Singleplayer and the Factions

Similar to Total Annihilation, the commander is represented on the battlefield by an “Automated Command Unit” or ACU. Since the quantum gate technology used to arrive instantaneously to a distant planet is still dangerous, a human commander is inserted at the controls of an ACU mech and sent alone via the gate. The ACU is capable of building everything that is needed for a base, and every other unit.

Two types of resources can be found in the game: mass and energy. Mass can be obtained by building mass extractors in special places, or mass fabricators that use energy to generate mass. Energy can be obtained by creating power generators. Both resources can also be obtained by harvesting the wrecks of dead units, trees, etc. You also get an “adjacency bonus” if you build these types of buildings next to each other.

Four tiers of units and structures can be constructed by each faction, and the higher trees can be achieved by upgrades. Tier four is entirely with experimental units, very distinct for each faction.

There are three factions in Supreme Commander, all human, but very different, all with the goal to conquer the known universe.

The United Earth Federation (UEF)

“All hell has broke loose” for the UEF, as they are forced to fight now in two fronts, against both the Cybrans and the Aeon. The UEF wants to reunite the universe under its command and bring back the Earth Empire to its former glory. The UEF forces are spread too thin, and the predictions for the outcome of the war are looking pretty grim. You are the last hope for them, a powerful commander that will ensure the launch of the ultimate weapon: the “Black Sun”. Black Sun is an experimental weapon build around a sun, that can detonate virtually any planet via the quantum gates.

The UEF are mostly efficient on the ground, with heavy resilient vehicles with good firepower, but with long construction times, heavy resource cost and not so much maneuverability. Here is a list of the special tier 4 units that UEF can produce:

• "Fatboy" Mobile Factory: A tracked mobile base that can crawl across land and the ocean floor. It has a variety of weapons, including 4 battleship turrets, torpedo tubes and anti-aircraft capability. These are joined by a strong shield that operates only when no construction is underway. The Fatboy can construct land units at high speed and can repair and re-arm aircraft, but can only do any of this when on land, underwater it's a sitting duck.

• "Atlantis" Submersible Aircraft Carrier: Can hold, refuel, and repair up to 150 aircraft, depending on size. It has several anti-aircraft missile launchers, mainly Surface-to-air missiles and AA guns, but primarily relies on powerful torpedoes (from six torpedo tubes) to inflict damage.

• "Mavor" Strategic Artillery: Extremely expensive, the Mavor can fire extraordinarily accurate artillery shells across the largest of maps, thanks to being stationary. Requires a very long time to build, and has very high energy costs. The shells are of the same basic design as the UEF's nuclear weapons, and they arm in mid-air to prevent accidental detonation.
  

The Cybran Nation

QAI estimates that the UEF will fall within 42 days. It is imperative to capture the “Black Sun” weapon before it falls into the Aeon hands. The Cybrans are cybernetic creatures led by Dr. Brackman, the genius who invented Symbiont technology. They are fighting against UEF oppression since the symbionts aren't tolerated. You will act as the “tip of the spear” for the Cybran offense to capture the Black Sun and insure the supremacy of their race. Here are the Cybran experimental units:

• "Soul Ripper" Experimental Gunship: A very tough beetle-like gunship. Has a number of air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons. Low firepower, but very mobile. Usually meant for frontline help with air support and anti-air weapons, the Soul Ripper, if used correctly, can do a great deal of damage to the enemy.

• "Scathis" Experimental Mobile Rapid Fire Artillery: The Scathis consumes a considerable amount of energy, but can quickly blast apart the toughest imaginable defenses. It is notable for its extreme vulnerability, for which it is the subject of much debate in the emerging Supreme Commander community.

• "Monkeylord" Spiderbot: One of the most flexible units in the game, the Monkeylord can go anywhere and fight almost anything. Mounts torpedoes, heavy cannons and a powerful microwave laser, it is also undetectable by radar installations. The concentrated microwave laser continues firing as long as units are in range, even if they are on the opposite side of the Monkeylord, resulting in a "garden hose" firing arc as the turret turns to meet the target.
  

The Aeon Illuminate

The UEF killed the first intelligent lifeform that they encountered some time ago. But some of the humans have found “the way” in the alien culture, and by utilizing some artifacts and alien technology, they managed to become a major power. Now they fight to bring “the way” to the other two factions, the sinners. Possibly the best faction for water troops, the Aeons struggle internally. The princess has premonitions, and saw the way this war must end. Another commander with influence in the Aeon army however wants to take matters into his own hands, and obliterate everyone and everything in his path. You must prevent that and ensure that the “Black Sun” will fall into the right hands. Here is the list with Aeon tier 4 experimental units:

• "Czar" Flying Fortress: The Czar is a flying saucer, complete with a massive beam weapon that annihilates anything in its path. The downside is that it must be directly above the target to fire correctly. In addition to its main weapon, anti air weapons line the perimeter of the Czar, and it can carry a large amount of aircrafts. Very useful for taking out enemy ground-based experimental units. The Czar will also destroy anything it crashes on.

• "Galactic Colossus" Sacred Assault Bot: This is the most resilient unit in the game and it is the only one that can survive ground zero of a strategic nuclear explosion. It has a head-mounted Photon Beam Cannon (which can take out an enemy commander in less than a second) and two “gravity claw” arms. It is, however, extremely slow and lacks any anti-aircraft capabilities. In addition, the wreckage of the Sacred Assault Bot can provide possibly the largest amount of mass from a single object in the game to add to a commander's war effort if it is reclaimed.

• "Tempest" Submersible Battleship: Carries a long range energy cannon and torpedo launchers. The Tempest can quickly construct naval units, however, like the "Fatboy" mobile factory, it can only attack or construct while surfaced.

Multiplayer

Up to 8 players in a LAN match or over the Internet (via GPGNet) are supported. Enough maps to satisfy all the tastes, and tons of options to choose. There are certain modifications that you can enable for all maps, like double the resource income for every player. AI is very customizable as well, and you can select not just difficulty levels, but strategies like swarm where it will attack with tons of low level units all the time, balanced, or high-tech, where it will level up as fast as possible.

The downsides are that you have to have a really good system to play or host multiplayer games, and the fact that it can get really boring on normal speed, because of the big number of units you have to build or upgrade.

Conclusions

A good game, bringing real innovation to the RTS world. War like you've never seen before, on a massive scale. But everything has a downside. The big scale will make you play it at maximum zoom out level, where you will lose the enjoyment of the superb graphics. It also requires a really good system to play. If you are a real fan of the game and have dual monitor support, the game offers a split mode, that you can use for example to have a strategic view on one monitor, and a detailed zoom in look on the other. I didn't experiment that, but I assume it could bring a nice twist to the game...