Supreme Commander 2 is a watered down version of the original. Some will like this, others will not.
But enough history, why is everyone torching this game? Probably because it no longer resembles the roots from which it spawned. It is drastically different from the original, and the only similarity it shares with its grandfather TA is that you have a commander unit.
The changes were geared at attracting a larger audience and making the game more accessible overall. It does this fairly well, but the final feeling is a bland generic RTS that is going to get absolutely destroyed with the release of Starcraft 2 in a few months. TA could compete with other RTS games because it was so very unique and different, that was what attracted so many players to it in the first place. Supreme commander 2 doesn't really stand out from any other RTS on the current market.
The fact that you are forced to have an internet connection to even install the game is a really frustrating experience. I pre-ordered the game, got it at 4:00pm and didn't get to play at all that day. I had to wait four hours for the thing to install (server crashed the first try) off of the steam client. By the time it was ready, I had other engagements to attend to. Very frustrating.
So let's break it down a bit. The economy is completely changed, and this is the biggest disaster decision for me. I loved the economy system of supcom and TA. There was NOTHING like it. You had to actually think a bit as you streamlined 5 minute build-paths for engineers. It was difficult to master, but there was nothing more satisfying then rolling out fusion reactors/metal makers and making goliath tanks in 5 seconds because you could afford to have 50 air construction units assist the factory. Or in supcomm, making the decision to spread your power plants out or condense them around factories for bonuses. That satisfaction is completely removed for a dumbed down, restrictive system, that while easier to grasp, severely limits the player. You can no longer queue up massive build orders or have several engineers assist. The only way to really build units is to click its icon once and hit the repeat button. Basically if you don't currently have enough resources to afford a unit, you can't build it. This makes things simpler, but it also makes things boring and no different than any other run-of-the-mill RTS. Mass, energy, and 'research,' are the three resources.
This brings me to the next major change – the obligatory tech tree. Instead of building advanced factories, or teching up current factories, you only build one of everything. The factory can build a generic tank, AA, and missile launcher to start. You unlock new units through 'teching up.' In order to get research points, you need to build research centers which really becomes a nuisance overall. So you can upgrade existing units. For example, the UEF can add AA to their bots as well as shields to ALL land units. I don't hate this new system as much as I thought I would and it does add a nice layer of depth to multiplayer (especially in team games) because you can only focus in a few areas. The game most likely won't last long enough to tech everything up.
This brings me to my next point, the games are shorter. I like this. As I have gotten older, I have found that I can't sit 1-3 hours straight playing a computer game, there just isn't time. That is what really turned me off about sup com 1. I would have maybe an hour to kill, and would want to play a quick 1v1. I would ALWAYS end up on the largest map size (even if I 'thumbs downed the map.') and these games take forever. It would be one giant turtle fest to see who could mass the most experimentals.
Supreme Commander 2 does away with the huge maps in favor of quicker matches. While I like this just fine, I completely understand why fans of the original would be upset – again, we are just falling back into the realm of every other RTS.
The graphics are fairly bland, but they wanted older PCs to run the game so I don't really mind – although the cartoony feel is not what comes to mind when I think of TA/Supcom. I have a dual core 2.66ghz, 4gb ram, and the nvidia8600 graphics card. The game runs perfectly on medium graphics even with TONS of crap going on. This machine is about 3 years old now so I'm happy I didn't have to upgrade anything to play.
The music just sort of exists. The TA soundtrack is probably in my top 10 of all platforms so I am disappointed that nothing really got me into the game. It isn't bad, it just isn't good.
Single player has never been a strong suit in this series. I do applaud development for attempting to integrate more of a story but the voice acting is abysmal at best. You play through three campaigns as a specific character in the order of UEF, Illuminate, and Cybran. The UEF commander was terrible, the Illuminate annoying, I didn't mind Ivan though. He was a nice change of pace from the first two twits.
I beat the campaign on the Hard difficulty in about 15 hours. Most of the missions are very simple as long as you know how to turtle up efficiently. There was only one mission in the entire game that I found difficult (failed multiple times) and that was the first cybran mission. Everything else was quite manageable.
Online play is alright. I haven't played enough yet for a full evaluation. A friend of mine just got the game, so I look forward to playing some 2v2s with him. Otherwise I doubt I will invest much more time in this game. It doesn't really do anything I haven't seen before and in fact, takes several steps in the wrong direction to give it any sort of edge over current competition.
So if you loved TA or the original supreme commander, you probably will be a bit disappointed with this latest installment. Again, it isn't nearly as bad as some of these reviews make it sound – but it just feels hollow and uninspired. There is nothing new or engaging about it. It is pretty easy to pick up though, so it should appeal to new players rather than long time fans. Unfortunately, new gamers are usually pretty fickle, and will jump on the next big ship when it lands (starcraft 2). So unfortunately, GPG has gained some new players for a bit, while alienating most of their original fan base. If most of the newer players do jump ship in a few months, this game's community will become a ghost town in half a year. I truly hope this doesn't happen, but it seems quite possible given the current situation.
An average RTS at best.