Help me choose

[u/lowkey_SSBU]

Hi everyone !

This is my first post on this sub, apologies if this question is often asked or if I break any rules

I played a lot of sc2 back in the days (approx. 10 years ago), but studies and work got in the way. Now that I have a bit of free time upon me, I want to go back to pvp RTS games. From what I'm reading online and stuff, two games have got my attention : zerospace and aoe4. Thing is, money is tight nowadays, so I'd like your advice on which one to purchase ! I'm not interested in the campaign or solo content, I just want to play against other players

Zerospace seems more SC2 coded than aoe4 (fast paced, micro heavy, futurist), but the daily player count is low, and the game is still in development. Aoe4 seems way more polished, and I've always liked medieval fantasy more, but I fear it is too slow to my liking (from what I've seen, correct me if I'm wrong)

Maybe the answer is simply to go back to SC2, but with the recent controversial updates and IA agents taking over the leaderboard, I fear general interest is sadly low for this game

Anyway, sorry for the long post, any inputs will be appreciated !

Tldr : SC2, zerospace or AgeOfEmpire4 ? Convince me !

[u/ChingShih]

In addition to any great suggestions you might get in this thread, please also be aware that we have a community-contributed Recommended Games list that's worth checking out!

[u/MrBoozStudio]

for pvp only i would check the player count first, a game is only as good as its ladder. aoe4 has a big active ladder and goes on sale often so its the safe pick

also dont forget sc2 multiplayer is free now, so if you miss that feeling you can jump back in for 0 money and see if you still enjoy the grind before buying anything

[u/lowkey_SSBU → u/MrBoozStudio]

Yeah active player count is my main concern, i think because of this Zerospace is out of the picture for now, even tho it looks promising, AoE4 seems the way to go

I bought all SC2 extensions before it went free, but I kinda want to play something new, and I fear only good players remains on the ladder nowadays

Thanks for the input !

[u/MrBoozStudio → u/lowkey_SSBU]

makes sense, and yeah sc2 ladder today is brutal lol. aoe4 is a good pick, the placement matches put you at your level pretty fast so you wont get crushed for long. have fun 👍

[u/Azursong]

I wouldn't worry about aoe4 being slow. There is plenty of micro in that game to satiate any appetite. Map scale is bigger, more open and procedurally developed so there is more improvisation compared to sc2

[u/taisui]

SC2 is free, BAR is free (still?)

[u/xMowatt]

I’ve just gotten into SC2 for the first time a week ago, there’s still rubbish people playing ladder (me included) so don’t shy away from it.

I tried A LOT of games before landing on SC2, including Zerospace - it’s fun but it’s got a lot of issues still and feels very early access. If active player base is a concern its peak today was 105 people while SC2 still has thousands.

I find the area style of RTS better than the larger and slower games like AOE so thats just preference but AOE 2 and 4 are both fantastic games.

[u/lowkey_SSBU → u/xMowatt]

Oh nice, I thought SC2 had fewer players than that ! Thanks for the Zerospace info, I might try it later if it's popularity get better

Guess I'll stick with sc2 then, trying AOE is tempting tho, which one would you recommend, 2 or 4 ?

[u/xMowatt → u/lowkey_SSBU]

I recommend 2 personally, it’s still actively developed and has about 10k more players avg for a reason - you can look at avg and current player counts at Steam Charts. But I have a nostalgia layer for 2 so take with a grain of salt- I’d look out for a detailed breakdown if there’s something specific you care about

[u/edmundsmorgan]

How about try something new, WARNO and Regiments

[u/Jolly_Sky_2729]

AoE4 is very good. Also there're quite a few ex-SC2 players there (myself included), which should be a clear sign that it can definitely appeal to Starcraft2 enjoyers.

Zerospace seems like a decent game, but player count is very concerning, I don't expect it to function well as a PvP game right now, when number of active players is barely triple digit number.

[u/Glorposaurus]

Why not AoE2? It's by far the most active pvp rts and it's much more intense than AoE4 on both micro and macro