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What are the best War games on Steam?

19

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Considered

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Sep 7, 2023

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19 Games Considered

Best War games on Steam	Price	Co-Op	Platforms
-- Insurgency	$14.99	8 Player Online / 8 PLayer LAN	Windows, Linux, Mac
-- Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion	$39.99	Yes	-
-- Arma 3	$39.99	-	-
-- Civilization V	$29.99	2 to 21 Player Online / LAN	Windows, macOS, SteamOS + Linux
-- Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare	$19.99	Multiplayer	-

Insurgency

Top Pro

Engaging gunplay

Leaning towards being more realistic the gunplay is slow and measured, just as one would treat a real gun. This makes for an immersive experience due to how real it feels as well as how different it is from most FPS games. See More

Top Con

Hard to get in

Specs

Co-Op:8 Player Online / 8 PLayer LAN

Controller Support:Full

Top Pro

Mature community

Insurgency's players seem to be a lot more mature and respectful compared to what's commonly expected in online shooters making the communicating both on forums and in-game more enjoyable. See More

Top Con

Hard to get in

Even with experience in other fps games poor maps knowledge (they are quite complex) and tactical approach require quite a few hours of learning the game mechanics before you start having actual fun See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform

Works on Windows and OSX with Linux support planned. See More

Top Con

Requires a good team

To truly play this game you need to use communication in order to plan out how to win accordingly. This is a task undertaken by groups of people that are familiar with one another over random people playing together. See More

Top Pro

Everyone has a different class

When teams are set up the game does not allow multiple people to have the same class chosen for their character which makes for a great way to ensure teams are not imbalanced. See More

Top Pro

Steam VoIP support

Insurgency has Steam integration that allows for easy VoIP communication. See More

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

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Top Pro

Leisurely real time combat

The large scale of the game controlling fleets in may solar systems allows for a leisurely pace to play, which makes for worthwhile way of controlling ones ships across multiple places. This makes for less stress in the game due to how intuitive and evenly paced the game is. See More

Top Con

Very long games

A game can last upwards of 4 hours for the medium/larger games. This can be a detriment for those that do not have the time to sit down and play a four hour game. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Diplomacy used in a smart way

Different factions will send you quests that may effect your relationship with other factions meaning you will have to choose who best to make a friend or make an enemy when taking these missions. This bit of strategy can greatly change the outcome of a game depending on how well you have chosen who to help and who to possibly make angry. See More

Arma 3

Top Pro

Long single-player campaign

The average playtime for the single-player campaign (referred to as 'Main Story) of ARMA 3 clocks in at just under 20 hours, while a 100% complete playthough of the campaign averages 39 hours of playtime. See More

Top Con

Framerate isn't consistent

ARMA suffers from some framerate issues, with very variable results in both single- and multiplayer situations. Often the game will perform well in multiplayer, while dropping down to a severely worse framerate in a single player mission. Similar problems occur vice versa as well, which results in a very inconsistent framerate. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

No player limit in multiplayer games

ARMA 3 doesn't impose restrictions on its servers, allowing for a true sandbox experience with a large population. Battles can be fought with hundreds or even thousands of players; multiplayer warfare is definitely large-scale. See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve

The tactical aspect of ARMA 3 is also portrayed in the somewhat difficult controls and steep learning curve of the game. For example, a lot of different buttons and keystrokes have to be remembered for all the different commands, equipment options and vehicle controls. There is no in-game tutorial, the only way to learn how the game works in by trial and error, a field guide or by using in-game hints. Tactical elements and strategies aren't explained in the game. See More

Top Pro

Underwater gameplay

ARMA 3 features underwater gameplay with diving gear and underwater weapons. Underwater gameplay is noticeably different, because it uses a third movement axis. See More

Top Pro

Huge amount of mods and add-ons available

The modding community of ARMA 3 is quite large, with multiple online communities and free tools provided by Bohemia - the developers of ARMA 3. At the time of writing, there are 115 mods available on ModDB and over 23500 mods in the Steam Workshop. See More

