Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance

Cheat Code Central (4.7 out of 5)

As the stand-alone expansion pack to Supreme Commander, this title unites all previously warring factions against a common alien threat in a game called Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. As far as an expansion pack goes, this is a shining example of what one should be. Not only is it a stand-alone, which means you don't have to have the original to play it, but it improves on the original in virtually every aspect, from the gameplay to the graphics. If you like the original, you're simply going to love Forged Alliance.

GamersHell.com (9 out of 10)

Supreme Commander's technical requirements are fairly high due to the massive amount of stuff going on in the game but the game runs very smoothly except for the occasional 10 second freeze I would get about every half hour, and looks great on a system that can handle the requirements. Forged Alliance brings with it improved graphics via higher poly counts, improved shaders and textures. Also improved is the game's UI, which saw an overhaul, making it more useful. Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is a welcome standalone expansion which adds a large set of features to the already great Supreme Commander.

Gameplay (Benelux) (89 out of 100)

Forged Alliiance overtreft het origineel in alle opzichten. Veteranen gaan hier veel plezier aan beleven.

Gamer Within (8.9 out of 10)

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts would have no equal if it didn’t have to compare with the excellent game that preceded it. While the battles aren’t on as grand a scale as Supreme Commander, Opposing Fronts is a great looking game that’s sure to run well and look good on even a modest machine. Any World War II or RTS buff is sure to get some enjoyment out of this one, especially owners of the original game who will get to play the invasion of Normandy with this iteration, as well as getting to utilize the new units makes this game worth the price of admission alone. After playing Opposing Fronts, you’ll most likely agree that war has never been this fun, or this great looking.

GameZone (8.9 out of 10)

In the end, Forged Alliance makes a great expansion, and when I say expansion, this game truly is in every way. With huge battles, quicker building times, a new race, and a slew of new units, FA is one of the best expansions this year. I must plead with you to give yourself plenty of time with the game’s complex nature. Learning the spider web process of unit construction is very long and will take practice. But that being said, I would definitely recommend this one for any RTS fan, as it improves on almost every aspect of Supreme Commander’s already impressive foundation.

YouGamers (88 out of 100)

A must have for Supreme Commander fans, Forged Alliance improves upon the original game in every possible way. The amount of different tactics one can use is simply unmatched in any other RTS - however, if you are new to SC, you may want to get the original game first.

PC Zone (1993-2010) (8.6 out of 10)

Ultimately, the comparatively sloth-like Seraphim and the UI changes aren't going to be enough to fully convince those put off by the original's demanding gameplay, but any variant on the SC model is forever going to require a quick-brained RTS fan to fully appreciate it. If you're not a master multitasker, you may want to ditch the Red Bull and play something less intense, but until then we'll keep our bastard-massive UFO hovering right over your base...

IGN (8.6 out of 10)

If you missed Gas Powered Games' Supreme Commander when it released in February, the new expansion offers quite a few changes. We were big fans of the game when it first came out, but there's no doubt it was one of the most complex, time-consuming RTSes in quite a while, and had an unapologetically steep learning curve. Many lamented that the three factions in the original, the Cybran, Aeon, and UEF, looked and behaved too similarly. And on the surface they do resemble each other, but after hours of playtime, you learn to appreciate the differences and understand how to capitalize and manipulate them to your advantage.

Game Informer Magazine (8.5 out of 10)

Overall, while one could argue that Forged Alliance is simply more of the same, the subtle changes in balance and additional content in this standalone expansion make it well worth any strategy fan's time.

Jeuxvideo.com (17 out of 20)

Si Supreme Commander avait loupé de peu le 17 début 2007, Forged Alliance le conquiert haut la main. Tout, ou presque, est mieux que dans l'original : gameplay, interface, graphismes... Seul le mode solo reste en retrait, mais c'est anecdotique, l'essentiel du plaisir se trouvant dans les parties multi, toujours au top si on fait l'effort de s'investir un minimum. Reste à voir comment évoluera la communauté, et ça seul l'avenir nous le dira, mais on peut d'ores et déjà compter sur Gas Powered Games pour assurer un suivi constant à Forged Alliance.

GameSpot (8.5 out of 10)

It's hard to come up with a real-time strategy game that's as large and ambitious as Supreme Commander, which came out at the beginning of this year. The spiritual successor to 1997's famed Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander is a sci-fi strategy game that occurs on a scale far larger than regular RTS games. With battlefields that are as large as 40-by-40 square kilometers (or even 81-by-81 in skirmish and multiplayer), the game offers a lot of flexibility and room. When you flash forward to the end of the year, we get Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. What's impressive is the amount of stuff that developer Gas Powered Games has managed to squeeze into the standalone expansion in relatively little time.

