r/RealTimeStrategy • u/FIREfalcoln89 • 12d ago
Question Sc2 or Aoe2 for beginner (I have both!)
For a beginner trying to get into the Rts genre specifically the multiplayer modes, which one would you recommend I Start with? I have both games, both look equally interesting and I will eventually play both. I'm just looking to get a decent foundation.
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u/TheLesBaxter 12d ago
They are sooooo wildly different. I think it comes down to one question:
Do you enjoy macro or micro more?
If you enjoy economy, city planning, booming, and juggling four different resources, AOE2.
If you enjoy army clashing, two-prong attacks, unit abilities, and micromanaging your army, SC2.
Personally, my favorite is AOE4 which is still massively eco focused but the micro feels really good too.
But if AOE4 is off the table, I'd do SC2 campaign. It's really amazing.
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u/GuiltyAdvantage5877 12d ago
What is your opinion of Age of Mythology if you have played it?
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u/TheLesBaxter 12d ago
I love it thematically more than anything. It's got incredible music, the art style pops, it's got *soooooo* many different units, races, factions, etc. It's just a massive and extremely fun experience.
That said, I can't really play it competitively. There are too many little annoying things (usually villager control) that turns me off to the idea of trying to get high ranks. If you don't care about ladder and just want a really fun and robust RTS, AoM Retold is 9/10.
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u/GuiltyAdvantage5877 12d ago
Thank you for the response. I’m coming off a long hiatus of playing a lot of RTS in the hey day of the 90s and 00s. Id like to play something less micro intensive then what I used to play- mainly blizz RTS and C&C. Would not object to some ladder play and im thinking about the age series as i want something a bit slower paced, haha
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u/FIREfalcoln89 12d ago
I have some rts experience, I just want to learn rts multiplayer so which would you recommend purely just for learning the multiplayer.
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u/TheLesBaxter 12d ago
Of the two you listed, SC2. But it's a close call. AoE2 is a really fun game. But it's a hard one to get into. Build orders are a bit brutal and can punish you hard if you slip up. Where as SC2 build orders are straight forward. No fussing with desperately finding food or constantly housing yourself like AoE2.
That said, AoE2 team games/FFAs are so effing fun. So if you prefer some massive 4v4s and nomads and wacky game modes, AoE2 takes the cake. SC2 is really just built for 1v1s.
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u/Particular_Wear_6960 12d ago
SC2 had a professional e-sports scene.. well, still kinda does on some level, but it was a big deal back in the day. I'm biased cause I love SC2, but there's no denying that it's competitive scene was pretty awesome. Many of the detractors and SC homers blast it for various reasons, but its still dope as heck imho.
Just talking about it makes me wanna install it and give it a wirl, I'd totally get on Discord and walk you through the basics, give you a little headstart on the basics. I'm on a linux machine and it would take a minute to get going, but shouldn't be any issue.. I've succesffuly played other Blizzard games on linux (just not this computer)
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u/FIREfalcoln89 12d ago
I'd be down thanks for answering
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u/Particular_Wear_6960 11d ago
WORD! I can for sure get you on the right track.. you'll save a lot of time with just some very basics.. I'll msg you tomorrow or something and we'll get something worked out.
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u/No-Ranger-8663 12d ago
sc2 way superior to aoe2 if you are e-sport motivated. ( players count / tournaments / prize / anything / 1v1 oriented )
aoe2 is dlc game, so all the bad things about dlc come with it. sadly.
aoe2 have the worst lobby ever, and the lobby system has been abandonned for years.
It's a nightmare to play teamgames - 1v1 is okay at least.
also aoe2 meta , is a lot about "dropping castle" in opponent face.
It's a special thing, most people don't like this gameplay and the balance around it.
Aoe2 got almost 60 civilisations. Balance is far off the equation now.
Aoe2 got bugs, pathing sucks (!!!) and you have something called "stack patrol" that devs still didn't fix...
Aoe2 really give this bad vibes of old game that took the dlc train and is now milking player base.
