A masterpiece with massive system requirements
User Rating: 8.9 | Supreme Commander PC
As everyone know this is the Spiritual Successor to TA... In many ways it is, but falls short on a few points. But first the positives: The sheer scope, scale and scalability of the game is very impressive. The actual maps are far bigger than any RTS currently on the market you can play on massive 6400 km squared maps where it can take a good 5 minutes for the fastest aircraft from one side to the other. But with attacks on multiple fronts it can all get a bit hectic . This is where the inactive camera system comes, it allows basically allows you to zoom in where you mouse is centred. You can still scroll, but you'll find it only useful for small corrections and cumbersome for big moves compared to this "strategic zoom". You can also zoom all the way out and get an overall picture. The icons between different units are a bit similar but it’s a fantastic feature. However if more traditional "tactical" battles are you thing choose a smaller map. Units are also scaled, you basic soldiers are tiny compared to you massive experimental, which can single handily take out entire conventional armies but at the same time are not to expensive for a normal game and aren’t over power. Artillery also have huge ranges so you can choose to dig in and bombard from afar. The actual game play is very fluid, and despite a cumbersome looking UI (which has been "fixed" in patches with an alternative one) because you can easily automate everything; Production queues in factories, supply lines with flying transports to the front, forward patrols all with a few simple clicks, it can still be improved upon (if you go wrong setting up a long production queues there’s no quick way to fix it, you have to go back to your mistake and start again from there). Skirmishes tend to erupt very quickly and it all adds to the fun. The sides while fairly balanced are very similar till you reach the Experimental units which is disappointing, as they all look distinctive. Also, on certain maps some sides are over powered due to innocuous powers certain units have.
The graphics are generally good. There is great use of Bloom effects and the shadows are better than most. Furthermore, despite being on a massive scale units still leave tracks, churn up dust and knock over and knock over trees which all adds to the immersion. The overall presentation is a bit clinical which may not be to everyone’s taste but ties in to the simulator theme. The units (except the Experimentals and the ACUs) also lack personality, which fans of the WC and CNC series will find very disappointing. The sound is very ordinary, classic laser and missile effects. Also some people (including myself) just can't get good performance with the sound turned on . The game also claims to have a physics based weapon, to be honest it doesn’t' seem to be that bigger deal. SupCom as an amazing community, GPG employees frequently answer questions on the forums and suggestions made on the boards seem to be listened to. The players are also very friendly and willing to help players having trouble winning or with their hardware. The biggest downer is, to get good performance you need a massively powerful system, far better than what it claims on the box. But hey, it will only improve in time with patches and it is a fantastic game. The CPU seems more prevalent in improving FPS than the graphics card. 
