Summary
- Strategy games can be visually stunning and rival other popular genres in terms of visual fidelity and art direction.
- Marvel's Midnight Suns, Age of Empires 4, Company of Heroes 3, StarCraft 2, Civilization 6, and Halo Wars 2 are some of the best-looking strategy games available.
- These games feature top-notch graphics, beautifully designed characters and environments, and attention to detail in terms of models, textures, and animations.
Although the strategy game genre is one of the most 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.
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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.
1 Marvel's Midnight Suns
Fantastic Art Direction Pays Homage To Iconic Marvel Superheroes
Marvel's Midnight Suns
- Released
- December 2, 2022
- Developer(s)
- Firaxis Games
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s)
- Tactical, RPG
While it didn't turn out to be exactly the XCOM meets Marvel title fans 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.
2 Age Of Empires 4
Long-Running Strategy Series Maintains Fantastic Visual Fidelity
Age of Empires 4
- Released
- October 28, 2021
- Developer(s)
- Relic Entertainment, World's Edge
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Real-Time Strategy
Despite the near twenty-year gap between Age of Empires 4 and the last mainline release of AOE3 in 2005, the fourth entry in this venerable strategy series didn't miss a beat. One thing that was kept from those first three titles was amazing graphics, something that Age of Empires 4 has in spades.
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Everything about AOE4 looks and feels spectacular. From the units to the buildings, all the way to the terrain and the texture work. Age of Empires 4 doesn't skimp on anything, as it also features solid performance and the art direction is wonderful.
3 Company Of Heroes 3
Incredible Military RTS Captures The Look And Feel Of WW2
Company of Heroes 3
- Released
- February 23, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Relic Entertainment
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Real-Time Strategy
Like a lot of strategy franchises, Company of Heroes has a tendency to lay dormant as the genre shifts and changes. But when the military-themed RTS series made 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 3 prioritized 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.
4 StarCraft 2
Expertly Crafted RTS Is Still A Sight To Behold A Decade Later
StarCraft 2
Despite being released over ten years ago, StarCraft 2 has 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 2 is no exception.
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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.
5 Civilization 6
Long-Running 4X Strategy Series Crafts New Style
Sid Meier's Civilization 6
As far as 4X grand strategy games go, the Civilization franchise may be the most famous. But while previous entries in this series tended to go for a somewhat realistic visual style, Civilization 6 took a radical new approach and went for a very stylized, almost cartoony look.
It paid off, as Civ6 is 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.
6 Halo Wars 2
Halo RTS Spin-Off Maintains Visual Beauty Of Console Games
Halo Wars 2
- Released
- February 21, 2017
- Developer(s)
- 343 Industries, Creative Assembly
- Genre(s)
- Real-Time Strategy
While the first-person shooters that birthed the Halo franchise have been rightly hailed as some of the best in the business, the spin-offs to Master Chief's struggle against the Covenant have been just as compelling, if not more so. The RTS spin-off Halo Wars is a prime example, as this series has taken full advantage of the hardware it was released on.
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Both games are stunning, but Halo Wars 2 exceeded 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.
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