I always feel bad in Command and Conquer, because no matter what orders I give, my soldiers will blindly obey them. I’ve got a single rifleman, and he’s on almost zero HP, and I tell him to charge at a Tesla Coil, and off he goes. “At once!” he replies, in his chipper, obliging tone, before being zapped into a human Dorito. Age of Empires, Homeworld, Starcraft – your armies and citizens will do anything you say, no matter how preposterous. That’s why Majesty, the classic RTS game from 2000, stood apart. You could influence and steer your citizens’ lives, but you couldn’t issue direct orders. They had their own work to do, their own priorities, and if they didn’t trust or believe in you enough, they wouldn’t adhere to your plans. Majesty 3 might never happen, but a new RTS feels like an unofficial sequel to Cyberlore and 1C’s classic, and it’s on its way to Steam.
This is Crown of Greed, a medieval and fantasy RTS game where you need to be smart, subtle, and charismatic. You build your city. You expand your empire. You cultivate a burgeoning society, inspired by Slavic myth and folklore. But the world of Crown of Greed is perilous, filled not only with vampires, giant spiders, and undead armies, but stubbornly wilful citizens and soldiers who have an obstinate habit of doing what they like.
Crown of Greed picks up where Majesty left off. Your people have free will, intelligence, and priorities of their own, and you can’t simply order and move them around like tiny chess pieces. You need to be more persuasive. Make good decisions, boost their happiness, and – in the case of heroes and military units, broker fair deals – and your subjects will die for you.
Neglect their needs, and they’re going to abandon you entirely to focus on their own wellbeing. With extremely impressive visuals, that classic RTS and strategy game isometric style, and loving mechanical homages to Majesty, Crown of Greed can be wishlisted on Steam right now. Demos and playtests are set to arrive later in 2024, with the full release date expected in 2025.
Alternatively, try the best 4X games, or maybe the very best grand strategy games available on PC.
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