20 Best Classic PC Strategy Games

Table of Contents

• 20 Best Classic PC Strategy Games
• 19. Heroes of Might and Magic II
• 18. Master of Orion II
• 17. Shogun: Total War
• 16. Age of Empires II
• 15.The Settlers (1993)
• 14. Age of Empires III
• 13. Command & Conquer: Red Alert
• 12. Company of Heroes
• 11. Dungeon Keeper (1997)
• 10. The Settlers II
• 9. Black & White
• 8. Command & Conquer (1995)
• 7. Sid Meier's Civilization (1991)
• 6. Dune II
• 5. StarCraft II
• 4. StarCraft
• 3. UFO: Enemy Unknown
• 2. Heroes of Might and Magic III
• 1. Warcraft III

6. Dune II

Dune II takes place in one of the most important universes in the history of science fiction literature.

By slowly climbing to the top of our rankings, we are going backwards through the history of Westwood Studios. We have already introduced two parts of the Command & Conquer series, but now it is time for a real milestone in the history of digital entertainment.

After all, it's hard to make a reliable ranking of classic strategy games without including a title that has spawned such an important genre as RTS. Not only did Studio Westwood define the standards of real-time strategy for many years to come, it also created this type of games when it released its adaptation of the classic science fiction novel in 1992. By today's standards Dune 2: The Building of a Dynasty has a fairly simple gameplay model, but in its time it was a real revolution.

There were three factions that differed minimally, and playing as each of them was based on the same course of action: gathering the spice (“melange”), which was the primary resource, building a base, recruiting units, and attacking the enemy. Nevertheless, it was Dune 2 that shaped the concept that was later developed in Warcraft and Command & Conquer series.

The action of Dune 2: The Building of a Dynasty takes place in the universe created by writer Frank Herbert for his book titled Dune, which became for science fiction what The Lord of the Rings is for fantasy. Dune is also an introduction to a larger series called the Chronicles of Dune, created first by the author himself and later by his son.

The first movie adaptation of Dune, directed by David Lynch, proved to be a highly controversial work and was considered a failure by some fans. In contrast, video games based on this universe, as we can see, have greatly influenced the entire industry and have become a permanent part of its history.

You will admit that it is rare to see titles that permanently change the face of our industry. So it doesn't matter today how Dune 2 looks or how rough its gameplay is, because we've had great fun over the years with games that might never have been made without this title.