When you first start off, it’s difficult to get things up quickly so that you have a chance at fending off the well-equipped adversary. Building simple tech level 1 AA guns seemed to take at least one to two minutes per gun. Even with plentiful resources, building tech level 3 items can take a very long time. For example, I quickly found that the level 3 artillery gun was extremely effective. The time it takes to construct it however, is probably around ten to fifteen minutes. The only gameplay complaint I really have is the long build times. I personally like to set up a strong defense before going on the offense, which seemed to be the smart thing to do after having new enemies come in and leave you hanging on with barely any resources at several points. Missions in Forged Alliance work like this: you defeat an enemy in one area and then the map expands to reveal new enemies. In most situations, you are rescuing an ally, so not only do you have to defend yourself but you have to make sure that your friends are holding up. Some of the reviews for the original Supreme Commander stated that the learning curve was steep. In this expansion however, the interface has been re-done and while it looks a bit complex at first, you really can get the hang of it quite quickly. Once you figure out the interface the game plays like most strategy games.
I didn’t know much about the different factions at first, so I somewhat randomly chose the Cybran Nation. The units between the factions look almost identical, but there are gameplay differences between them. I found some good comparisons online, and it seems that each has its own slight advantage, even if it all seems the same. As I went through the campaign, my faction was also able to capture new technology, which kept things interesting. I did enjoy using the experimental technologies… after I found them in the interface, that is. ".the intensity is there right at the beginning." One of the primary differences between the original game and this expansion is that the intensity is there right at the beginning. I was somewhat shocked at how, after a very simple tutorial about collecting mass and energy, I was thrown into battle with limited resources and facing an enemy that was difficult to overcome. In fact, there were a couple of missions where I had to completely start over after being decimated by the enemy (save often!). I wasn’t much of a strategy fan until I installed Company of Heroes. The genre has a history of being extremely time-consuming, and even though Gas Powered Games has apparently lessened build times for this expansion, it still takes a long time to get everything built and set up. Can a game be discounted for this? The people that love these more complex and expansive strategy games would argue no. So, I’ve decided not to discount the game in a major way in that respect, but I give a fairly prominent warning to the strategy fans who like the direction where games such as Company of Heroes have taken the genre.
I have to state upfront that I have not played the original Supreme Commander but did investigate what organizations and people thought of it. This fact made writing this review somewhat difficult, which is why it has taken a while to finish. The general impression I received was that the original was a great game and that the main negatives were long build times, steep learning curve, lack of a meaningful storyline. Apparently, it took a while to get into the intensity the game offers, and the system requirements were a bit steep.
Supreme commander reviews series#
Forged Alliance is set to take place directly after the events of the original game. There are long descriptions of the storyline available out on the web but it doesn’t take a strategy veteran to realize that the story in this series takes a back seat and, at least to me, doesn’t seem very important. After putting many hours into this expansion, I would project that fans of the original would enjoy the add-on but people who are looking for a less time-consuming game will be disappointed. This new expansion touts many new units, supports more players in multiplayer mode, and of course offers the new faction: the Seraphim. Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is the follow-up stand-alone expansion to Supreme Commander developed by Gas Powered Games and designed by Chris Taylor.
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