Supreme Ruler 2020 review (PC)

Battlegoat Studios and Paradox Interactive have set the stage with the release of Supreme Ruler 2020, a strategy title that places a country (or American state) at your control.

There are two main gameplay modes, the first, and the one I started with, was Campaign. Here you select you country and get on with the business of running it. You can set and tailor victory conditions to suit how you prefer to play, by default these are set at high levels, complete world domination and similar. Jumping straight into the campaign mode is most definitely a baptism of fire. Without prior experience the game interface is extremely daunting with a multitude of menu’s options and stats which are at first unfathomable.

The sense of bewilderment eases after the first hour or two but this should give you an indication of the commitment levels we are talking, this is a couple of hours just to feel that at some point you may begin to understand what’s going on, not to feel like you know what you are doing. Unfortunately, taking the time out to run through the tutorials doesn’t really ease the initial pain all that much; they feel too light, providing an overview which is difficult to fully comprehend out with the context of an actual game.

Only the Rich can eat

There is another way however, remember that second game play mode I mentioned. Starting the game in scenario mode sets you up in a pre-set environment, with a single achievable goal. The simplest (or at least seemingly simplest) being "get your command vehicle form point A to point B before such and such a date" and moving up through "raise public opinion by so many points", "increase trade by" and on and upwards.

These scenarios are a great way of getting to know the game. They allow you to largely concentrate on one thing, for example, negotiating treaties to allow your land traffic through neighbouring countries, whilst not really caring if the people in your country are starving because they can’t afford the price of bread.

Politicians on a short leash

Whether playing in scenario mode or campaign, the control interface is the same. You have stats aplenty available to you regarding how your country is faring, information on what trade is currently hot with what countries, internal tax rates, public opinion, current research projects and more. All of which you have the ability to tweak and play with to try and maintain the status quo, or improve your country. Thankfully you don’t need to constantly monitor all of these yourself, you have a team of ministers who can be appointed to help out. They will (depending on how much of the leash you show them) make a number of the day to day decisions themselves and email you recommendations or requests for approval on changes they wish to make. They are not always right, and are not always doing the job the way you would like, and so you do need to keep an overview of what is happening.

This isn’t a game where you can set-up the world to run mostly automated with the AI making the decisions for you, and in fact even if you did with time running at the fastest setting, days still pass slowly. However with so much happening on the map, so many countries and states involved and with so much to do, that is far from a bad thing.

The world needs more wool dammit!

The graphics and sound delivered are excellent, the map can be scrolled and zoomed, going from looking at a satellite image of the world with little details to zooming right down onto 3D rendering of individual military units. Focusing on an industrial complex will show you not only what size of complex but also what it is currently producing, allowing you to see quickly and easily that without thinking you have stupidly set your entire nation producing only one material and have to buy absolutely everything else in from other countries (a situation I quickly remedied in order to prevent complete national bankruptcy).

Sound is spot on, nothing too in your face, providing an ambience to the game rather than an annoying distraction. If war breaks out between another nation you will hear distant gunfire and explosions, scrolling across the map will cause the sounds of war to fade or increase as you move close or further from the action, watching the fighting break out and zooming right in will cause the neighbours to think world war three has broken out in you living room.

So the question at the end of the day is, is this any good, and should you part with your hard earned cash? It’s a difficult one for me to answer, personally for me, the learning curve is a bit steep and the commitment too large. But that’s me – this is a great game, polished and well worked. If you have the time and the inclination the rewards on offer are great, and it’s highly unlikely to become a repetitive experience.