Top Pro

Huge open maps

As ARMA 3 is an open-world experience, singleplayer missions are not as linear and take place in the same map area as the game's multiplayer mode. There are a couple of different islands to explore in ARMA 3, including Altis which has a size of over 100 square miles (270 km²). Stratis is the smallest island in ARMA but is still respectable in size but 7.7 square miles (20 km²). A new map - Tanoa - is scheduled to be included in the paid Apex Expansion pack, with a size of 38.6 square miles (100 km²). See More

Top Pro

Best in class authenticity

ARMA 3 is built as a simulation-type game and features rather tactical gameplay with a slow pace. The developers use real-life military weapons, equipment and vehicles. Even some of the environments in the game are virtually indistinguishable from their real-life counterpart. ARMA 3's gameplay also encompasses more than a regular first person shooter, as military tactics such as water attacks, giving orders to squadmates and drone strikes are necessary in order to successfully complete a mission. Elements such as destruction are extremely important, as certain specific parts of a vehicle can be damaged. See More

Civilization V

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Top Con

One unit per tile

Civ 5 restricts you to having one unit per tile, but has an AI unable to handle that restriction well, and doesn't even have decent pathing for units. Late game becomes a slog of ordering each unit individually due to poor pathing. See More

Top Pro

Customization through policies

Policies are used as a tool to gain a variety of customizations that benefit ones society. There is a branching tree of policies that will allow the user to pick certain aspects that will suit them best such as adding law or religion to ones society which will give gains in certain aspects. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Co-Op:2 to 21 Player Online / LAN

Controller Support:Steam Controller Officallly supported

Top Con

No stats on other Civ attitudes

Unlike past Civilization games there are no longer stats on the attitudes of the players surrounding Civilizations. This allowed one to see how each other nation felt about the player, but now that it is gone one has to guess, which is definitely not as helpful. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic tactical combat

Civilization V has a great combat system that feels very tactical over previous versions as there is no stacking of troops, but with the new hexagonal grid players can surround enemies as well as allow for better tactics when planning attacks. See More

Top Con

Most victories won by timed or military victory

It can be pretty difficult to win by diplomacy or culture which does add some challenge to the game but it can get tiresome if one keeps winning by only military or timed victories. See More

Top Pro

Beautiful graphics

From the players cities and armies to the lush landscape, Civilization is quite a beautiful game for those with systems powerful enough to push the graphics to the limit. Even when on lower graphical settings the game looks lush and well animated. See More

Top Con

No steam workshop support on Linux

The Linux port currently does not support steam workshop, and as the mac port made by the same developers has not received workshop support despite having been out for several years, it is unlikely that it ever will. Though there are unofficial workarounds to get the mods working. See More

Top Pro

Endless scenarios and replayability

Civilization V has a large assortment of nation leaders to choose from that have an even bigger assortment of scenarios that are able to play out for said leaders. Each game can be quite unique in this way as each leader allows for a different nation to be controlled. See More

Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare

Top Pro

Dedicated server support

You can scale up to 200 players if dedicated server is enabled. See More

Top Con

Short single player campaign

The single player is quite short (though it is not the main focus of the title as multiplayer is the main reason that one would purchase the game). See More

Specs

Co-Op:Multiplayer

Top Pro

Multiple and varied game types

There are a number of game types to play including Team Deathmatch, Free for all, Domination, Sabotage and Search and Destroy making for lots of variation. See More

Top Pro

Bots mod for co-op

You can get a mod that can be used if you host a server, adding bots to your team and that of the enemy, thus allowing for large offline battles. See More

Top Pro

Minimal graphics' requirements

This game was released in 2007 and is still played by thousands online. As it is an older game, you don't need as many configurations to play it. See More

Endless Legend

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Top Pro

As good as Civ, if not better in some areas

Tends to have more nuance to the way you play it, especially with different factions. Strategy and diplomacy also have larger roles in Endless Legend, helping to round out how one can play. See More

Top Con

Can get difficult sometimes

The gameplay can be difficult and may be a turn off to some gamers, but apparently there are mods to remove or tone down all of the annoying features (such as winters). For those that are willing to install mods to make the game easier or more palatable. See More

CompetentIoke's Experience

I have this and Endless Space 1/2. Seem to have put in more hours on this. The gameplay is complex without being overwhelming, and the pace is quite relaxing (until it all kicks off). See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Fantasy 4X game

If you're into a more fantasy settings, this is the game to go to as there are few fantasy set 4X games. See More

Sniper Elite 3

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Top Pro

Eight large stages to play through

There are eight very large stages the player can play through, each with multiple objectives to illustrate progression on each map. See More

Top Con

Non intelligent A.I.

