#SUPREME COMMANDER 2 EXPERIMENTALS SERIES#

The environments benefit from a distinct sense of place, though the art design won't floor you and a general lack of crispness muffles the overall look.

#SUPREME COMMANDER 2 EXPERIMENTALS SERIES#

You battle in misty mountaintops connected by a series of bridges and fend off hulking robots within towering industrial complexes. The game may not push many polygons or provide pitch-perfect audio, but it does sport plenty of personality and verve. Battles often sound uncomfortably abrasive, and sometimes the noise will cut out completely for a few moments after a particularly harsh explosion. Like its precursor, Supreme Commander 2 does a terrible job of scaling its audio and often sounds as if it's trying to stuff more sound effects through your speakers than it's capable of delivering. One area in which the sequel has not improved over the original, however, is in its sound design. Yet while your first impression might be one of surprise at how dull SupCom 2 looks, you'll soon grow to appreciate how pleasantly smooth it feels to move about the battlefield, even when you zoom all the way out to get a godlike view of the proceedings. The sequel isn't visually remarkable textures are bland, colors look a bit washed out, and units lack the crisp detail you'd hope to see in a game featuring big robots. Apart from a few hiccups here and there, SupCom 2 maintains a solid frame rate, even during one of the game's signature nuclear explosions. The original suffered from massive frame rate drops that greatly damaged the experience. If you played the original Supreme Commander on the Xbox 360, you'll notice right away that Supreme Commander 2 performs far, far better than its predecessor. Yet while it isn't likely to challenge experienced armchair commanders, it still stands out for its fluid gameplay, excellent multiplayer maps, and the thrill of emerging victorious from a long battle of wits.

The strategic joy doesn't go unhindered, however pathfinding headaches, sound bugs, and predictable AI keep Supreme Commander 2 from reaching its potential. Most importantly, it's good fun, letting you play with a variety of interesting units and giving you lots of room to experiment with all the tactical possibilities.

This is an inviting package for both veterans and newcomers-intricate enough to keep your mind nimble but welcoming to those daunted by the original's magnitude. If you were cautiously considering picking up the sequel, rest assured that Supreme Commander 2 suffers from few of its predecessor's visual problems. Bad bugs and abysmal engine performance overshadowed the satisfying and complex strategizing and made the game excruciating to play. The original Supreme Commander made waves on the PC, but on the Xbox 360, it barely managed a ripple.

Supreme commander 2 experimentals