A revolution, not just evolution... Fans of the previous may take time to adjust but the transition is worth it.
Having played Civilization V a lot recently, I have come to appreciate how nice it is to load up a game of Supreme Commander 2 but get my life back after a couple of ours of action-packed play! This game is faster than most RTS games, so much so that it sometimes feel like a strategy-action hybrid. I tend to drop the speed down to -2 because I prefer a slightly slower pace.
I think this game marked a significant jump in the development of RTS games. You can now have a fully immersing strategy epic AND have a social life. Great.
===MY ORIGINAL REVIEW===
Whether you like this game will depend a lot on whether you are a fan of the previous Supreme Commander game/expansion or whether you are simply trying out an alternative RTS game.
If you fall into the latter category, you will probably love this game, especially if you like a simple interface, with fairly simple resource management and pretty quick gameplay. The action is pretty fast-paced and, with the maps fairly compact, you get into battles quite quickly. The graphics are pretty tidy too, and the game apparently scales down for lesser systems pretty well too, so you don't need a top-spec system to play (unlike the previous game). Everything about the game is also pretty slick.
Unfortunately, I fall into the first category. I love the original Supreme Commander, and its prequel 'Total Annihilation'. The games were epic with so many strategic opportunities, largely down to the sheer scale which gave you the chance to raid strategic areas which may be undefended or to sneak behind enemy lines with some cloaked armies. All of this has now been lost. The maps are tiny and all the detailed strategy has been eroded down into this children's version of the game. The game now consists of a rush to upgrade everything and amassing quick armies and then a big mash-up in the middle. If you start winning you will probably end up winning. As a fan, I am disappointed. Some of the physics in the game have been nicely cleaned up (such as the way units flow much better and group better) and the research has its own advantages, such as upgrading existing units; but these are tweaks and not worth the sacrifices. You can no longer plan great bases because you can't order a building until you have the resources, and the battles are nowhere near as 'supreme'. I've heard reviewers elsewhere claim that they've scaled the game down just so it ports over to consoles well, and this really fits the evidence.
Don't get me wrong - This game is good in its own right, very good in fact, but sadly it doesn't live up to the 'Supreme Commander' franchise. This is 'Supreme Commander Express'. I will still play the game, when I only have an hour or two, but the previous 'Forged Alliance' is still firmly on the pedestal for those spare afternoons when it's raining. I really hope that Chris Taylor can do something for the fans and release a true sequel to the game... Or maybe I'll just have to move on?