Supreme Commander 2

Lore & Background

The game is set 25 years after the expansion of the first game, following the assassination of the newly elected Coalition President, which causes the breakup of the coalition formed to defeat the Seraphim. The campaign is divided into three phases, each dedicated to a faction: the United Earth Federation (UEF), the Aeon Illuminate, and the Cybran Nation. The UEF phase follows Dominic Maddox, a UEF officer married to an Illuminate, who goes AWOL after refusing to destroy an Illuminate colony. The Aeon Illuminate phase follows Commander Thalia Kael, who unwittingly aids a Cybran named William Gauge in his search for an ancient terraforming device called Shiva Prime. The Cybran phase follows Ivan Brackman, an experimental clone of Dr. Brackman, who ultimately destroys Shiva Prime to prevent endless conflict. The final cutscene shows Ivan appealing for renewed ties between factions, while a teaser reveals Dr. Brackman and Gauge (who survived) beginning a proto-brain initialization sequence.

Reader's Guide

Supreme Commander 2 was noted for its mixed critical reception, with many critics praising it as a standalone title but generally perceiving it as a simplified version of the original game. Alec Meer of Eurogamer predicted the game would 'leave much of its intended fanbase cold,' while Tom Francis of PC Gamer UK summarized it as 'a game that solved the accessibility issues of the first game, bought primarily by people who didn't want them solved.' The game was AMD Eyefinity validated. In an interview, designer Chris Taylor described the game and his previous Total Annihilation series as spiritual successors, citing his approach to RTS design that favors few rules and large, open worlds. The game's demo, released on Steam, included two tutorial levels and two campaign levels played as the UEF faction, but did not include skirmish or multiplayer modes.

Did You Know?

• The game's demo was released on Steam on February 24, 2010, and included only two tutorial levels and two campaign levels as the UEF faction.
• The Mac OS X version was released on September 24, 2010, by Virtual Programming, with the Infinite War Battle Pack following in January 2011.
• The game's plot involves an ancient terraforming device called Shiva Prime, built by a precursor race older than the Seraphim.
• Designer Chris Taylor stated in an interview that Supreme Commander 2 and his earlier Total Annihilation series are spiritual successors due to his RTS design philosophy.