Supreme Commander Review

Game

As I may have just pointed out, a large part of the strategy in this real time strategy game is to have the rig units to counter the enemy units. While there are some general purpose vehicles, most specialize in a specific role. For the most part, it’s reasonably intuitive. Counterbomber interceptors. Submarines are devastating to most ships, but cannot attack air units. Hence, Supreme Commander does a great job of encouraging the player to experiment with their unit combinations.

My main criticism of Supreme Commander’s gameplay is that it mostly takes place in the campaign. Each combat instance lasts only a minute or two and can take a while to get there. Part of the problem is the speed of the land units relative to the size of the maps. Tanks appear to crawl on the ground rather than roll.

The other contributing factor is the ridiculously long build time. Also, units like to stretch out and get in the way of each other easily. These factors combined can make the simple act of going from place to place really frustrating.

Tactical combat is engaging enough to be worth it. But if something goes wrong, players will be better off loading up a save than spending another 20 minutes trying to recoup their losses.

Final verdict

Supreme Commander is not a perfect game. The story is competent, but meaningless. The pace is slow, even when compared to other real-time strategy games of the same era.

On the other hand, the vast maps and large armies give a sense of scale that many games struggle with. The attention to detail made the real world feel in a way I didn’t expect to enter.

The slow pace and periods of boredom may be too much for some. But those who make it will find that Supreme Commander offers a challenging yet rewarding gaming experience.