Graphically it is decent but not exceptional, although with map size and the number of units in play that is forgivable. The same is true for the technical aspects of the game. So, in terms of control and mechanics, Supreme Commander 2 successfully walks that fine line of compromise without ever feeling like it short-changes us.

You have the commander-housing walker which acts as the chief base-builder (the range of structures are limited but healthy enough) and mobile command unit and you can develop and build a number of experimental units which have greater firepower or defensive capabilities but other than that (and the gradual upgrade-through-experience that normal units benefit from) everything is standard.

Console RTS have often taken this idea to an extreme in an effort to keep the number of required units down but Supreme Commander 2 doesn’t force the issue here either. One of the ways that the RTS genre has evolved over the years has been the inclusion of “Hero Units” which are basically single units with special abilities and status amongst your armies. The balance is struck perfectly with very few times when you feel restricted by limited space and even fewer when you have so much space that you lose units. Like everything else in this game, the map design strives to find a balance between the expansive areas, which will give the player plenty of options, and the realistic scale which keeps everything manageable. The battlefields in Supreme Commander 2 are not huge but there is a bit of room and often multiple routes and choke-points to defend.

The control scheme is pared down to the essentials but that is a philosophy which is closely mirrored in the maps and play-style. In Supreme Commander 2 we have a streamlined system of control using radial wheels, double-taps and D-Pad shortcuts. Supreme Commander 2 does the best job so far at making the traditional RTS controls work and moulding the gameplay so that things like multiple squad groups are not missed. Console gamers, on the other hand, have been witness to a procession of increasingly-imaginative ways that developers have tried to take the massive control capabilities of a mouse and distil them down into a couple of analogue sticks and a limited number of buttons. PC gamers are spoilt for choice with the genre lending itself so readily to the keyboard and mouse as a method of input. The real time strategy genre is going through something of resurgence recently.

Supreme commander keyboard shortcuts