Supreme Commander remains one of the PC’s greatest RTS games, and it’s just $4

Command and Conquer. StarCraft Brood War. Age of Empires 2. The history of the PC is filled with magnificent, memorable RTS games – but I’ll always have a particular affection for Total Annihilation, and for its creator Chris Taylor’s superb spiritual successor Supreme Commander. First launched in 2007, it remains one of the best strategy games to this day. Whether you missed out at the time or fancy revisiting a classic, you can get Supreme Commander and its fantastic Forged Alliance expansion for just $4 right now.

Much like its predecessor TA, everything in Supreme Commander starts and ends with that eponymous unit, also called the ACU (Armored Command Unit). Your ACU is both a construction and combat unit, core to building out your base and army through multiple tech tiers while also being capable of more than holding its own in battle. The loss of your Commander, however, is the main fail state in this RTS game – so you’ll have to keep a close eye on it to ensure a surprise attack doesn’t lead to an unexpected defeat.

The tech tree is the core of Supreme Commander’s progression, with dramatic expansions to your power level at each tier. These range from basic units and structures in the first through to incredibly potent tier-four superweapons often capable of unleashing map-wide destruction if you have the time and resources to get them online. One of its most striking features is the ability to zoom seamlessly all the way out to view the full map at once, giving you an unparalleled overview of the ongoing conflict, which can grow to an immense scale as missions climax.

Each of the factions has a distinct feel and set of specialties. The base game’s campaign focuses on the conflict between three of them – the United Earth Federation (UEF), the Cybran Nation, and the Aeon Illuminate. The Forged Alliance expansion introduces a fourth element, the Seraphim, who act as the primary threat of that DLC’s story mode. Joining that is a fully fledged skirmish mode with the ability to set enemy difficulty and even their strategies.

Forged Alliance also adds more than 100 new units across land, sea, and air to further improve the balance. While the base game holds a very respectable 88% rating on Steam, the standalone expansion bears an ‘overwhelmingly positive’ score with 96% of players recommending it. You’ll get both versions in this package, so you can enjoy this masterclass of strategy however you like.

Supreme Commander Gold Edition is 80% off via GOG until Saturday January 18, meaning you’ll pay just $3.99 / £3.00. Just click the button below to head to the store page and pick up your copy.

If you can’t get enough of mechanized confrontations, try another of the best robot games. Alternatively, dig into another of the best strategy games to play in 2025.

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