Summary
Although the strategy game genre is one of themost popular in the world, it’s easy to forget that they can sometimes be some of the most beautiful-looking titles on the market. While praise is often heaped onto the third-person and first-person games that come out every year, strategy games are often unsung in their commitment to visual fidelity.
Whether it’s aiming for high-quality, realistic models and textures or striving for a sort of stylized vibe, the strategy game is just as varied as other genres. It’s not a shock to see the genre exploring multiple different graphic styles, as it is often a genre set in wildly different time periods and settings. These are some of the absolute best-looking strategy games one can find.
While it didn’t turn out to be exactly theXCOMmeets Marvel titlefans expected, Midnight Suns was still one of the best games developer Firaxis Games has produced. And with the Marvel license comes a chance to do something they haven’t done before, as they went to work in creating some truly fantastic representations of these iconic characters.
The environments, animations, and character designs are all top-notch. Like many games based on superhero properties, it also includes a collection of beautifully designed suits to unlock. The whole game looks and feels great, a testament to the fabulous artists at Firaxis Games.
Despite the near twenty-year gap betweenAge of Empires 4and the last mainline release ofAOE3in 2005, the fourth entry inthis venerable strategy seriesdidn’t miss a beat. One thing that was kept from those first three titles was amazing graphics, something thatAge of Empires 4has in spades.
Everything aboutAOE4looks and feels spectacular. From the units to the buildings, all the way to the terrain and the texture work.Age of Empires 4doesn’t skimp on anything, as it also features solid performance and the art direction is wonderful.
Like a lot of strategy franchises,Company of Heroeshas a tendency to lay dormant as the genre shifts and changes. But when the military-themed RTS seriesmade a return in 2023, it wasn’t going to leave anything to chance and was one of the best-looking games of that year.
When it came to the graphics,Company of Heroes 3prioritized some stellar 3D model work. The vehicles and land units are absolutely beautiful to look at, with some nice lighting and lovely texture work. As a result of the WW2 setting, everything feels appropriately aged and worn down.
Despite beingreleased over ten years ago,StarCraft 2has been constantly updated and improved by Blizzard. Over the past decade, Blizzard has made sure that this incredible RTS game isn’t neglected and one area that they have always been proficient in is visuals.StarCraft 2is no exception.
Everything about it feels like Blizzard at the height of its powers, but the visuals are an obvious highlight. The animations, unit design, and environments are all of absolutely remarkable quality. It still holds up even a decade later as one of the most beautiful games of its era.
As far as 4X grand strategy games go, theCivilizationfranchisemay be the most famous. But while previous entries in this series tended to go for a somewhat realistic visual style,Civilization 6took a radical new approach and went for a very stylized, almost cartoony look.
It paid off, asCiv6is easily the best-looking game in the entire series. The shift from realism to a more stylized look allowed for some real character and charm to shine through, as the units and buildings have a unique and fun look to them. The terrain is also fantastic, as the colors pop and mesh brilliantly together in a package that looks stellar in action.
While the first-person shooters that birthed theHalofranchise have been rightly hailed as some of the best in the business, the spin-offs to Master Chief’s struggle against the Covenanthave been just as compelling, if not more so. The RTS spin-offHalo Warsis a prime example, as this series has taken full advantage of the hardware it was released on.
Both games are stunning, butHalo Wars 2exceeded the first and is still one of the best-looking games of the past ten years. All of Halo’s iconic weapons, vehicles, and creatures are perfectly represented from the new top-down view that the RTS genre grants. Explosions and particle effects are terrific, as this symphony of destruction and combat is one of the genre’s best-looking titles.
