So, over the weekend I got to try out the Supreme Commander demo.  It was created by the same person who created Total Annihilation back in 1997.  TA was great back then.  It was the first true 3D RTS.  It was also a lot of fun because it wasn't just another Command and Conquer.  Sure, as an RTS, it had all of the familiar elements but it also never became very popular.  I liked it because of the novelty.

So, when I saw that the same person had created Supreme Commander, I was immediately interested.  I was hoping that maybe there was something new and unusual.  Chris Taylor hasn't disappointed on this. 

First, the game actually leverages multi-core machines.  Some people have shown that it doesn't use all cores at 100%, but it certainly can use more than one.  It also has an advanced 3D engine for wonderful graphics.  I was hoping it would work well on our 2560x1600 display at full resolution and it does!  Leveraging our 7950GX2 and our QX6700 to good effect, the play is quite smooth in the demo, even with hundreds of units running around.

Trying to switch to split screen, though, at that resolution does slow things down.  Maybe when we can get a couple of 8800GTXs or an integrated dual card we can try that again.  In any case, that's a novel new mode that I'd love to try out.  We don't have two monitors on that machine, so I can't try out the dual monitor mode, but I would imagine it would also get a bit slow.

As an RTS, the development is pretty standard.  Build things that can build more things.  Build your defenses well to save your units and build lots of units.  At least, that's how it went on easy mode.  Reports show that the harder levels are actually quite good and don't run in to the same sort of problems other RTS's have had in the past (e.g. things like pre-made attack plans that if you withstand the AI just goes to sleep and never rebuilds).

Most of the controls are wonderfully simple and intuitive.  There are some things that I couldn't figure out from the key layout.  For instance, I couldn't figure out how to get a transport to automatically ferry units. I had to load them and choose their target each time.  That was annoying.  I also had trouble with loading some units in.

My favorite new feature though is how it handles the campaign.  Traditionally, the first few levels or so of a campaign would be very small maps introducing you to new units.  If you spent any time building up or doing defense you'd likely soon learn that the current mission was over with and you'd have to start all over very soon.  Sure, that's good practice for the early build-up stages, but can also feel like a waste of time.

In Supreme Commander you do start with a small map but instead of ending the mission your map is expanded with a new goal to meet.  In the first mission, this happened quite a few more times than I expected it to.  This meant that all of my early over-buildup didn't go to waste.  In fact, it was often not enough for later goals in the mission. 

The only downside to this is that you really have no idea how long a mission will last since they keep expanding.  This led me to end up playing much longer per mission than I had anticipated.  In the second mission, I was supposed to be done after an hour but instead took two and half hours!  Whoops...

I'd consider buying it if I had more time to play games.  However, I think I want to find time to play through the missions on the hardest level first to see if the solo missions can be challenging enough for using good, tactical building rather than just swarming.  If that is the case, I might give it a shot. 

Posted by Shane on March 20, 2007 7:16 PM | Permalink