Summary
Video games cannot accurately recreate what it is like to be in the military, whether that be in a combat role or a support position that never even has the chance to see or experience violence. Military video games are not necessarily about that, however. The games below take various aspects of the military and conflict and use them as an inspiration for gameplay.
The multiplayer is more about having a good time and testing one’s skills either against or with strangers and friends and not about disagreements over land, resources, and ideology. The military aspect of most of these games adds a layer of strategy even in multiplayer that a lot of other titles in similar genres lack. The games listed below fill all of these criteria and offer either competitive or cooperative multiplayer modes. Sometimes they have both.
A few years after innovating on the RTS withDune 2,developer Westwood Studios took inspiration from the military for their next entry in the genre.Command and Conquerfurther refined the RTS experience for smoother gameplay. The game takes place in an alternate history where a valuable resource, Tiberium, has changed the course of humanity from our own.
While this series has a futuristic bent, players can go to theRed Alertseries to play through an alternate past. When looking atCommand and Conquerthrough the lens of a war simulator, the multiplayer is fast and exciting, making players focus on both speed and strategy during a match. Click the mouse quickly, but also think carefully about future moves.
After a hiatus,Rainbow Sixreturned with a multiplayer-only title.Siegefocuses on strategy and careful selection of playable characters depending on their unique abilities. Unlike fast-paced multiplayer shooters, team composition is key inRainbow Siege: Siege.
This makes the game less friendly to a simple pick-up-and-play style, but it also rewards players who invest time and thought into it. Though the game comes at a price, the developers regularly add content to keep those who have been playing since 2017 loyal despite the evergrowing field of online multiplayer titles.
Modern RTS games are few and far between, butCompany of Heroes 3comes to satisfy fans of the genre.The single-player campaign does not innovate heavilyon the series, but that is not important for the purposes of this list.
The multiplayer provides the fast RTS action fans love covered with modern visuals. Though not a must for enjoying a strategy game, the visual flare helps players maintain interest. The destructible environments are particularly impressive, with evidence of a battle showing on partially destroyed buildings.
It might seem right to put the most modern game on this list, but 2019’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfareand its sequelshave the Ground War mode that Treyarch’s titles lack. This mode vastly expands the battlefield and player count, making it a better fit for this list.
In addition to the large teams of 32, players can also use vehicles to aid in battle. This format allows different builds to shine that otherwise feel less useful on the smaller maps.
It is also important to mention the accompanying battle royale modeWarzone, which is free-to-play.
This first-person multiplayer gamemarries RTS elements with the intense, intimate action of first-person shooters. Depending on the game mode, players are either dropped into a 50 or 25-player team.
These are divided into smaller squads that are headed by commanders who have more say as to what goes on on the battlefield. It might seem confusing at first, but the game is good at encouraging players to focus on teamwork and coordination so that battles do not feel like haphazard messes.
It is important to remember thatRainbow Sixgames had intense single-player campaigns before the series switched to a multiplayer focus.Rainbow Six: Vegasand its sequel,Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, let players go through the story cooperatively.
With this mode, friends can strategize together instead of ordering AI around like they would in aRainbow Sixgame. This is from a time when military shooters still required patience, accuracy, and tact, so do not expect to go into this game and win using the twitch-shooting reflexes developed from years ofCall of Duty.
Arma 3drops players into the world, gives them an objective, and then leaves them to figure out the rest for themselves. The same level of player agency also applies to many of the multiplayer modes that have come with the game’s various expansions since 2013.
Arma 3also has a dedicated community of players whomake their own contentfor the fanbase. The multiplayer can go from small-scale cooperative missions to giant competitive battles with dozens of players on each team.
It is no surprise that Ubisoft madeGhost Reconan open-world shooter following the structure they innovated on withFar CryandAssassin’s Creed. Despite the expanded scope,Ghost Recon: Wildlandsstill maintains the stealth and tactical gameplayfor which the series is known.
Players can either go through the game alone with AI companions or team up with friends online to sneak through the open world together. A competitive mode is also available that keeps the team sizes to a small four versus four, still emphasizing the importance of teamwork.
