Supreme Commander (PC)

It may not be quite as famous as Command & Conquer or WarCraft, but for many real-time strategy connoisseurs, 1997’s Total Annihilation is more than a match for its better known rivals. This is the long awaited, unofficial, follow-up by Chris Taylor, creator of the original. As in Total Annihilation you don’t take the role of a nameless overseer, but instead you directly control a giant nanobot dispensing robot responsible for building all major buildings. From these are manufactured a dizzying array of specialised meachanoids, from infantry and artillery robots to repair droids and special construction bots.

The units in the original Total Annihilation ranged greatly in size but here the difference is profound. While many units are roughly human in scale others seem to be the size of a small village, as gigantic spider bots stroll through forests as if they were walking through tall grass. Aircraft carriers are just as massive and function properly as mobile cities with repair and production facilities. The game’s scale is reinforced even further by the new ability to zoom the camera so far out that individual units become icons on an overhead map. This is no gimmick though as you can still control multiple units on this new strategic scale, as well as deploy nuclear missiles and other weapons of mass destruction.

Total Annihilation’s superb waypoint system is replicated and improved here, allowing you to micromanage in exacting detail every movement of every unit. Patrol routes can be plotted out (as useful for repair units as for combat air patrols) as well as strategically circuitous routes around any terrain. All of which is perfect for fighting on multiple different fronts at once. After years of stasis the real-time strategy seems finally to be evolving to the next level.
HARRISON DENT

In the 33rd Century, the old Earth Empire finally collapsed. As chaos engulfed the interstellar empire, the military, under the aegis of the Earth Command, stepped forward to restore order.

Acting in a severe and often draconian manner, Earth Command made the difficult decisions that politicians, mired in corruption and their own self-interest, could not. Entire worlds were abandoned, and much of the Quantum Gate network was intentionally destroyed in an effort to isolate the retreating Prime Worlds from the rest of the galaxy.

Despite the best efforts of the military, civil war erupted. After a hundred years, Earth Command was finally able to restore order and establish a new government, which was christened the United Earth Federation.

Risen, phoenix-like from the ashes of the old Earth Empire, the United Earth Federation vowed to purge itself of bureaucratic corruption and remain pure to a single task: the rescue of mankind's war-torn worlds and an end to the Infinite War. By any and all means necessary.

It has worked toward that goal by maintaining an iron grip on the new empire, creating a totalitarian government out of what might be considered the most successful military coup in human history.

Supreme Commander is the first ever RTS to deliver truly strategic as well as tactical gaming with an emphasis on scope as well as ease of use. Set in the 37th Century you command one of three races as the Supreme Commander with a single goal in mind - to end the 1000 year Infinite War and become the reigning power supreme.

In the 33rd Century, the old Earth Empire finally collapsed. As chaos engulfed the interstellar empire, the military, under the aegis of the Earth Command, stepped forward to restore order.

Acting in a severe and often draconian manner, Earth Command made the difficult decisions that politicians, mired in corruption and their own self-interest, could not. Entire worlds were abandoned, and much of the Quantum Gate network was intentionally destroyed in an effort to isolate the retreating Prime Worlds from the rest of the galaxy.

Despite the best efforts of the military, civil war erupted. After a hundred years, Earth Command was finally able to restore order and establish a new government, which was christened the United Earth Federation.

Risen, phoenix-like from the ashes of the old Earth Empire, the United Earth Federation vowed to purge itself of bureaucratic corruption and remain pure to a single task: the rescue of mankind's war-torn worlds and an end to the Infinite War. By any and all means necessary.

It has worked toward that goal by maintaining an iron grip on the new empire, creating a totalitarian government out of what might be considered the most successful military coup in human history.

Supreme Commander is the first ever RTS to deliver truly strategic as well as tactical gaming with an emphasis on scope as well as ease of use. Set in the 37th Century you command one of three races as the Supreme Commander with a single goal in mind - to end the 1000 year Infinite War and become the reigning power supreme.

• Planetary warfare on a Galactic scale - zoom from the tactical unit level all the way out to the full theatre of war in one seamless motion
• Includes full naval, ground and air combat
• 3 unique factions that each appeal to different player personalities with approximately 100 units/structures per faction
• 3 story-driven