Common Sense Media Review
By Marc Saltzman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Gratifying real-time strategy game for PC users.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
What's It About?
SUPREME COMMANDER takes place in the 37th century -- the year 3844 -- as three rival factions continue their centuries-long intergalactic war. In the single-player campaign, your goal is to end this Infinite War by choosing one of the sides and destroying its foes. As with most \"real-time strategy\" (RTS) games, you must establish a base camp, build structures, create fighting units and vehicles, and collect resources to fuel this growth. You use the map to find your enemies and fight them.
All three sides have access to Armored Command Units (ACUs), giant armored mechs piloted by a skilled person inside. The ACU you control is responsible for building armies and giving them orders. Throughout missions you can choose to enhance your ACUs with upgrades that vary depending on which side you're on. Supreme Commander also gives you access to land, sea, and air-based fighting units -- from tanks to submarines to bombers.
Is It Any Good?
The visual reward for launching this kind of virtual firepower is gratifying. Along with the lengthy and intense single-player campaign is a skirmish mode, in which you play against the game's artificial intelligence. There are also online head-to-head modes via the game's built-in matchmaking service.
The game provides a so-so tutorial. Another issue is steep system requirements: Minimum specs are at least a 1.8GHz processor, 512 megabytes of system memory, and 128MB of video memory, but for it to run smoothly, it's more like a 3GHz processor or better, 1GB of system memory, and 256MB of video memory with vertex and pixel shader support (if you have to ask what this is, chances are you don't have it on your video card). The game also suffers from some technical bugs, most of which are addressed with a free, downloadable patch. But serious RTS fans with a powerful PC will be more than satisfied.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about this futuristic, over-the-top premise of war. Do you think future war might be like this? What does playing this game teach you about the use of violence to solve problems?
Game Details
- Platform : Windows
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Available online
- Publisher : THQ
- Release date : February 20, 2007
- Genre : Real-Time Strategy (RTS)
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : June 21, 2019
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate