Total Annihilation was one of the true defining moments of PC gaming when it was released in 1997. Ten years on and gamers are still playing it. This true classic was before it’s time and should have had a sequel many moons ago. It was always on the cards, it has been anticipated and hyped for many years, but now, ten years on it’s finally here and it’s called Supreme Commander. Developed by Gas Powered Games and Chris Taylor, Supreme Commander should live up to become the best RTS of all time. But is it really any good?

---

---

Game Play

Supreme Commander is described as the first ever RTS to deliver truly strategic as well as tactical gaming with an emphasis on scope as well as ease of use. Set in the 37th Century you command one of three races as the Supreme Commander with a single goal in mind -to end the 1000 year Infinite War and become the reigning power supreme. Like all RTS games it’s all about micro management, building stuff, collecting resource and creating units to annihilate the opposition.

---

---

The real difference with Supreme Commander is the sheer scale of the game. Maps are not only huge, but extraordinarily huge. Also no silly 50 unit cap in this game. The amount of units you can be battling with on screen at the same time is colossal. With over 80 units and structures to build for each of the 3 factions, with up to 8 players competing against each other the numbers are mind boggling. As well as the usual land units you also get air and sea units making the game a cut above the rest.

Supreme Commander is one of the first games to be multi threaded meaning you can get the most out of your duel or quad core processors at last and boy does it need them. While the game trundles along nicely even on lower spec machines on the smaller maps you can find on the big maps even on the fastest of machines the game can grind to a judder. The game also supports duel monitors which means on one monitor you can see the battlefield and the other the strategic view.

---

---

Much like in Total Annihilation you can give a queue of commands very easily to your commander or patrolling units thus allowing you to better manage the battlefield. This is essential when playing on the larger maps. This is obviously a great feature which should be available in all RTS games. There are many tactical and strategic greats in Supreme Commander, too many to list in a brief review.

However tactically and strategically superior this game is it still suffers from the same old problems. Online and in skirmishes you can choose the tactic which annoys the hell out of some gamers. Forget the technology tree, forget about spending precious resources on buildings, and build the simplest fighting units possible. Build as many as these as you like and send them in. 9 times out of 10 you will annihilate the opposition while they are trying to build their upgrades and structures. Probably not tennis but it works.

---

---

Unlike the majority of other RTS games the single player campaigns are a must. Supreme Commander has so much hidden depth to it that the reasonably gentle teaching the campaigns offer stands you in good stead when you feel like your ready for online multiplayer action. The difficulty levels are spot on and the AI unique. Playing the computer never prepares you enough for the multiplayer onslaught and massacre that you’ll encounter with seasoned veterans online. However persevere and you’ll be rewarded with some superb gaming.

Supreme Commander is a good game; it’s just not up there with the greats. The game is essentially an updated version of Total Annihilation with new units, structures, maps, story and a few tactically niceties thrown in. The problem with throwing in all these units and huge maps is that you loose out on graphics and timing. Games can play out over a long period which isn’t bad if you like long drawn out games.

---

---

Graphics

On first look the graphics look a bit dull, lifeless and essentially very dated. In some ways this is true if you don’t have the latest NVIDIA 8800 graphics card. However when you have a mass battle of land, sea and air units all fighting for the same bit of space the graphics seem to lift up and make the landscape come alive. The zoom levels on Supreme Commander are superb. Even on the largest of maps you can zoom right out to view the battlefield as a true commander.

---

---

The obvious reason why the graphics aren't quite top notch is because of the scale of the maps and units. Unfortunately in PC gaming developers have to design games to run on a variety of hardware. It’s good to see some multi core support though and this can help a great deal to the games overall performance.

Sound

It’s hard to fault sound effects in any games these days. The best sound effects and music to be had in any game is when you don’t really notice the sound that much, it just is. Supreme Commander is very immersive with a huge depth to it, but can suffer a bit from repetitive sound effects.

Overall

Supreme Commander is technically advanced, tactically advanced, and overall huge compared to other RTS games. The scale of the maps and available units is great but the game is essentially not a lot different from Total Annihilation which was released nearly ten years ago. The game suffers from this scale as well, with the need for a fairly hefty PC to get the most from it. Supreme Commander is a still a good game with a lot of hours of game play to be had both in single and multi player.