic, or diplomatic victory. However, as in any good story, there is always treachery afoot, and in Genesis you'll always have to be on your toes as to who's doing what.
Defining Feature: As details on the game are still few and far between, we can't exactly determine one overarching defining feature. That said, if the game is an engrossing as the novels on which it's based, and the backstabbing mechanic is implemented well, then this could bring a very interesting new twist to the RTS genre.
Stronghold 3
Release Date: April 2011
With gorgeous new graphics, new physics, an updated building system, the new night-time mechanic, and of course, the ability to yet again fling cows from catapults, Stronghold 3 is looking to be exactly what fans of the castle town building RTS have been waiting for.
The best part about Stronghold has always been about being able to bring your very own castle village to life all the way down to the smallest detail. But this time around, there's also a sense of morality. Your choices will have an effect on units depending on what you choose; place things like gardens and you'll become a good lord, place things like gallows and your subjects will see you as an evil lord, changing how they react in battle.
Defining Feature: The most interesting new addition to Stronghold 3 is its fog of war system. Other games have used it in the past, but from a medieval strategy perspective, the idea of having to hold off an attack until dawn because there's no light is fascinating. It will be really fun to see how all of the different types of missions incorporate this new feature, and if it will lead to any innovative gameplay.
Kingdom Under Fire 2
Release Date: TBA 2011
Kingdom Under Fire II is one of the few medieval strategy games slated for PC as well as consoles in 2011. The game, featuring a single player campaign mode as well as an online MMO mode, combines elements of both the RTS and RPG genres into a single title. KUF 2 will also introduce a new faction to the series: The Encablossians.
What's great about Kingdom Under Fire is that you get to play amongst the units you're controlling. Not only do you get to control your favorite character, but you control hundreds of troops as well. The game will also offer a new war system where you can expand your territory via other players until you become the ruler of the continent.
Defining Feature: Not only is there a new faction for players to mess around with, but now, there is the whole added MMORPG element too. You can make guilds, advance your territory, declare war on other territories, and so much more. For a title that's being released on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC it's great to see a game try to step outside the box and bring more gamers into the realm of strategy games.
End of Nations
Release Date: TBA 2011
End of Nations is a new IP developed by Petroglyph Games and will be published by Trion Worlds sometime in 2011. They're calling it an "mmorts" and it seeks to separate itself from the RTS pack by dropping players into a gigantic, persistent world that has you battling together to try and take down the main NPC baddie in the game, the Order of Nations.
The game is set on our very own Earth in a "ruined future," where post-apocalyptic war is the order of the day. There's a high amount of customization in the game as well, letting you tweak the look of your own units. Which you'll definitely need to do in a world this big with thousands of other players. You play as a revolutionary who is trying to take down the behemoth that has become the totalitarian regime, and you can do that alone, or with the help of others.
Defining Feature: A persistent world that has you teaming up with tons of other players, or going lone wolf, in order to take down the main foe is a novel approach, and it means that there are "no losers" according to Petroglyph's Michael Legg. We like that idea, although why does it sound like the Order of Nations is going to pulverize us again and again? Especially with the Nuclear Strike.
Age of Empires Online
Release Date: TBA 2011
Microsoft surprised audiences at gamescom by announcing that the 13 year-old franchise Age of Empires was going online. The entire series has seen the release of seven main games such us The Rise of Rome, The Age of Kings, The Conquerors, The WarChiefs, and The Asian Dynasties, as well as the direct sequels Age of Empires 2 and Age of Empires 3. Then there were the spinoffs like Age of Mythology, Age of Mythology: The Titans, and the DS titles Age of Empires: The Age of Kings and Age of Empires: Mythologies. Suffice it to say, it's a popular series.
People thought that when Ensemble Studios shut down after shipping Halo Wars, that it would be the end of Age of Empires as well. Not so. The game has a brand-new look and feel to it, bordering on the cartoonish, and will introduce tons of new units to the co-op and PvP gameplay. Like everyone else, we were afraid that Age of Empires had vanished, and now it's going online as a digitally distributed game, which is good news. We wish Microsoft would embrace Steam, but AoEO is going to be Games for Windows: LIVE enabled, which is a step in the right direction.
Defining Feature: You have a persistent capital city that continues to expand and grow, even when you aren't online and playing the game. It'll even continue to gather resources and build units for you,which is definitely a nifty feature to have. Especially for things like "sleep" and "a social life."
Might and Magic: Heroes VI
Release Date: March 2011
It's been four years since we've had an entry in the Might and Magic series, but that will all change in 2011 when Might and Magic Heroes VI appears. It's a prequel of sorts to Heroes of Might and Magic V, and is being developed by Black Hole Entertainment in Budapest, who had previously worked on EA's Armies of Exigo and Warhammer: Mark of Chaos as well as its Battle March expansion. The prequel part comes in the form of this game occurring 500 years before the main campaigns in Might and Magic V. The game will still feature resource gathering, but only in the form of crystals, and the screen will shift to a grid as you move into combat to hurl magic at your opponents.
The game will be made up of roughly 50% brand new units, with the other half being a mixture of the familiar. The campaigns will be led by five different members of the Griffin dynasty, and can be played in any order. We've seen a necromancer named Svetlana as one of the heroes, doing battle with an army of vampires, skeletons, and specters featured in the screenshots so far. Good stuff.
Defining Feature: Might and Magic is finally coming back. Do we need more of a reason to be excited? New innovations coming to old school sorcery. We like the sound of that.
Shogun 2: Total War
Release Date: TBA 2011
The original Shogun: Total War came out ten years ago, so it's more than ripe enough for a sequel. Shogun 2 follows the path laid down by the original, and sets the game in 1545 with over 30 units that are based on actual historical units. There isn't a lot of complexity to the combat as units do battle in what the developers call a "very obvious rock-paper-scissors" mechanic where one unit trumps another, and that unit trumps another, and so on. But it's these very simple mechanics that give the game a great element of strategy. Consider chess where there aren't that many different pieces, but there's an infinite variety of ways to play the game. That's what Shogun 2 is aiming for.
The game also has a siege system, where attackers lay siege to a castle (of which there are three types, and each one can be upgraded five times) and literally have to hack and slash there way through multiple passageways in order to work their way deep inside the structure. There are also naval units in the game, although of course without gunpowder. Since it hadn't yet made its from from China to Japan yet.
Defining Feature: Departing from the normal routes of fantasy or modern warfare, Shogun 2 gives you historic Japanese combat with deep strategy. And ninjas! All wrapped in a gorgeous graphic package.
