I installed the game, and started it up. It offers the choice between three different sides, the UEF, which is the basic Earth empire. Or you can pick the Cybram Nation, which is a race of cyborgs who have gone to war with the Earth empire (precursor to the UEF) because they tried to enslave the cyborgs. And your last choice is the Aeon Illuminate, who found a race of peaceful aliens, and lived in harmony with them, until the Earth empire decided they didn't like aliens after all, and destroyed their civilization. I chose the UEF, and will focus on that faction most of all, since I played through the campaign with them, and haven't spent a huge amount of time with the others yet.

One of the things I have really enjoyed with the game is the way the missions are structured. Instead of having a list of objectives that pop up at the beginning of the map, and having the whole map available to you, the game gives you one or two objectives, which trigger another set of objectives and usually increase the size of the map as well. It also explains the “magic reinforcements” which you see in the game from time to time. They show up out of nowhere, and you can't figure out where they are coming from, until the map expands. It also makes you pay a little more attention to the defenses on all sides of your base, since you never know if the map will expand out behind you as well as in front.

The sheer number of units in Supreme Commander are incredible. There are literally hundreds of units available between the three sides. You have land, air, and sea units, and some units which are hybrids of the two (like amphibious tanks). There are also many defensive structures, each of which defends your base from a particular type of attacker. I have to admit that I have a tendency to build up a huge number of defensive structures then mass for an attack. I love watching the computer A.I. smash itself against my defenses over and over again while I gradually build up for an all out assault. There are also super installations which can be huge in later games. My personal favorite is the strategic missile launcher. It has a decent range, and can fire repeatedly once you have some missiles stored up. The missiles are massive damage blasts, and a combination of three of four of them in a small area can decimate most of an enemy base. These work well with my “defend and build up” strategy since I can use them to soften up an enemy installation before I send in the troops.

The interface has a very intuitive layout. One thing I really like about it is the mini map. You can use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out on the mini map as well as on the main map, which allows you to see the whole map, or just a portion at once. Also, the zoom controls are awesome! It took a little getting used to, but all I need to do now to change my location on the battlefield is zoom out on the main screen, slide the mouse to the spot I want to be at, then zoom back down. This is by far the best system of map movement I have ever used. It has made it easy to manage two or three separate battles at the same time, which is something I haven't been able to do well before now. The only thing I wish was that the bar at the bottom was a bit smaller, with smaller icons. It takes up about a fourth of the screen space, which I really miss having. I find myself constantly zooming out to a little higher level, when the units are just little icons (another awesome feature), to get a better look at the battle. As faults go, its a very minor one, since the camera/movement control works so well, but I felt it was worth mentioning.

The battles themselves are very fast paced and usually pretty one sided, unless you both have a decent mix of units. Each unit is very weak against a certain type of damage, which makes it important to have a good mix on the field. I remember sending a fleet (50+) gunships against a base with decent air defenses. Within a minute, my proud fleet was reduced to cinders by the aa fire over the base. You definitely have to build a huge force and try to overwhelm the enemy defenses, and that is another area where SC shines. You can have a max of (I think) 200 units on the board at once, but so can your opponent. As I said earlier, you have to have a good mix of units on the board to be able to slaughter your opponents. The unit AI is very good, I have had very little trouble with path finding or targeting even with the maximum amount of troops on the board. The exception to this is naval units, which I had nothing but trouble with. I'm not sure why, but they are a pain in the rear to get a group of them moving as a unit. Again, its a minor issue, since the targeting works well, but its still annoying to watch a mighty fleet of ships fall simply because they are strung out all over the map.

The game is beautiful! The maps look awesome no matter what the zoom level, the units each have their own animations, and the battles are awesome things to behold. When you destroy the enemy commander, it causes a massive nuclear explosion, which, of course, destroys everything around it. The commander explosion is the only time I noticed any slowdown at all in the game, even when I had several battles going at once, and I have the setting as high as they will go in 1440x900 resolution. My system is pretty middle of the road as far as that goes, so I don't think performance will be an issue for most people, as long as you meet the minimum system specs.

This takes Total Annihilation to the next level. I still think TA is a better game, but its very close. If you like RTS games, this is a must have. If you like games at all, this is a must have. Now, you have to excuse me, I have to get back to my commander, he's neck deep in Cybrams, and could use a little help.