Supreme Commander 2 is a real-time strategy (RTS) military science fiction video game created by Gas Powered Games and published by Square Enix. It is the follow-up to Supreme Commander. A Windows-only demo was first released through Steam on February 24, 2010, and the complete game was made available on March 2, 2010.
In May 2010, Mac games publisher Virtual Programming announced a version of Supreme Commander 2 for Mac OS X. This version was released on September 24, 2010, and the Infinite War Battle Pack for Mac OS X was made available in January 2011.
The game received mixed reviews when it was first released, earning a score of 77 out of 100 from 54 reviews on Metacritic.
Gameplay
In both skirmish and multiplayer modes, players begin with an Armored Command Unit (ACU), a large and powerful construction unit that acts as their main character on the battlefield. They build mass extractors and power generators, which create mass and energy, and research facilities that help produce research points faster. Players can also build factories for land, air, and sea units, each producing the corresponding type of unit. Additional structures can be built to improve existing factories. Some buildings and units are more advanced than others. As players grow their bases and increase their research levels, their units become stronger. Research points can be used to unlock upgrades, abilities, and new units through faction-specific technology trees. This process eventually allows players to create experimental units, which are powerful, research-unlocked units and buildings. These can be built using experimental gantries (buildings designed only for creating experimental units) or by engineers. The main goal of the game is to destroy the opponent's ACU.
In the campaign mode, which is carefully planned, players start with a base and face an already-established opponent. To complete each level, players must achieve specific goals, such as "destroy the enemy's experimental unit." As the campaign continues, players unlock more units, missions become harder, and the enemy becomes stronger.
In an interview with MacGamer, a magazine about Mac gaming, game designer Chris Taylor discussed Supreme Commander 2 and its connection to his earlier Total Annihilation series: "I believe they are spiritual successors because of how I design real-time strategy games. I prefer fewer rules and larger, open worlds. While some may link this to the economy system, I think the connection goes deeper. Many players will see our upcoming game, Kings and Castles, as a continuation of these earlier RTS titles."
The game is AMD Eyefinity validated.
Plot
25 years after the first game's expansion, the newly elected Coalition President is killed, leading to the end of the coalition formed to fight the Seraphim.
The first part of the campaign (focused on the United Earth Federation, or UEF) follows Dominic Maddox, a UEF officer married to an Illuminate. After a failed training exercise, Maddox fights off rogue Cybran units at a communications array. After repelling the attack, his commanding officer, Colonel Rogers, takes control of all UEF forces on the planet. After defending a strategic weapons facility and meeting a mysterious Cybran in the Weddell Straits, Rogers orders Maddox to destroy the Illuminate colony of New Cathedral. Maddox, knowing his wife is an Illuminate and is inside New Cathedral, refuses and goes AWOL. After failing to stop UEF Commander Lynch from destroying New Cathedral with nuclear weapons before the population can leave, Maddox decides to attack Colonel Rogers. Along the way, he meets Dr. Zoe Snyder, who gives him weapons and technology. Maddox defeats Rogers' forces and destroys his command center, but accidentally breaks the stealth system protecting a hidden portal, unlocking the second phase of the campaign.
The second part (focused on the Aeon Illuminate) follows Commander Thalia Kael as she fights for a group called the Royal Guardians to "restore the Illuminate to their former glory." After ambushing a Cybran weapons convoy, stealing technology from a decommissioned Aeon facility, and freeing Aeon political prisoners, Thalia and her terminally ill brother Jaren defend a geothermal power plant from UEF forces. There, they meet the mysterious Cybran, William Gauge, who offers help. Thalia and Jaren learn about Maddox's defense of New Cathedral from Gauge and join him in attacking a Coalition outpost to send a message to the Illuminate government. Only after Gauge destroys the outpost's city with nuclear weapons does Thalia realize she has helped Gauge's plan to find what he calls "Shiva Prime." She also learns the Cybran convoy was on a humanitarian mission and the prisoners she freed were actually Royal Guardian commanders. Wanting to make amends, Thalia travels to Altair II to surrender to Coalition forces but instead finds Maddox, who has been holding position at the gate since his battle with Rogers. Maddox tries to stop fighting, but Gauge starts a battle by launching attacks. Maddox and Thalia team up to defeat the other commanders, but Gauge escapes into the gate. After Jaren notes more Guardian forces may be coming, Maddox and Thalia refocus their efforts.
The third part (focused on the Cybran Nation) begins on Seraphim VII, following Ivan Brackman, an experimental clone of Dr. Brackman and an old friend of Maddox. Ivan fights under Dr. Brackman's guidance, who calls him "father." Dr. Brackman tells Ivan that Shiva Prime is an ancient terraforming device built by a race older than the Seraphim. They detect Gauge's arrival through the gate, whom Dr. Brackman calls a "Proto-protocybran" who disconnected from the network long ago. The pair secure Dr. Brackman's research and leave the planet before responding to a distress call from Dr. Snyder, whose facility is under attack by the Royal Guardians. After Snyder realizes her research was stolen, Ivan goes to Altair II, where he meets Thalia and Maddox fighting off a Guardian attack. After defeating the attack, Ivan returns to Seraphim VII to confront Gauge. Gauge launches Shiva Prime into the atmosphere and sends a Guardian to stop Ivan, but Ivan defeats her and teleports to Shiva Prime.
On the station, Gauge uses its propulsion system to travel to Altair II to destroy the planet. After a long battle with Gauge and Shiva Prime's defenses, Ivan defeats Gauge but realizes that as long as Shiva Prime exists, the factions will keep fighting over it. He chooses to destroy Shiva Prime instead of letting anyone else control it, disappointing Dr. Brackman.
In the final scene, Ivan gives a speech at the Coalition Senate asking for better relationships between human groups. Meanwhile, Maddox returns to his family, and Thalia visits her brother Jaren's grave. In the teaser, Dr. Brackman talks with Gauge, who survived his fight with Ivan and is secretly working with Brackman, starting a new brain initialization sequence and asking Gauge if he is ready for a new adventure.
Demo
On February 24, 2010, a demo of Supreme Commander 2 was released on the Steam digital distribution service. The demo includes two tutorial levels and two campaign levels, all played as the UEF faction. It does not include skirmish or multiplayer modes. The single-player content includes two missions, which were chosen to show the more advanced parts of the game.
Reception
When the game was first released, critics had different opinions about it. Some praised it as a complete and separate game, but many believed it was a simpler version of the original. Alec Meer, who wrote for Eurogamer, said the game might not interest many fans. Tom Francis, who wrote for PC Gamer UK, described Supreme Commander 2 as a game that made the first game easier to play, but mainly appealed to people who did not want the original game to be easier. On Metacritic, a website that collects reviews and gives an average score, the game received a score of 77 out of 100 based on 54 reviews. The original Supreme Commander had a higher score of 86 out of 100.
After its release, the game received several major updates. For example, an update in October 2010 changed how players paid for building structures. These changes were well-received, and critics said the game improved since its release. Tom Francis, who gave the game a score of 85 out of 100 when it first came out, said in October 2010 that if he had reviewed it then, he would have given it a score of 90. PC Gamer UK named Supreme Commander 2 their 2010 "Co-op Game Of The Year."
At the 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Supreme Commander 2 for "Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year."