Supreme Commander 2

First got this game free for gold on the xbox 360 back in the day. I fell in love with it as soon as I experienced this masterpiece. I have very little complaints about this game because it's been one of those beacons of light for me. I just hope I am not alone in this passion.

Although it is a notable step backwards in many ways, I feel that Supreme Commander 2 has a negative reputation that it does not deserve. I can think of only two serious issues.
Firstly, the setting undoes the progress made in the Forged Alliance expansion pack during the time period covered by the story.
Secondly, this game undoes the wonderful economy system used in previous Supreme Commander games (as well as in Total Annihilation). These are both very unfortunate, but honestly, beyond these issues, I don't think this game represents a step backwards for the franchise.
The graphics aren't the sharpest, but one nice feature is that I can engage in massive battles involving ten Godzilla-sized mechs attacking a base full of buildings and dozens of enemy units. There are lots of explosions and particle effects, and the frame rate often stays at a steady 60 FPS. While one could certainly argue that the game looks bland outside of action scenes, the camera work during combat is impressive.
The music is still engaging and maintains the momentum of the battles, even though the selection is much smaller. The units are more interesting this time around as well, with various factions having entirely different types of abilities.
For instance, you can nuke an enemy base, but the enemy can launch a counter-nuke to repel it. However, the Aeons have a cannon that, although it doesn't cause any actual damage, completely shuts off the shields of an entire base, and there is no countermeasure for this.
Additionally, an upgrade enables Cybran ground units to perform short-range flight similar to jetpacks. The UEF can also build a cannon that can propel a force of about a dozen units across the map in seconds.

Where to start with Supreme Commander 2?
It is probably one of my all time favorite games. It's not due being super complex, or super hard to master. But for the simple fact this is one of the easiest RTS's to pick up and play about anytime. It's old enough it can run on most things without issues. It's peer to peer system means you can always get games. It's cheap so a group of friends can pick it up and start going. For those who've never played Supreme Commander well I think you'll find it a good time. A bit simplistic but still fun. The Campaign is solid if not average for an RTS story. Skirmishes against AI are fun, though I do recommend turning off Nukes. Since the AI tends to be nuke happy. The DLC is cheap and worth it as well. Now for those who have played other Supreme Commanders. Is this game better than Forged Alliance. No it's not. It's more simplistic than forged and some what a step back. But I still say the game is very fun with a group of friends and nor does it suffer from massive slowdown unmodded forged alliance does. As it is this is one of the games I'd whole heartedly recommend as someones first RTS. Simple and easy to pick up but you can still learn things that other more RTS will want out of you. A stepping stone really. This and the First Company of Heroes are the two RTS's I'd throw at a new comer to the genre. So this game isn't perfect but for $13, $18 if you don't get it on a sale isn't a bad price. Besides it regularly hits sub $5 on sale. But is worth playing. Especially if you want a simple RTS you don't want to have to be at the top of your game at to play. Just to sit back and enjoy a good Real Time Strategy game.

Graphics = 10/10
Fun = 10/10
Playability= 10/10
Happy 13th anniversary!
The only thing I would like is to have Supreme Commander 3..

This is the game where you can explode a mere reactor as Cybran to blow up a whole enemy tank army and even gunships near it and then give your enemy emotional damage.
This is the game where you can go for a turtling strategy against AI as UEF and mass Disruptor Stations to bombard enemy to ash and use air scouts to spot the enemy ACU and then use their ability to stun the ACU to death.
This is the game where you can rush Teleport tech as Aeon and pop on top of an enemy experimental to slaughter them.
This is the game where you can go ahead and and cheese rush Tactical Missile Launchers as Aeon and ruin someone's game.
This is the game where you can play as UEF on a navy focused map and spam submarines to ruin other factions day.
This is the game where you can make walking ships as Cybrans and tower over land armies.
We have it all :D.

Solid RTS game. All of the bot levels are a good challenge, the story is pretty engaging, and the build/battle flow is fun to master. Fun game to 100% also.
Artillery is in fact the king of battle.

My first experience on this game was when XBOX 360 Live Gold still had these free monthly/weekly games. I picked SC2 up on there and I was hooked! I had played C&C Generals before so I was familiar with RTS games but this hit the spot for me.
Not too long after that my XBOX sadly died (the infamous red ring of death) and I didn't have a lot of money so I kinda left most of my games like that. Hard times.
All grown up, I bought it a couple years ago on Steam. Surprised to say it didn't disappoint. It's keeping up nicely with newer RTS games even tho they don't release updates anymore and I still love to boot up the occasional match and kick some Bot ass. They have a nice campaign and there's a ton of mods if you're into that, also surprisingly there's still some multiplayer matches going around I hear.
Overall I recommend but maybe that's just the ape brain talking, craving to make battle with little things on a 2D battlefield.
Good luck Commander!