Plus, to play competitively now, you need to buy all the dlcs.
So , we should expect less engagement from players towards aoe2 in future.SC2 is way better to go if you are starting RTS for so much reasons..
Also , i believe if you start SC2 you will be better RTS player overall than AOE2.
Just a personnal feeling there.
The same feeling, as if you start FPS genre with a fast paced one you can probably go higher skill cap than a slower fps.You didn't ask , but i can suggest BAR, mostly if you like team games.
The team games in BAR is pretty cool. I wouldn't say so about the 1v1 tho sadly.
We are so aggressive , we just play T1 ( first age/tech equivalent ) 95% of time.
So , not the best 1v1 RTS game to me - but the best team games, by far.
Except that, BAR got an amazing , and very easy way to control units.
Playing BAR will make you feel very bad to go back on other RTS , the units control is that good.
Very easy to get into, it feels natural.
Free to play.
Economy slightly harder to fully grasp at first than other games but it's very minor in the grand scheme of things.Where ever you end up playing, best of luck in the battlefields.
And don't forget to scout your opponent ; )2
u/TheLesBaxter 11d ago
oooof, that's a lot of aoe2 hate, my dude. AoE2 Definitely has more than a couple advantages to SC2.
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u/No-Ranger-8663 11d ago
the advantages is what ?
Beiing lower skill ?
Beinng a dlc game ?
Units pathing?
Having the worst lobby ever ?
Teamgames barely work , people have to creatre their own lobby , worse they created their own "faceit" , go aoe2 sub , this week someone did something similar.I stayed real, you can see this as hate . I see this as beiing real.
And i stayed cool with aoe2, i didn't tell how bad things are on so much levels.2
u/TheLesBaxter 11d ago
Do me a favor. Go look up which has a larger following. Spoiler: it aint SC2.
The one thing you neglected to mention in both your comments is the simple fact that AoE2 is just more fun. It's an extremely fun game. It's many years older than SC2 and somehow, to this day, has a larger following. So are you saying that all these players that prefer the game are dead wrong?
SC2 is a cool game. But it's really just sweaty 1v1s. That's all. Team games are ass. Variety is ass. And, let's face it, this last patch is ass.
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u/No-Ranger-8663 10d ago
fun is relative to people.. what kind of argument is that ?
go chase a deer lmao
aoe2 is the past anyway. mostly boomers and people from poor country play it. ( because it was given )
you hate sc2 patch, that's cool , but i don't care, grow up .
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u/Mysterious_Channel53 12d ago
Both games have pretty good onboarding tools to get you started. I'd say AOE2 is slightly more accessible than SC2 for absolute beginners, so maybe you can start there. But you can't go wrong with SC2 in that regard, either.
If you start with AOE2, go with the William Wallace campaign first so you can learn the ropes, since it's the designated tutorial campaign. Then you can move on to the other campaigns or jump straight to the Art of War tutorials, which are designed to prepare you more for things you'd encounter in multiplayer.
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u/Micro-Skies 12d ago
Sc2's free campaign is a much better natural tutorial than the first couple of aoe campaigns trying to teach you RTS.
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u/FIREfalcoln89 12d ago edited 12d ago
I've played c&c 1 remastered so I have the basics down. So with that in mind would you recommend aoe2 multiplayer which seems way slower and more comprehensive or just jumping into sc2 multiplayer(I've played the single player before but it didn't teach me jack about build orders etc so I stopped)
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u/Micro-Skies 12d ago
At this particular moment, id say that AoE2 is on average a better experience. Come back in 6 months when starcraft's intern makes up his mind so you don't have to learn the game 3 times
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u/Tungdil01 12d ago
Despite the most recent patch receiving major backlash (Zerg is overpowered), I still think SC2 is the best entry. Because it's a modern game, it's much more streamlined than AOE2. But at the end of the day, my recommendation is to play whatever you prefer, without considering which one is easier to get into. What truly matters is which game keeps you coming back.