Fragland.net (84 out of 100)

Forged Alliance is ok, for 30-35 euro the price is about just right. The only thing that remains questionable about this deal is the extremely superfluous stand-alone aspect. If you are new to SupCom then it's best to go straight away for the Gold Edition. For about 5 euro more (35-40 euro) you'll get both SupCom and FA which means you'll be able to play online (where the real action is at) with all races. If you only purchase Forged Alliance then you can squash other armies on GPGnet solely as Seraphim (not the most interesting faction for beginners as said before) and you'll probably be lost in the unforgiving campaign. The Supreme Commander Gold Edition is, just like the Company of Heroes Gold Edition (CoH + Opposing Fronts), without a doubt one of the best deals of the year.

PC Action (Germany) (83 out of 100)

Supreme Commander hat mich seinerzeit bereits sehr interessiert, doch ich kam nie dazu, es ausführlich zu spielen. Die Erweiterung Forged Alliance macht den Titel noch einen Tick besser, verändert aber kaum den Spielablauf und steigert den Spielspaß nicht merklich. Ja, die Grafik wurde etwas aufgewertet. Und ja, es gibt eine neue Rasse. Aber sonst ist alles wie gehabt. Die Missionen sind interessant und spannend gestaltet. Am meisten Spaß macht es immer noch, im Mehrspieler- Modus seine Gegner zu besiegen. Wenn man nach knapp einer Stunde Vorbereitung endlich zum vernichtenden Schlag ausholt und den Gegner schachmatt setzt – das lässt das Herz des wahren Strategen höher schlagen.

GameSpot (Belgium/Netherlands) (83 out of 100)

Er zijn meer dan voldoende redenen om Forged Alliance in huis te halen. Het spel was groots, maar wordt nu nog epischer en biedt – eindelijk – de mogelijkheid om alle wapens en eenheden van het spel in een campagne te gebruiken. Bovendien blijft dit spel uniek in z'n bereik, en zowat de meest indrukwekkende rts van het jaar.

4Players.de (82 out of 100)

Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance ist eine rundum gelungene Erweiterung. Allerdings hätten sich die Seraphim etwas stärker von den drei Fraktionen absetzen können, insbesondere hinsichtlich der weiterhin langen Aufbauphase. Schade, dass dies nicht der Fall ist, aber dafür fügt sich die vierte Fraktion wunderbar in das Szenario ein und die Kampagne ist eine Spur interessanter, da man sofort mit allen Tech-Stufen in die mehrstufigen, riesigen Schlachten ziehen kann. Ansonsten hat sich an den phänomenalen Größendimensionen, die dank komfortabler Zoom-Funktion problemlos bewältigt werden können, nichts geändert. Und angesichts des Tiefgangs ist sowieso eine strategische Vorausplanung erforderlich, was den Spontaneinstieg gegen die cleveren KI-Gegner oder menschliche Kontrahenten für Neulinge schwer macht. Sehr gelungen finde ich ebenfalls die Verbesserung des Interfaces sowie die Entschärfung der Nuklearwaffen, obwohl sie vielleicht etwas zu radikal daherkommt.

Mygamer.com (8.2 out of 10)

Supreme Commander manages to do a lot of things right, but it also manages to do many things wrong as well. From the moment the game starts to the point that it ends the feeling of being lost is very hard to shake, even when it comes down to issuing commands to units. There is a certain depth to the game that is hard to ignore, certain units being the most useful against other types of units. The problem is that while the game does not require the first game to play, it is almost needed to figure out what is going on at any point. For those who played through the first game, the second one is a must have.

ActionTrip (8.1 out of 10)

As mentioned above, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is a true expansion as this game is still Supreme Commander. Even with all the improvements, the core game is definitely the same. For the uninitiated, this is a standalone game (meaning you do NOT have to have the original game installed to play this one). If you're new to SC, buy this version. The improvements to the interface, speed, etc. make this a superior game to the original without adding significant difficulties (which it already contained in spades). It doesn't make the game easier to learn, but if it's your cup of tea, consider this a bigger, nicer looking cup. Personally, I don't like tea, but I can appreciate what this game has brought to the table. They set out to make a game with real depth, and in that respect, they certainly succeeded.

Eurogamer.net (UK) (8 out of 10)

If you're a SupCom player, think of this as pretty much your dream patch for the game, but with the unfortunate but understandable addition of a price-tag. If you're an RTS fan who hasn't played SupCom yet, this is without doubt a better place to start. It's more polished, it's more varied and, with the Seraphim's big'n'shiny toys in there too, it's wargaming on the most jawdropping scale there is. It's also everything that turned a lot of people off SupCom intensified, and I think that's a bit of misfire if it's serious about winning a new audience - which is why this scores less than the first game did. Why else would it be standalone? Well, perhaps so that SupCom players have to cough up more groats than they would for an expansion disc - but that's tinfoil hat territory. If you're even slightly interested in real-time strategy, you owe it to yourself to play this - but leave that merciless, exhausting campaign well alone until you've made yourself into a war-god with skirmish mode.

