5 Best RTS Games on Xbox One (2023)

11 months ago 101

Real-time strategy, or RTS, games often remind me of Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones. You know, the clever dwarf who uses his wit and intellect to overcome the wildest struggles, including the spectacular Battle of the Blackwater, which could have gone downhill without Tyrion. 

No matter what the common belief is, the mastermind behind planning battles often takes the credit. He’s the guy who pays attention to the subtlest details and makes the high-stakes decisions that are capable of making or breaking the outcome. If planning ahead and issuing commands to your troops sounds like you, we’ve combed through the RTS games on the Xbox One console to compile the best RTS games on Xbox One (2023) for your pleasure.

5. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - Release Trailer

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun thrives in stealth mode. Players control a team of deadly specialists whose main ability is to sneak into the shadows. The game takes place in Japan during the 1615 Edo period. 

It follows a new Shogun who’s seized control of Japan to enforce nationwide peace. He uses five specialists to do so in the most brutal ways, including spying, sabotaging threats, and assassinating those who don’t comply.

Successfully using stealth action through enemy territory needs a lot of careful planning and thinking ahead. Using your wits and skills, will no doubt come in handy. You also have an impressive array of weapons to choose from, which, combined with your unique ninja skills, help even the odds for you.

The game’s visual appeal and beautiful music help make your experience smooth and fun. So, even when you’re holding on for dear life, it still feels like an experience you’ll likely come back to for hours on end.  

4. Port Royale 4

Port Royale 4 - Launch Trailer

Port Royale is a Jack of All Trades series that encompasses naval warfare and building a merchant empire in the towns of Port Royale to keep your colonial activities afloat. While most games in the series could make a good case for picking either one, Port Royale 4 remains the best entry to get into.

Four colonial powerhouses go up against one another, specifically the Netherlands, England, France, and Spain. As a young and ambitious governor, you get to choose which colony to take control of and raise the anchor, setting sail for Port Royale. Remember, each colony has its perks, so choose wisely.

From there, you start managing your colony. Everything from choosing a leader, whether an explorer, a merchant, a buccaneer, or a pirate, and having them lead your colony to supremacy. Port Royale is an expansive 3D world with huge potential. It has 60 Caribbean cities you could trade with. 

You could also construct production sites to manufacture goods like rum, all while keeping track of your crew’s livelihoods and employment status. With consecutive successful ventures, you earn additional perks like permits, new ships, and buildings to expand your territory. And when the naval battles ensue, it’s up to you to strategize your way to victory using the resources and manpower at your disposal.

3. Halo Wars 2

Halo Wars 2: Official Launch Trailer

No matter how hard you try, you simply can’t get enough of the sci-fi universe of Halo in 2559. It’s such an extensive universe that places entire armies at your feet and mercy. From Warthogs to Spartans to Marines to Scorpion tanks, each battlefield is an epic display of powerful armies at each other’s throats.

Halo Wars 2 picks up where Halo Wars left off with an all-new story split across campaign missions. It demands the player build and lead the vehicles and armies of their unit. A new enemy is at play, too, threatening the Halo universe. So, the Halo fighting forces have no choice but to unite under the leadership of their commander (you).

Feel free to bring a friend or two along in the game’s up to six multiplayer modes. Also, check out the new Blitz mode, which allows you to combine tactical combat with card-based strategy. The more victories you have under your belt, the more powerful your deck collections of vehicles and troops are to use in fast-action matches.

2. RimWorld Console Edition

RimWorld Console Edition Launch Trailer

Also, a sci-fi colony RTS game, this time, players control a group of survivors of a shipwreck in a distant world. Your role is to manage and build a new colonial empire. It’s a more in-depth game, pretty much like an RPG, where you take control of every nitty-gritty of every colonist, be it their moods, needs, addictions, illnesses, and so on.

It’s not always an easy ride, thanks to RimWorld Console Edition’s near-infinite difficulty levels. When starvation and desperate times hit, things can get nasty real quick. However, you could triumph over it all, strengthening relationships through the struggle of fighting bloodthirsty animals, killing machines, and pirates.

Just like in the real world, you can tame and train pets. Or trade and migrate your colony. When snow and weather storms hit, you’ll have to survive. The more you play, the more newly generated worlds, stories, and crazy stuff appears, all of which are a lot of fun to navigate.

1. Desperados III

Desperados III - Official Announcement Trailer

Like RimWorld Console Edition, Desperados III is a story-driven RTS game that’s also a hardcore stealth one set in a brutal Wild West scene. On one end, ruthless bandits and corrupt officers hunt you down. While clearly outnumbered, it’s up to you to control up to five desperados. You’ll use each character’s unique stealth skills to survive and only opt for lethality when push comes to shove.

With each strategy, your aim is to thin out the enemy herd. No one strategy will work every time. Often, you’ll need to think of more than one solution to the problem. Consequently, each encounter with the enemy demands the perfect execution of well-timed attacks. Whether you prefer stealth over going out guns blazing, the game makes it clear as early as the first mission that it offers no easy way out.

So, what’s your take? Do you agree with our best RTS games on Xbox One (2023)? Are there more RTS games on Xbox One we should know about? Let us know down in the comments or over on our socials here.

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