Supreme Commander Review

8.8

Format PC

Developer Gas Powered Games

Publisher THQ

Genre Sim / Strategy

1 Comments

I'm knackered. Well and truly zonked. It's no exaggeration to say that never, ever, has a game taken so much out of me. After the best part of a week sealed inside a room with nothing but a copy of Supreme Commander and a PC for company, I've emerged, eyes streaked like a whipped hide, back bent like an arthritic centenarian who's just been rabbit-punched in the spleen and totally, utterly exhilarated. Put me back in, I want some more...

For the past year (well, 14 months if you want to be picky) we've been told that Supreme Commander would be one of the most intense RTS experiences of all time. And you know what? For once, the hype has actually been vindicated.

After years of self-imposed exile from the strategy fold, Supreme Commander proves to be a magnificent return to the genre for PC gaming legend Chris Taylor, who rose to prominence way back in 1997 with the sublime Total Annihilation - a game to which Supreme Commander bears more than a passing resemblance. And if you've ever played Total Annihilation, you'll know that's no bad thing.

However, rather than simply rehashing past glories with glitzier graphics, Taylor
and his team at Gas Powered Games have masterfully re-invented the template by giving it a thorough 21st century makeover.

SO WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT THEN?
Well, I'll tell you. Having mastered the art of long-distance space travel, humanity - aka the United Earth Federation - has spread to the far reaches of the galaxy, using its conventionally armed (with a few nukes thrown in for good measure) armies to exterminate any resistance it meets, including a spiritual alien race called the Seraphim. Which, as it transpires, was a bit of a boo-boo...

Enchanted by the Seraphim's way of life, a pocket of intergalactic hippies breaks away from the UEF and creates the Aeon faction, which sets its will against the UEF's expansionist ethos with an array of sleek, hovering and highly powerful weapons.
With me so far? Good. Now, while these two sides are knocking chunks of space debris out of each other, a clever fellow called Dr Brackman works out how to combine computer chips with human brains. Thus, the Cybran nation is born - a force boasting hulking mechanised robots and cybernetic warriors.

Forced to flee Earth due to persecution by the UEF and considered abominations by the Aeon, the Cybrans are soon sucked into a three-way conflict, where everyone hates everyone else and just wants to kill, kill and kill some more... Then shoot the dead bodies in case they're still alive and just pretending to be dead. So begins the Infinite War.

Fast-forward 1,000 years and the UEF are on the back foot and close to defeat, while Cybran sleeper cells are rising throughout the galaxy and the Aeon are
in the ascendancy. And that's right about where you come in.

SIZE IS EVERYTHING
As a fledgling commander, you control a massive battlefield robot called the Supreme Commander (check out 'Super Supreme', below right, for the full lowdown on these bad boys), a vehicle that can construct and repair as well as dismantle and annihilate bases. With the war balanced on the edge of a meat cleaver, it's your job to turn the tide and end the conflict.

Before we delve any further, let me just prepare you for the sheer scope and scale of this game. Actually, you may want to sit down for this part.

Imagine the largest base-building RTS level you've ever played. Go on, think really hard. That's it... Now double it. Then double it again. Now add a little bit more to the edges. There, you've got it. Pretty big, huh?

It's no exaggeration to say that most of Supreme Commander's levels are akin to four or five standard RTS missions. Starting off with just a third of the map visible, you begin by constructing your base and building up an army of land, air and sea units. Once your primary objective has been completed, another section of the map is unveiled and a new objective issued. And so it continues.

Forget the half-hour skirmishes of RTS games of yore - this is futuristic warfare at its most intense, taxing and titanic. Missions can take several hours to complete, during which you'll be forced to build massive attack forces as you sally out of the confines of your camp and establish secondary bases around the map.

INCESSANT
It's a war of attrition, a war of patience and a war of perseverance, where thousands of units are expended to gain a foothold on the map's Mass deposits (the game's only uniquely mineable resource) and edge ever closer to victory.

From the very first minute you're beset by enemy attacks, probing and pushing at every weak spot in your defences. It's a maelstrom of unrelenting carnage. Squadrons of aerial units dogfight above booming anti-aircraft guns in one sector, while two mighty armadas clash on the seas in another. Each and every bullet, laser pulse and missile is calculated through space, with wayward shots pounding into the surrounding landscape and igniting trees.

ZOOM TO MANOEUVRE
Using the full gamut of combined arms forces is one of the keys to victory, as is fully mastering the stunning and highly original tactical map of the entire level. Cleverly, this map can be accessed straight from the battlefield, simply by zooming out as far as possible, before zooming back into any area simply by pointing the cursor and rolling your mouse wheel.

It's not long before you realise this isn't so much a strategy game as an action epic,
a cauldron of death where speed of thought and brute force are often required to reap the greatest triumphs.

By the time each map has been fully revealed, there'll be half a dozen battles raging across the level, with units intelligently engaging the enemy whenever they come into range. It's here that the tactical map becomes invaluable, and there's even an option to split the screen between the battlefield and the tactical map, a design decision which verges on genius.

With every passing mission the stakes are raised both strategically and in terms of the plot, which charts your faction's struggle for survival through a set of well-acted briefings, cut-scenes and in-game events.

At this stage it's more than likely that if you're of an inquisitive nature, you'll have already taken a sneaky peak at the score and are wondering why, given what you've read so far, Supreme Commander hasn't scored even more highly than it has.

MIGHT MAKES RIGHT
The thing is, for all its originality, many of Supreme Commander's levels come down to one variable: numbers. Attempting to use a small, carefully compiled strike force to strategically overpower your foe is virtually impossible. In fact, more often than not, you'll find yourself resorting to the age-old tactic of building up a titanic force of ground, air and sea units while hiding behind your base defences, before unleashing them on your equally well-defended opponent.

That's not to say that this unsubtle mechanic isn't fun in its own way, but for
a game of Supreme Commander's scope - especially one with such a brilliantly designed tactical map - you can't help but feel ever so slightly disappointed.

Granted, you can coordinate attacks for greater effect, but if you lack the numbers, it doesn't matter how cunning your strategy is, as you'll simply get wiped out and have to start building a whole new force from scratch. And believe me, this can take a
very, very long time indeed.

It's a problem that's compounded by a control interface that's just not quite intuitive enough for a game of this scale. With so many units on each level and with action this frenetic, control is everything and you sometimes feel like you don't quite have enough of it.

Throw in some suspect pathfinding when trying to move a larger body of troops (40 units and above), and you're left with a game that at times leaves you as frustrated as it does elated.

One further thing to watch out for is how resource-hungry the game is. Unless you're packing at least 3GHz of processing grunt, you're likely to experience some major slowdown towards the end of most levels, while a 256MB 3D card or better is also a must if you want to play with anything approaching an acceptable level of detail.

SUPER BUT NOT QUITE SUPREME
It's always satisfying to come across a genuinely innovative and intelligent title, one that not only attempts to raise the bar for its genre but succeeds with aplomb. While Supreme Commander may be slightly flawed in places, it's still a wondrous rendition of futuristic combat, and one of the finest specimens of 21st century RTS gaming you can currently buy.

What's more, the epic gameplay is (ahem) Taylor-made for some of the finest multiplayer RTS action you're likely to experience any time soon, making this one package that any lover of all-out action warfare simply can't allow themselves to overlook. It might not be perfect, but it's still supremely good.

Martin Korda