Real-time strategy (RTS) fans are buzzing about Supreme Commander, created by celebrated game designer Chris Taylor (Total Annihilation, Dungeon Siege). The game deserves the hype, as it delivers an over-the-top futuristic war experience to your desktop. Be forewarned: Inexperienced players, or those with aging PCs, need not enlist.
Supreme Commander takes place in the 37th century as three rival factions continue their centuries-long fight, an intergalactic war that has claimed billions of lives and turned once-thriving planets into rubble. In the single-player campaign, your goal is to end this infinite war by choosing a side -- the United Earth Federation (UEF), Aeon Illuminate or Cybran Nation -- and destroying its foes so there can finally be peace. As with most other RTS games, you must establish a base camp, build structures, create fighting units and vehicles, and collect resources from the environment to fuel growth. Then you use the map to find your enemies and fight them. Over time, you will have access to better buildings, personnel such as engineers, vehicles and weapons as you climb up the "tech tree" to keep up with the escalating conflict.
Supreme Commander also offers access to Armored Command Units (ACUs), which are giant armored mechs, piloted by a skilled person inside. The ACU, which you control and can upgrade, is responsible for building the armies and giving them orders. Supreme Commander also gives you land, sea and air-based fighting units -- from tanks to submarines to bombers. In fact, this game offers an extreme military experience with dozens of insanely powerful weapons in your arsenal -- including nukes.
The lengthy and intense single-player campaign is complemented by a skirmish mode, in which you play against the game's artificial intelligence in a variety of multiplayer maps, and online challenges via the game's built-in matchmaking service. The game has steep system requirements. Don't expect a smooth experience unless you're running a 3GHz processor or, better, 1GB of system memory and 256MB of video memory. But if your system's up to the task, Supreme Commander delivers an intense and deep strategic war experience with plenty of replayability.
