Ranked: Best and Worst Computer Strategy Games

Still the gold standard for turn-based strategy games after five years (heck, we've played it as recently as last week), Sid Meier's empire-building classic was the 2005 game of the year in many publications. Famously difficult to stop playing, the addictive game offers generally better gameplay and graphics than previous versions, although some fans prefer the equally high-scoring Civ 2, especially for combat. Civilization V arrives in September, promising a new take on the nearly 20-year-old series.

Related titles:
Civilization II 94 (1996)
Civilization III 90 (2000)
Civilization IV: Warlords 84 (2006)
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword 86 (2007)
Civilization IV: Colonization 83 (2008)

Relic's real-time strategy classic is set during World War II, taking players through the Battle of Normandy, including the Americans' D-Day assault on Omaha Beach. Heroes was a hit with players and critics for its blend of chaotic action, demanding strategy, and historical detail.

Related titles:
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts 87 (2007)
Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor 70 (2009)

It might be over a decade old, but this is the game that StarCraft II must beat to become the highest-scoring sci-fi strategy game of all time. In fact, many longtime PC gamers consider Homeworld (another Relic title) one of the best games ever made, thanks to its compelling story, cinematic 3D graphics, excellent soundtrack, and challenging gameplay. A 2003 sequel didn't add much to the experience, and certainly wasn't the groundbreaking release that the original was.

Related titles:
Homeworld: Cataclysm 89 (2000)
Homeworld 2 83 (2003)

The third major installment (and the final one in the real-time strategy genre) in Blizzard's Warcraft franchise that began with 1994's Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and includes the world's most popular MMORPG, Reign of Chaos was a monster hit, becoming the fastest-selling PC game of all time shortly after its 2002 release. With four very distinct playable races, the title offered a lot of replay value, while also wowing in the graphics and story departments (even if it borrowed some elements from Blizzard's StarCraft).

Related titles:
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne 88 (2003)
World of Warcraft 93 (2004)

The best-reviewed title in Creative Assembly's ongoing historical combat strategy series, Rome: Total War is set just before and after the formation of the Roman Empire. Ostensibly a real-time strategy game, Rome also incorporates elements of turn-based strategy in its empire-building aspects, which can span hundreds of turns and in some aspects can rival Civ 4. But it is the game's intense and highly detailed battles that are its calling card, allowing players to command thousands of soldiers at once. And anyone annoyed by the game's historical inaccuracies can download the Rome: Total Realism mod.

Related titles:
Shogun: Total War 84 (2000)
Medieval: Total War 88 (2002)
Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion 82 (2005)
Rome: Total War - Alexander 79 (2006)
Medieval II: Total War 88 (2006)
Empire: Total War 90 (2009)
Napoleon: Total War 81 (2010)

Set during a thousand-year span encompassing the Middle Ages, the second AoE title took an already acclaimed series and made it even better (especially in the AI department), becoming a huge financial success in the process and influencing countless RTS games that followed. Another full sequel and spin-off titles like Age of Mythology would follow, although none would achieve quite the level of critical acclaim as AoE II.

Related titles:
Age of Empires 83 (1997)
Age of Empires II: The Conquerors 88 (2000)
Age of Mythology 89 (2002)
Age of Empires III 81 (2005)

While it's arguably a sequel to another strategy game mentioned elsewhere on this list, the thought-provoking and story-driven Alpha Centauri is different enough from the Civilization series to merit inclusion on its own. Picking up where Civilization ends (at least in one scenario), SMAC ventures into the science fiction realm, following a group of colonists who set out into space and crash on a mysterious new world. The game was compared favorably by many critics to Civilization II, but there has yet to be a sequel to this popular title (though there was a 2000 expansion, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire).

If there's a single game on this list that doesn't belong here, it might be this one. Legendary game designer Peter Molyneux was instrumental in the development of the so-called "god game" genre, and Black & White -- based on part on his own Populous from over a decade earlier -- is his most famous example. Critics initially lauded this ambitious RPG-strategy-sim hybrid, which allowed gamers literally to play as a god while attempting to take control of multiple villages and battle the evil god Nemesis. But, over time, the critical consensus moved into a grey area, with publications like GameSpy (yes, the same one quoted above) finding the game highly overrated. Critics were also unimpressed with later expansions and a 2005 sequel.

Related titles:
Black & White: Creature Isle 72 (2002)
Black & White 2 75 (2005)
Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods 69 (2006)

While most of the games on this list are either set in outer space or are based on historical conquests, this 2002 release took a different approach, focusing on a team of original superheroes created by Irrational Games. Mixing real-time tactics with elements of RPGs, Freedom Force was hailed at the time as the best comic book-style game ever made, with personality to spare.

This 3D fantasy RTS title puts players in the role of a wizard, able to cast a variety of spells and grow in powers as the game progresses, set in a world with five warring gods. Though Sacrifice was praised for its stunning graphics, original concept, and even its voice acting, it did not sell well, and was quickly forgotten.