Worth Playing (8 out of 10)

Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance can best be described as an improved continuation of the Supreme Commander story with six new campaign missions that offer much larger and more challenging engagements. To get the most out of the new and improved graphics, you'll want to have a fairly robust gaming system in both graphics and processing power. Owners of dual-monitor setups can get the additional benefits of expanding their map-monitoring capabilities of the game map at the price of additional system loading. If you are new to RTSes, I don't recommend you start with Supreme Commander or this expansion. Even with the more streamlined interface, Forged Alliance has a fairly steep learning curve. However, if you are looking for the ultimate in RTS gaming, Forged Alliance is as about as good as it presently gets. Just keep in mind that this game is a widowmaker; it's guaranteed to eat most of your spare time if you let it.

Factornews (8 out of 10)

Avec son excellente campagne solo, son gameplay remanié, ses nouvelles unités et sa nouvelle faction, Forged Alliance est aussi indispensable que ne l’était pas Brood War à son époque. Le jeu a beau être un stand-alone, il est fortement conseillé de posséder et d’avoir joué à l’original sous peine d’être perdu et de rencontrer des conflits de versions en multijoueurs.

JeuxVideoPC.com (16 out of 20)

Forged Alliance est une extension indispensable aux fans de Supreme Commander. Cette première extension ne se contente pas d’ajouter un nouveau camp et une nouvelle campagne plus rythmée, elle apporte surtout des centaines de petites nouveautés bienvenues et corrige les principaux défauts du jeu original. Une grande extension à n’en point douter.

2404.org PC Gaming (8 out of 10)

Overall, I’d have to say that Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance definitely isn’t for everyone. Be prepared to commit two to four hours per mission in this game, which for people like me seemed slightly preposterous. I know that some people really enjoy this, so discounting the game in a major way for this reason doesn’t seem fair. It can be very fun and there were several things that I enjoyed. If the build times were just decreased a lot more, I think I would have been able to appreciate it a great deal more.

Absolute Games (AG.ru) (77 out of 99)

Supreme Commander — по-настоящему уникальная игра, да только "уникальная" и "потрясающая" — разные понятия. Специфический геймплей и квадратный дизайн роботов отпугнули многих любителей RTS, и дополнение предназначено для тех, кто получил или получает удовольствие и просто хочет большего. Столь немаловажная деталь отличает Forged Alliance от Opposing Fronts, Dark Crusade или самодостаточной Kingdoms. Фанаты будут в восторге, но если вы по каким-то причинам пропустили SupCom, не забегайте вперед и начните именно с нее.

GameStar (Germany) (76 out of 100)

Supreme Commander ist für mich in erster Linie Arbeit, daran ändert sich auch im Addon nichts. Ich baue stundenlang Verteidigungsanlagen, während ich meine Wirtschaft wachsen lasse, um schließlich eine riesige Armee mit Experimentaleinheiten aufzustellen. Dann walze ich die KI, die nur tröpfchenweise angreift, platt. Der Einzelspielermodus ist also keine Herausforderung. Im Mehrspielermodus hingegen habe ich kaum eine Chance, weil fast nur noch echte Fans online unterwegs sind - Langeweile einerseits, Frustration andererseits. Wer allerdings mit Supreme Commander Spaß hatte, wird ihn auch mit Forged Alliance erleben.

Computer Bild Spiele (2.26 out of 6)

Es gibt Spiele, denen merkt man sofort an, dass sie einfach gut sind: Supreme Commander und das hier getestete "Forged Alliance" gehören dazu. Das Spiel ist sackschwer, aber nie wirklich unfair. Die Künstliche Intelligenz der Gegner sucht ihresgleichen, das Management von Ressourcen und Einheiten funktioniert hervorragend. Grafik und Sound gehören zum Besten, was der Strategiespielmarkt zu bieten hat. Wenn nach stundenlangem Kampf der feindliche Kommandoroboter in einer gleißend grellen, bombastischen Explosion zerstört wird, verspürt man eine innere Zufriedenheit.

GameSpy ( )

In the end, a player's reaction to Forged Alliance will be completely dependent on how they felt about Supreme Commander. If the original game didn't originally hook you, Forged Alliance won't do much to bring you into the fold, but it's a must-have for those who spent 2007 fighting the Infinite War. The single-player campaign is a great strategic challenge and the more subtle AI and gameplay changes have made great improvements to the multiplayer experience. For those players, we say "bon appetit!"

Gamer.nl (7 out of 10)

Voor de grote Supreme Commander-spelers zonder twijfel een goede aankoop. Ben je nieuw, dan raad ik je eerst de demo aan: niet iedereen waardeert de look en feel van het spel. Nieuwkomers in het gehele genre kunnen beter elders kijken, want Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance vergt het uiterste van je strategisch inzicht en kwaliteiten.