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Reviews -
Windows Reviews
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Written by Ken Edwards
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Saturday, 07 June 2008 18:00 |
| {mosimage} | War has never been seen like this before
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| | Originally published in Feb 2007 by THQ this excellent title is now released on Budget by Focus Multimedia. (http://www.focusmm.co.uk/shop/home.php) Developed by the team who ten years earlier had given to the world TOTAL ANNIHILATION it has all the best elements of that title and adds even more to the mix.
The game is set in the distant future where three distinct opposing forces battle for supremacy. They are The United Earth Federation, The Aeon Illuminate and The Cybran Nation. Whichever of these forces you decide to represent you control a Supreme Commander which is a giant battlefield robot equipped with a multitude of different upgradeable offensive and defensive capabilities. In each battle the commander must survive or it is game over so you have to make the choice, leave him at base to concentrate on construction and repairs to the rest of your forces or build up his own defences and send him into the fray?
From the opening moments of the game it is clear this is no ordinary RTS. The scales and complexity of the individual missions is enormous, some of them being up to five times longer than those you will see in other games. The missions all feature more explosions, more units and more danger than ever seen in an RTS game before. Each mission begins with only a small proportion of the map visible and you have a single objective to perform. In each one the first thing you have to do is quickly construct some kind of defences because it will not be long before you will be attacked by wave after wave of hostile forces as they try to force a very quick game over. At the same time you have to gather resources to make your armies and also send out your own units to seek out and probe the enemies own positions.
Complete the initial objective and you soon realise that was just the beginning of the level as more parts of it are revealed and another objective is sought. This usually means a dash for you and the enemy to get to the revealed location of material needed to construct new buildings and units. As more of the map is shown so more and more enemy bases are revealed leading to even more unrelenting battles and action where each decision you make is significant to the final outcome.
By the time you have eventually uncovered the entire map of that level you will have built countless bases, had thousands of units destroyed and fought many battles not just on land but in the clouds above and also on the sea and the successful commander will be one who has learnt to use the various units at his disposal to the greatest effect and who has also learnt the best way of using the tactical map that is at his disposal. This map presents an overview of the entire battlefield and can be zoomed into and out of at a spin of a mouse wheel. The game also has a unique feature where you can split the screen in half and have both views present on screen at once. However don’t think that you are going to win this game just by creating the most units because only someone who has created the correct units and used them to their best effect will conquer this title. It is as much about strategic intelligence as it is about brute force.
Graphically this is one of the best RTS on the market even now some fourteen months after its original release. The various units at your disposal (approx 100 per faction) are all very well presented and the explosions and environments presented throughout the game are all very impressive.
The sound presented within the game is also very impressive both in terms of the sound effects and the voice acting. The musical score as well is well suited to the game and helps build up the tension and excitement needed to play the game.
Overall this is one of the finest strategy games you are ever likely to play; the intensity of the battles is at a level unseen in other titles. However, although it will play on a Pentium 1.8 GHz system it has to be said that in order to get the most out of the game you really should have something like a 3 GHz machine. It has three excellent single player campaigns, where you play one of the three factions but also plenty of multiplayer options as well. The tutorial provided with the game is probably not the best in the world and the game overall may be a little overwhelming for any RTS novice but for an experienced player it really in a beautifully presented original title and at the new budget price you really have no excuse not to have it in your collection if you haven’t got it already.
| Developer: Gas Powered Games {mosimage} Publisher: Focus Multimedia/THQ {mosimage} Genre: RTS Release Date:
06/08 | | | | | | | Supreme Commander - Pc Game
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| Bonus Points | | | | Score
| N
| FF
| | | Graphics | 8.5
| 0
| 0
| | | Sound | 9.0
| 1 | 0
| | | Gameplay | 9.0
| 1 | 0
| | | Replay/Multiplayer | 8.5
| 0
| 0
| | | Story/Immersion | 8.5
| 0
| 0
| | Base Score
| 43.5
| 2
| 0
| | Final Score
| 88%
| | | | | (Final Score = Base Score X2 + Bonus Points) | | | | | | See how our scoring system works here | | | | |
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