Supreme Commander is the continuation of Chris Taylor's Total Annihilation RTS. Using realistic physics, 3-D animation and large scale battles, Total Annihilation was a ground breaking development when it was released and Supreme Commander continues this legacy.

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One of the most impressive features of the game is a tactical zoom, allowing the player to see the entire map at once and using the mouse zoom in to any point on it down to the scale of a single unit. With maps being scaled to 80 kilometers at times this ability to quickly zoom out, locate conflict and zoom in is as useful as it is ground breaking. Because of it's intuitive ease of use, and it's utility many players find themselves trying to zoom in or out of other computer programs, much to their frustration.

As mentioned above the scale of the maps used in the game are huge. With units ranging from smaller than boulders up to larger than entire structures and maps the size of small counties there is a lot to keep track of. Thankfully Supreme Commander offers a limitless way point system along with the typical group forming organization. Similarly, groups of units are able to be arranged into formations taking advantage of artillery and front line troops, with minimal effort on the players part.

Aggressive game play is encouraged both by the updated computer AI and by the community at large. With competitive ladders and an aggressive player base you learn quickly to fight dirty. Early rushes, strong offensive pushes and fierce territory fights all contribute to the atmosphere of a full war effort. Additionally the campaign mode uses an iterative expansion mechanic, rather than moving to a new map after completing a mission, objectives are added and the map itself enlarges, often doubling or tripling the area of play and exposing fully operational enemy bases.

Resource management is rather simple, allowing the player to focus on unit deployment and strategic concerns. Not to say that resources are not a strategic concern, simply that they tend to be easier to manage than many games.

The two resources used in Supreme Commander are Energy and Mass. Of these two, Mass is by far the scarcer. Energy generators may be placed anywhere you have room, but Mass Extractors may only be placed on Mass Deposits, limiting your resources slightly. Control and defense of these Mass Deposits forms a large portion of the game, and being slow to take and hold them will lead to a very swift defeat.

As with Total Annihilation a strong fan based community has developed around the game. With third party modifications, maps and new units even long after it's release the game still sees development and evolution. In addition to the officially released patches many long time community members release, with tacit permission, “community bug fixes” which address widely perceived issues with balance or game play. Often times the official patch released shortly thereafter reflects the changes the community pushed for.

While the playstyle of the game is aggressive and highly competitive the forums are a surprisingly helpful and cooperative community. Several of the best players offer online guides free of charge, friendly advice and insightful answers to questions. There is even a mentoring program that is ran by the community for new players looking to learn the ropes.