Like a lot of stealth games, all it takes is getting enough distance from a guard to make them forget they ever saw the player. This pulls the player out of the immersion of the game seeing such a non intelligent A.I. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Top Pro

Slo-mo x-ray kill shots

Sniper Elite 3 has a slo-mo x-ray kill shot camera that shows in graphic detail the kill shots of the game. See More

Top Pro

Online multiplayer

There are a few multiplayer modes in the game that allow for player vs. player. See More

Wolfenstein: The New Order

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Top Pro

Well written and acted

The story in the game is well fleshed out. It is a fictional story about if the Nazis took over the world after WWII, which is not a new premise, but has so many little touches that really create an immersive story that the player cares about. This is where the animation and voice acting of the game comes into play, with things like subtle eye rolls or twirling of thumbs to inflections in a characters voice. It gives a sense that these people in the story are real and when complimented with a well written plot, it makes for a great experience. See More

Top Con

Drops resolution in certain places

Certain points of the game may drop the resolution down to 1760x1080 (from 1920x1080) in order to keep the gameplay running at 60 frames per second, while this does not happen often, it does happen. See More

Specs

Genre:First-Person Shooter

Top Pro

Plays at 1080p and 60fps

The majority of the game holds at a steady 60fps while being played in 1080p or slightly less. This makes for a visually appealing game thanks to the solid framerate in what is often full HD. See More

Top Con

Dual wield feels out of place

Using two guns at the same time, while a cool concept does not feel fully fleshed out in this title. It is often cumbersome and does not wield great results in firefights, which asks the question of why it was included. See More

This War of Mine

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Top Pro

Creates a sense of fear

Through using the use of sound/graphics as well as how pertinent it is to find supplies, going out into the world where almost all interactions are fraught with danger give a real sense of fear as to not get killed by the worlds survivors. Every sound or shadow moving makes for a world that should worry the player and then some. See More

Top Con

Crafting is difficult to grasp

While playing a huge role in the game the mechanics of crafting are not explained that well leaving the player to guess as to what they need to do, which can be frustrating. See More

CompetentIoke's Experience

A different spin of the war game. Tense, gripping, and beautifully presented. See More

Top Pro

Realisticly tough decision making

Users must make many choices in game that can result in many realistic consequences. Should the player take a gun out with them to scavenge, what if they run into enemies and didn't bring one? What if they brought the gun but now don't have room in their inventory to collect all the items needed to survive the next day? See More

Company of Heroes 2

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Top Pro

Tons of replayability thanks to DLC

While DLC has the potential to introduce imbalance, with purchased items that give advantage, so far CoH 2 has not had this issue. What it does offer through DLC is new campaigns and features such as Twitch support. This allows for more to be added to the game to do and see, which keeps players that enjoy the game coming back when purchasing these items. Other things such as cosmetics can also be purchased through DLC (really micro-transactions), which do not impact gameplay at all but offer a way to individualize oneself from the masses. See More

Top Con

Gameplay can be quite hectic

Some of the missions in the game can require the player to keep track of up to 135 units at once, on three different fronts at that , which can be difficult to manage. While not completely unmanageable, this is something to consider for those that want something a bit more simplistic out of their RTS. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Top of its class in graphics for an RTS

While not a huge improvement over the first game in the series (Company of Heroes), the graphics to be found in CoH2 are still quite astounding for an RTS. Being that the genre tends to have many moving parts in any given level, the graphics tend to take a backseat to gameplay, but CoH 2 decided to offer better graphics than most in a very rich and detailed environment as well as troops. There will be plenty of realistic explosions to watch, as well as smoke after the fact that looks quite real. The animations to be found are also quite good, troops run as you would expect real people to run, vehicles move exactly as expected as well. Just about anything in the graphics department for this game stands out with a ton of polish. See More

