I very honestly loved the mechanics, concepts, and general spirit behind Supreme Commander. Where the experience ultimately fell short was the execution--and in strange, unexpected places. For instance, while the computer AI was devastatingly efficient during the beta stage of the game's development (only encountered when a player dropped out in a multiplayer test), the AI included in the retail release was barely competent, even at the highest possible settings. Speaking of settings, many players spent more time navigating graphics options than actually playing due to the title's poor performance on slower machines. Ignoring these issues, as well as the annoyance of bugs and bizarre online and offline multiplayer de-synchronization, Supreme Commander was ultimately a hollow experiment. Variance between each race's units was somewhat superficial, and though the massive experimental units were always entertaining, they were absent from battles much of the time due to their high cost and slow movement speeds.

That appraisal may sound overly harsh, but the critique serves as a foundation for a cheerful report: developer Gas Powered Games claims it will remedy many of those problems with Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. As a very excited Ables played out a real-time round of the game, I increasingly got the sense that he believed it. After explaining to me that the team is constantly taking stock of the community's complaints and suggestions, and after showing me many of the new changes as a result of that feedback, I began to believe it too.

As tech 1 bombers streak across the sky to deliver their tiny payloads, the ground unexpectedly flares up into a streak of brilliant napalm. Nukes glide toward their targets leaving a weak of wavy heat in their path, anti-missile defenses arcing up to meet them in a flashy, satisfying collision. Spiderbots charge forward at high speed into the thick of a pitched battle, only to be met by alien tech 3 bombers that intelligently dart around each other, dropping energy bombs that explode into a blue nuclear blast wave. This doesn't seem like Supreme Commander, and we're not even into the real additions yet.

Graphically the game looks better than ever. The new fourth race--called the Seraphim--are decked out in sleek, chrome-plated crafts. Environmental mapping and a new shader adds a pretty sheen to the giant machines, while procedural skyboxes provide a welcome background of rolling clouds and rising moons. Well aware of the high system requirements of the original, Ables is quick to point out that the team at Gas Powered Games has managed to double the performance of the game's engine to this point--and optimization continues still.

Staying on the visual side of things, the minimap now features an optional cartographic overlay, enabling players to take advantage of the game's variable terrain with a quick glance. Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance will also implement an entirely new user interface. Minimalist and unintrusive, it stands in stark contrast the blocky default framing of the original menu. Four skins will be included for the UI, each themed for each distinctive race.

The game's appearance is far from being the only aspect to receive a makeover. With the original computer opponents so unchallenging as to quickly spawn dozens of player-made AI mods, it was no surprise to learn that the AI has been rewritten from the ground up. Ables assured me that the team of three programmers in charge of the task are experienced RTS players, and have been working hard at upping the difficulty for cooperative and single player enjoyment. Apparently the new super-AI is capable of defeating the original hard AI in a mere 10 minutes, with veteran human players only lasting around 20 minutes before succumbing to its superior commanding. All of this is done with less processing power than was devoured by the previous algorithms. Ables also mentioned that a cheating AI, which gains more resources per tick than other players, may be included and labeled as such. Cheating AIs were used by modders as band-aid solutions to the original poor AI. One would hope that a cheating AI included in Forged Alliance would be a decision based on on options, rather than necessity.

With all of the improvements to pre-existing content, it is difficult to care much about another race--a race that may add little to the overall gameplay experience. Called the Seraphim, the cold, calculating aliens have apparently eradicated all life on Earth, and threaten to wipe out its last descendants, the three original races. The first true alien race, Seraphim buildings and units stand out clearly on the battlefield. For instance, their anti-gravity power plants emit clouds of rainbow-colored plasma, a welcome splash amongst the predominant shades of gunmetal.

Despite an obvious focus on the new race in Forged Aliance, don't abandon your old favorite yet. Over 110 new units will be included in the game, and I was shown more additional units from the original races than anything from the Seraphim. A new tech 3 bot for the UEF race looks like a Madcat out of Mechwarrior, and the walker came flanked by a pair of impressively destructive tech 3 mobile missile launchers. Tech 3 UEF point defenses snap to attention, the wide-barreled chainguns blasting away at incoming machines.

Each race will be bolstered with new experimental units. The new Cybran monster resembles the existing Monkeylord spiderbot, although its body appears oval-shaped and flat. Its torpedoes can wipe out entire fleets, and on land it has the ability to lay explosive "eggs," in addition to an array of giant laser cannons resting on its shoulders. Every experimental moves significantly faster across the battlefield, and after I notice the drastic difference, Ables notes that the unit values have been reworked across the board. He tells me that players rarely ever accumulated the resources to use the expensive behemoths, and as a result their cost has been decreased across the board. To balance these changes, the relative power of every experimental has been decreased--though the standard Monkeylord was still capable of quickly cutting a swath of carnage before it.

In terms of purchasing logistics, players who do not own Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance can enjoy multiplayer combat with those that do, as the new units are simply restricted in those matches. Ables mentioned that the game will be supported by organized tournaments, with cash prizes possibly providing incentives for competition.

As the presentation went on, my list of grievances with the series grew progressively shorter. While it remains to be seen whether the new tweaks and additions will be enough to strike the right balance of action and strategy, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is on the right track for its ship date this November.