The maps are smaller, making each much more linear than before. The trouble begins when you consider all that has been lost in pursuing this more popcorn-friendly approach. After all, why go into all that bother churning out tanks when you can wait a bit and unleash a robot dinosaur or orbital airship on your enemy?

As a result, the game is less dependent on amassing vast armies than the prequel with the subsequent improvement in frame rate and performance. Experimentals provide the game's most satisfying and visually impressive moments, far more than the original where you only had three to choose from.

Of course, there are new units, focussing on the bigger Experimentals that must be unlocked from the research tree to unleash massive firepower on the enemy. This time you cannot play the three factions as standalone campaign instead, the backstory links them together in more a satisfying fashion. On the plus side, SC2's interface and basic gameplay remain unchanged. The bigger problem is it's not as good as its own prequel. Is it as good as Starcraft 2? We'll have to wait and see about that.

This year, however, it's another three-way that RTS fans are waiting for and SP2 is in danger of being lost in the melee. I n the long hiatus between Command & Conquer games, Supreme Commander was a worthy diversion – a massive three-way tussle fought out across vast maps.

Supreme commander 2 factions