Each side is plotting its own apocalypse; thanks to their tech, the Aeon is closest to completing their war and subjugating the rest of the human race. The UEF is building the Death Star-like “Black Sun,” while the Cybran are programming a “quantum virus,” designed to isolate each world from the point-to-point teleport gates of humanity’s space-faring future. The story that powers SupCom is silly, pleasing guff: memorable because every side is both threatened by, and ultimately guilty of, genocide. Sci-fi! It’s probably an analogy!

Central to this fiction are the Supreme Commanders themselves. They are men in mech suits, the only living things on the battlefield; he’s your first unit and is usually mission-critical. So: a skirmish in SupCom begins with your commander warping in to a lush island paradise, empty desert or red-dust world. These arenas are massive, far bigger than what you’d be used to playing in other strategy games.

Emphasizing the scale is a neat interface. Rather than cluttering your screen with a mini-map, you can simply scroll the mousewheel outward, further and further, until the entire conflict is on display.

The 3D models of the units disappear, replaced with icons. Vehicles and positions you’ve scouted are marked with small icons: triangles represent air units, squares land and semicircles for naval power. Markers also tell you what type of unit it is. Those you have yet to identify are represented with grey squares. You know something is out there - but what?

Zooming all the way out gives you two powerful sensations: the first is a sense of total awareness. What you know, and what you need to know is clearly marked. You’ll realize that you need to position radar outposts at key choke-points, and send out spy planes to spot bases and their defenses. Second: it’s just cool. In one naval battle, we spotted a fleet of submarines threatening a group of frigates, themselves bombarding enemy positions. If you’ve got a second monitor lying around, you can dedicate one display to a full-screen radar display. You’ll need a graphics card with two outputs - most modern ones do - and an acre of spare desk space. We’ve tried it, and it’s hilarious, but you will have to explain exactly why you want to re-arrange the furniture to housemates, spouses, family members or the cat. They will not understand. Be strong.