Chris Taylor one of the darlings of the game journalists, like on a par with Peter Molyneux, Sid Meier and Richard Garriott. I've always wondered: Why? For could any significant successes recorded to date not Taylor. His early works (a baseball and a boxing game) are meaningless, his Dungeon Siege a soulless Diablo -imprints. And the strategy game Total Annihilation flopped not only because of the tongue-twister name. (Very funny: The name of the addon The Core Contingency went a little easier on the lips.) Hundreds of different units rumbled in a soulless sci-fi scenario overly nice maps. This pleased some hardcore strategists, the rest of the world went by this title.
And now Taylor but actually builds on the now decade-old Total Annihilation to - he does not learn from the mistakes of the past! The press still clings to the hype and makes Supreme Commander the much anticipated mega title. And what is the outcome? Hundreds of different items, rumble in a soulless sci-fi scenario overly nice maps.
If you have to zoom out to the overview to keep them. Schick is not anymore.
Okay, granted, there is already something new: Three parties now jostle for supremacy. But these are just generic, as unimaginative: United Earth Federation, Cybran and Aeon are only slightly different. Each group is a campaign with six missions dedicated to slack. The trouble here: Each campaign acts as if it had not met the other two. Why do you always start with a learning mission, which then becomes more complex only gradually. The resource system is the same everywhere, and should fans of Total Annihilation (because there's any?) Familiar. Mass and energy are used as resources. Both are in mining equipment produced in infinite quantities. However, cost of construction of factories or military resources continuously, one must be careful to build too much at once so as not to end up in raw material impasse. Very stupid: there is only a fall-boring video tutorial. Those who want to become familiar with the subtleties of the control and the intricacies of the game mechanics, must endure for hours runtergeleiertes babbling. Itself can make it in time nothing. You ask yourself seriously, whose bright idea this brain-emptying method of teaching was and why no one has done anything about it.
The missions are not particularly exciting. Usually, only the enemy commander (who of course in a separate Base residents) to be done. Now and then there's extra jobs such as guarding a convoy. And how Supreme Commander play now? It's simple: you build as many units (the maximum limit is proud 500), shall ensure a balanced mix of air and ground forces (on some maps but it includes ships) and sends it towards an enemy. If it helps to fight mostly eyes and go. For in the wild bustle can distinguish friend from foe almost indistinguishable. At least not in the close-up. Zoomed out the quick overview turn back, but the troops then in ugly triangles, circles or squares.
Supreme Commander suffers from several problems: the boring story that gives rise to no relation to the troops on the battlefield. The boring missions that have no relation to the forces produced on the battlefield. And the need rauszuzoomen the graphics so far that no relationship can develop to the troops on the battlefield. Ultimately, one's own are fools not care, they can produce any number of new. As long as one makes sure that one has sufficient raw materials and the enemy breaks anywhere, can not happen much.
Some battles also take place at sea. The close-up looks very sterile.
The graphics are typical Chris-Taylor-sterile and arbitrary, the landscape actually pretty ugly. Why Supreme Commander then still get 69 percent? Because detached from barren Kamp Agen mode in the skirmish battles, and much more comes up in the combat against human opponents, but fun. This shows that Taylor's mass slaughter concept does have hand and foot, can also control large battles well. And to retain against a smart human opponent the upper hand, is much more difficult than against the predictable AI.
Frankly, I will still probably never play Supreme Commander after I've durchgewurschtelt by all 18 campaign missions. The scenario is too sterile, too little I mean our own troops. I want to have a real target, know what I'm fighting really. Who can live without respect, like to play in multiplayer (and / or to the handful of T otal Annihilation fans of one to ten years), is therefore perhaps enjoy it. I prefer to wait on Kane's return.