Supreme Commander 2 ($49.99 list for Windows, $59.99 list for Xbox 360) probably doesn’t deserve the word “supreme” in its title, but then changing the title would defeat the purpose of making a sequel. Not that this game isn’t a fine follow-up to the 2007 original, but it’s definitely aimed at a broader (and less patient) audience. With many of the micromanagement minutiae reduced or removed entirely, Supreme Commander 2 is more of a garden-variety real-time strategy (RTS) title than a proud member of a distinctive series. This won’t matter much for those who just want to blow stuff up—whether alone or online—but fervent fans may be disappointed that the hard-edged Supreme Commander has spawned such a soft sequel.

Many of the changes in Supreme Commander 2 revolve around relieving the grinding tedium that was almost as integral to the original as its scorched-earth-air-and-water battle scenes. Maps have been reduced to a more digestible size, for one thing; they’re still big, but seem less empty. Tech research is now less involved as well, using a “resource” model (à la the Civilization games) rather than the old three-tiered development design that often threatened to strand you against warmongering behemoths with only a few entry-level armies to control. And building units now drains your accumulated Mass and Energy immediately—rather than gradually, as in the previous game—which creates different (and less-headachey) organization challenges.

All this makes Supreme Commander 2 much more manageable than its predecessors, particularly for beginners. But gone is the feeling that you’re really presiding over epic struggles between the United Earth Federation (UEF), the Illuminate, and the Cybrans. Many of the conflicts you’ll witness as you play representative leaders of all three factions during the course of the game’s 18-chapter campaign play like little more than a bloody, and often melodramatic, day at the beach. That the graphics are also less magisterial in scope—they look good but have been simplified considerably, likely to appeal to owners of wider ranges of CPUs and video cards—only adds to the impression that the experience has been scaled down rather than ratcheted up.

Satisfying Your Trigger Finger
Even so, Supreme Commander 2 is still solidly enjoyable in the “itchy trigger finger” way most every RTS game is. Rounding up dozens of land, sea, and air units to march into and eviscerate an enemy stronghold never really gets old, especially given your broad swath of abilities (do you want to capture those enemy tanks or just teleport your battalions past them?) and the wide range of different units that are always at your disposal. You see the most diversity in terms of the “experimentals” that offer each faction the most useful and interesting firepower. The UEF’s Noah Unit-Cannon lets you blast a couple dozen troops clear across the map in seconds, the Cybrans have the destructively lizard-like Cybranasaurus Rex (which looks, however, more like a stegosaurus), there are a number of BattleMech-like constructions, and so on. But having to find new ways to deal with each group’s unique strengths and weaknesses—you may not be worried about the Illuminate’s lack of dedicated water units until you have to fight near or on the water—requires constant experimentation and delivers consistent fun.

At least on some difficulty levels. If you cut your teeth on the first game’s relentless invasions, you may want to crank the dial up to Hard before you execute a single move order. You may want to do that anyway, as the scripted campaign is a bit on the limp side. Making it tougher does help make it more interesting. Better yet, square off against far tougher and more unpredictable enemies: human ones, using the game’s impressive online functionality, where you can battle grapple with live opponents at once. If you want something in-between, you can face off against non-campaign computer enemies in Skirmish mode.

There are lots of ways to play Supreme Commander 2, which is a good thing—given the backwards steps in innovation that most of the game represents, a staid selection of options would highlight the game’s other weaknesses. Then again, those who never played the first game won’t know what they’re missing. The latest Supreme Commander provides both a relatively non-threatening entry point to the game world and enough entertainment value on its own to hook those who’ve never fired up an RTS game. Those who have will be less impressed.

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