Top Con

Flame weapons feel over powered

When facing off against units or vehicles that use flame weapons, the users troops can be killed a little too quickly. being that the weapons can often come out of nowhere, it can be frustrating as the level will most likely need to be replayed with the knowledge that flame weapons will be coming up. See More

Top Pro

Great multiplayer

The multiplayer of the game tends to be where the majority of fun can be seen. While single player is a worthwhile en-devour in the game, it just can not stand up against playing with real people. The included multiplayer has plenty of competitive maps as well as a section of co-op maps that are similar to the campaign mode (though not as plentiful). See More

Top Con

Poor cutscenes

The cutscenes, even though they are not animated with the in game engine look pretty abysmal. Why they are animated so poorly is unknown, but it definitely stands out. See More

Top Pro

More of a focus on smart planning over APM

Company of Heroes 2 is an RTS game that focuses more on smart decision making of micro unit control over macro control and actions per minute. This allows for a more deep strategy to the game as user will need to think aggressively and quickly. Strategy plays a big part as units can utilize cover with buildings as well as vehicles. The action on screen can often be slow which also allows for more micro management and planned out attacks. See More

Top Pro

Control large amount of units

Upped from the original game the player is able to control up to 135 units, which is quite a lot of micromanagement for those that are interested. See More

Distant Worlds: Universe

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Top Pro

In-depth problem solving

Unlike games like Civ where solving a problem is a few clicks away, Distant Worlds has many layers of abstraction that will make problem solving a lot more difficult and more like a real living world. There may be many elements needed in order to solve a problem that the player will have to figure out on their own, making for a very immersive way to solve issues. See More

Top Con

Requires a time commitment

This is not a game that one can jump into with no prior knowledge, there is a high learning curve that will take many trial sessions in order to get the hang of the full aspects of the game. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Top Pro

The universe is huge

With the possibility to simulate thousands of stars and tens of thousands of planets in realtime, the universe in Distant Worlds is truely vast. See More

Rising Storm

Top Pro

Each team requires vastly different playstyles

Due to each side having different skills it will make for different tactics that need used depending on the team on is on. This makes for a great way to switch up the gameplay without having to leave the game. See More

Top Con

Can take a commitment to get used to the mechanics and get good

With the precision needed for shooting in the game as well as needing to learn the ins and outs of the skillful mechanics it may take a good while before one can get fully comfortable with the game, which may frustrate some as there will be a time commitment. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Co-Op:4 Player Online

Controller Support:No

Top Pro

Great level design

All maps are quite different from each other and feature good design of the defend and attack elements. This makes for good p=balance that is often not found in many multiplayer games. See More

Age of Wonders III

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Top Pro

Worthwhile leveling system

throughout the game players troops are leveling as long as they are being used. This adds to each's pool of abilities. There are also points one can earn in battle that can be used to unlock new abilities. Both of these systems add up to a competent way to always be leveling and give a feeling of advancement in the game. See More

Top Con

Some areas are too easy

At certain points of the game decision need to be made, which would normally mean something is lost when choosing, but sadly things like buildings are too easy to build meaning there is no loss when choosing what to do, which makes the choices meaningless. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Top Pro

Intuitive tactical battles

The tactical battles in the game play out in a way that feels different depending on what enemies are being fought , which makes for a good way to differentiate play. The battles also play out in a fast fashion that is easy to understand making for an experience that feels well made due to how the player can pick up the play. See More

PlanetSide 2

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Top Pro

Vehicles

The vehicle options in game add a lot more depth to the strategy of planning attacks on the enemy. See More

Top Con

Poor tutorial, hard to figure all mechanics out

PlanetSide 2 does a poor job at explaining how to play the game or what anything in the mues do. Equipment loadouts are confusing as well as a minefield of pay items. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Co-Op:Online PvP

Top Pro

Open world MMO-FPS with huge persistent battles between 3 factions

Three factions are in constant battle for points on a map, with the goal of getting the most pieces on the map or the whole thing. See More

Top Con

Pay to win

PlanetSide 2 has pay to win mechanics meant to coerce players into paying for equipment to avoid the extremely long grind it takes to earn anything in game. A brand new player with a deep wallet can customize their gear to their prefered playstyle giving them an advantage over those that opt not to pay. See More

