Supreme Commander was originally released for PC in February 2007 and was well-received as an ambitious attempt to push the RTS genre forward. A new sense of scale was experienced, where the player had command over huge numbers of on-screen units able to clash in conflicts spanning continents. Only high-end PCs could handle this power-hungry game, but now, after a long wait, Supreme Commander is available for Xbox 360 owners. But have the impressive graphics and quality tactical gameplay of the PC original been translated to its new format?

The game is set in the far future when humanity has the ability to travel huge distances across space in ‘quantum gates’ and create and enslave half-human, half-cyborg ‘Cybrans’. Throw in the genocide and extinction of an alien race that results in a mass cult and you have yourself a three-way infinite war of insane proportions.

While storyline is not big a attraction of this game, layers of strategic depth and the balance of competitive battles are. Unfortunately, unforgivable frame-rate drops mar the enjoyment of nearly every aspect of this game.

Each mission you start with a single armored command unit (ACU), a powerful combatant with the ability to build basic structures. Lose your ACU and it’s game over. Developing your forces follows a familiar base-building and rush for resources pattern. Mass must be obtained to build units and structures, and energy generated to power them. Mass extraction points are located across the map, forcing you to venture outside of the comfort of your base.

The right analog stick controls camera rotation and the “strategic zoom," which allows the player to seamlessly change the camera’s proximity to the battlefield from a view encompassing the entire map to a close up on a single unit and everything in between. This feature is impressive and fun to play around with, but adds little to the game that a classic map in the corner does not. Rotating the camera to obtain satisfying views of your hard work coming to fruition will be snatched away from you within seconds as the camera rapidly self-rights to a default north-is-up setting. Not only does this effect ruin any “wow” factor of being able to play around with the camera, but it’s actually slightly nauseating.