thanks, ive been interested in the SupCom series for a while, but ive never been any good at RTSes, now i can see how crap i am without wasting money

Good luck

I've got the first one but struggled with it, maybe it's because I'm a die hard C&C fan.

I also enjoyed the first one, although I'm not that good at RTSs'. Having played the demo, I'm a little torn:

The simplification is a refreshing take for the game, and it does allow you to get to the nitty-gritty of combat instead of doing an economy drive. However, this also means that the game loses the charm that made the original (and its predecessor Total Annihilation) so unique. It's still enjoyable enough, but all the change seems to have done is added a third section to your economy, one which you can quite easily spam, and taken away that gambling aspect of taking your economy right to the edge (you can no longer build outside your collected means, putting it in the sae territory as C&C and starcraft). I suppose it's necessary to keep things fresh, rather like Dawn of War 2 and it's RTS - RPG hybrid style, but it seems too simple now, and the less considerate might even suggest it's been dumbed down for the console players.

Graphics-wise, it performs better than its predecessor as far as I can see. There is less stuttering, AA works just fine, and it doesn't hog my system resources. The terrain looks lovely, better than the original, which is nice considering the performance boost. The units are crisp, however...

I don't like the art direction. The original had a certain amount of grittiness to it, something that made it look, whilst not realistic, certainly more believable. This game however, whilst looking smooth, has a fisher price feel to it. The units are pretty much a single, smooth colour, with hardly a peek of gun metal in sight. This makes them look plastic and false. The unit proportions add to this feel; the UEF battleship has had its turrets shrunk down, its Atlantis carrier now looks like a plastic aircraft carrier from micromachines, painted blue and given the ability to sink; the Monkeylord replacement for the cybrans doesn't fare any better, with its legs scaled down and the same colour issues. I know that you are sitting from the point of view of a pilot, who is controlling the battle field like a simulation, but the change is quite jarring for someone who thoroughly appreciated the syle of the original. This is, of course, a very personal thing, so you may disagree.

Will it be a day 1 purchase? Unlikely, as I'm just not convinced it's a better game than its predecessor; smoother yes, like a piece of cut glass, but still not comparable to the flawed gem that was the original.

However, with modders working at it I'm sure there will be changes, and I do wish to see how the story continues, so I will most likely pick this up when it comes down in price.