Top Pro

User selectable respawn points

Users can select where they want to respawn after death. There are even vehicles that provide new spawn points on the map that players can drive and leave. This creates a great element of strategy on where to place spawn points when attacking certain targets. See More

Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension

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Top Pro

Extremely complex

If you're familiar with any other games by Illwinter Game Design, you'll recognize the difficult game design. These games are extremely complex, takes ages to learn, and have enormous replayability. Provided you have the guts to go through the tough stuff first. See More

Top Con

Graphics outdated

If you care about graphics much, this game won't make you a fan. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Grand Strategy

Top Con

Extremely complex

No hand holding here, and the learning curve is a killer. However, people who invest the time to learn the game tend to be satisfied at the end. See More

BattleTech

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Top Pro

Great variety of missions keeps things fresh

The story campaign missions themselves are varied with lots of different objectives and goals. For example, you'll be protecting locations, escorting friendly units, saving political refugees, salvaging crashed ships, or even just raining down as much destruction as possible. There's enough variety so you'll never feel like you're doing the same thing too much, and helps keep things fresh and interesting over the course of the campaign. See More

Top Con

Camera is fairly poor

The camera doesn't follow missiles or laser shots properly, often lagging behind so you miss the actual impact. It can feel pretty bad to strategically line up a nice shot and then not be able to see it in action. The camera also has a tendency to sway away from the action or not properly follow the mechs when they move. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Turn-Based Strategy

Top Pro

Lots of cool ways to build and customize your mechs

Whether you're salvaging parts from fallen foes in battle, or buying them from merchants, there's a large variety of different weapon and chassis types. Each weapon and piece of equipment has a generic type, but also name brand versions which can provide bonuses such as longer range, more damage, and less heat. By building reputation with various merchants and factions, you're able to gain access to bigger and better equipment. You can also mix and match this equipment and weapons to customize a mech with various attributes such as damage, speed, and better defense. Overall, the system offers quite a bit of depth and flexibility, so you'll feel like you have total control over your creations. See More

Top Con

RNG results in loads of frustrating gameplay

Unfortunately, there is a lot of RNG in Battletech that can result in frustrating situations. Getting all your units into place, lining up your perfect shot, and then missing every single one due to random bad luck feels terrible every time it happens. This is made even worse by the fact your opponent can, due to the same RNG, perfectly land every shot and blow your mech up. Despite how carefully or strategically you play, sometimes it will just boil down to pure RNG. See More

Top Pro

Nice selection of mechs

Many of the mechs from the board game are represented in-game. It's pretty fun to be able to take your favorite ones into battle. See More

Top Con

Very long loading screens

The loading screens between missions can be incredibly long. See More

Top Pro

Loads of fun possibilities during battle

There are so many different weapon and mech types, that the possibilities for the ways battles unfold are almost endless. Flamethrowers can overheat your opponent. Machine guns tear away armor, leaving enemies exposed for laser damage. All the different areas of the mechs can be individually targeted. You can shoot the legs to disable them, or go right for the core to blow it up. Taking too many actions can cause you to overheat. Different terrain types like desert or tundra can even effect the heat levels of your units. Mechs all move different, with some being fast and able to dodge attacks more easily, while others are massive slow moving brutes that pack a lot of firepower. Just the sheer amount of ways each battle can unfold is where the game truly excels. See More

Top Con

Distracting filler content

While building up your mercenary company, you're often forced to take generic side missions before you can progress the main campaign story. Many of these missions take place on pretty barren landscapes and don't have a whole lot of variety. This detracts from the story campaign a bit and ultimately ends up feeling like distracting filler content. See More

Top Pro

Strategic turn based gameplay offers a lot of depth

Deciding what actions to take or where to move your units each turn offers a lot of potential for deep strategy. Each battle basically consists of moving your units around the map and destroying your enemies or completing objectives, however, you can only take a limited number of actions per turn. These actions - including running, sprinting, shooting, evading, etc - are limited by several systems, such as morale and heat. These need to be managed efficiently to succeed. For example, heat limits how much moving or firing you can do without your mech overheating. Morale must be built up over time but allows to unload more precise or stronger weapon shots. Deciding on where to move, when to shoot, and how to position your units each turn offers plenty of room for strategic play. See More

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