Square Enix will be publishing Supreme Commander 2 in North America on March 2nd of next year on the PC and March 16th for the Xbox 360. To celebrate the announcement, they've released a video of Chris Taylor, Founder and Creative Director of Gas Powered Games, walking us through a typical battle. It looks like exactly what I was shown at E3 2009, actually, only without Chris Taylor actually being in the room with you.

Set 25 years after the original Supreme Commander, Supreme Commander 2 features an extensive campaign mode and online multiplayer, all wrapped up in an engine that sacrifices polygons for performance but still manages to look spectacular.

The release marks one of the first times Square Enix is publishing a Western-developed game in Western regions, and Gas Powered Games Creative Director Chris Taylor couldn't be more pleased.

"The partnership with Square Enix has been a highlight of my career. I couldn't be more proud of what the team has accomplished, as the game has continually exceeded all of my expectations throughout its development."

Supreme Commander 2 will be released on the Xbox 360 and PC in Europe this spring. I'd expect the North American release either at the same time or slightly earlier.

It was a bit odd, seeing the next title in the Supreme Commander series behind closed doors in the Square Enix booth, but with the Japanese publisher taking a greater interest in publishing Western titles, I suppose it is something we'll have to get used to. After weaving through displays of pointy-haired protagonists, I made my way to the Square Enix meeting area, where the GPG crew were waiting to show me a brief look at their next RTS, which seems to have taken a few cues from the company's most recent release, Demigod.

In fact, Demigod was the first thing that came to mind as the brief demo began. Rather than taking place on a land-based battlefield, units were assembled on a platform jutting out from cloud-shrouded cliffs on an alien world. The mountains faded into the mist below the platform, giving off a sense of an expansive world far below the battlefield. It's the same sort of self-contained map you'd see in Demigod; smaller than what we are used to, but filled with character. Taylor explained that Demigod taught them that a smaller-scaled yet detailed battlefield delivered much great opportunity to portray a dramatic conflict.

The game certainly looks sharper than the first, and ran smoother too, thanks to some creative polygon tricks. Rather than bogging down the hardware with extraneous polygons in the name of greater detail, this time around Gas Powered Games has reduced the polygon count, allowing their new rendering engine to quickly fill the map with units without bogging or slowing down. Not that you'd really notice the drop in polys...the new engine, with its enhanced lighting and self-shadowing, delivers visuals that are better than the previous game while still being able to run smoothly on 3-5 year old hardware.

Taylor pointed out some of the upgrades and new additions to the game as we sped through our demo, and I tried desperately to keep up. Here's what I saw that was new:

ACU Improvements: The titular Supreme Commander, players who found the Armored Core Unit too flimsy in the first game should be pleased with the upgrades their primary unit has been given. Not only are there a wide variety of additional extras that can be added to the ACU via the new tech tree (see below), the newer version comes equipped with an escape pod, meaning the end of the unit isn't the end of you. Progressing through the tech tree eventually unlocks an even more improved version.

Tech Tree: Replacing tech levels from the last game is the tech tree, a branching progression system that allows the player to focus on the units and areas they excel at. There are three categories of items on the tech tree. Boosts (buffs), upgrades, which can add new functionality to existing units, and unlocks, which of course unlock more things to play with. The example I was shown involved a tank, which as it was upgrade sprouted longer barrels to increase firing range, or multiple barrels to increase the damage it dealt.

More Experimental Units: The most powerful units in the game, experimental units were a big draw in the original Supreme Commander, and they are back in full force. More than 25 new experimental units have been added, split into two categories - mini and mega. Mini's take about 15-20 minutes to unlock, while the megas won't hit the scene until 30-60 minutes have passed. Still mighty impressive, I got to look at the Fatboy Mobile Gun Platform, the redesigned Universal Colossus, and the most impressive, CyberZilla - a giant, armored dinosaur who might as well be wearing a "Game Over" t-shirt.

Taylor mentioned a few other improvements, including a retooled economy and a retooled neural net AI, but those are the sort of improvements it's hard to discern during a rushed, twelve-minute presentation. What I did walk away from the meeting with was the sense that Gas Powered Games was ready to kick Supreme Commander the first's ass with the sequel, and they weren't afraid to admit previous missteps and change their way of thinking to do so.

“We see great opportunities in European and North American markets, both of which are expected to be maintaining sustainable growth over these coming years,” said Yoichi Wada, president and representative director of Square Enix Co., Ltd. “Therefore, it is crucial we create alliances with proven developers such as Gas Powered Games in order to serve these significant markets better by providing products and services in tune with customer tastes.”

Wada had previously voiced his concerns over the growth of the Western games industry, most recently at the Tokyo Game Show, where he proposed an alliance of Japanese devs and publishers. I suppose this is an example of the old 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em' strategy.

SQUARE ENIX, INC. AND GAS POWERED GAMES ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

Development Begins on Real-time Strategy Game SUPREME COMMANDER 2

London (12th November 2008) – Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of Square Enix® interactive entertainment products in Europe and other PAL territories (Square Enix), today announces that Square Enix, Inc., a U.S. sister company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and development house Gas Powered Games Corp., a U.S. company headquartered in Redmond, Washington (Gas Powered Games) have formed a strategic partnership. With the commencement of this strategic partnership, development has begun on SUPREME COMMANDER® 2, a sequel to the award-winning real-time strategy series.

This strategic partnership represents one of the first steps Square Enix Co., Ltd., a sister company of Square Enix headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and its affiliates (collectively, Square Enix Group) are taking towards their goal of increasing western development efforts aimed for the global markets. Square Enix Group has previously worked exclusively with Japanese development companies, so the decision to form strategic partnerships with developers located outside of Japan serves as a new cornerstone of its strategy to create games targeted primarily at consumers in Europe and North America. Additionally, Square Enix Group’s foray into the real-time strategy genre is a significant expansion of its product lineup, largely known for its leadership role in the genre of role-playing games.

“We see great opportunities in European and North American markets, both of which are expected to be maintaining sustainable growth over these coming years,” said Yoichi Wada, president and representative director of Square Enix Co., Ltd. “Therefore, it is crucial we create alliances with proven developers such as Gas Powered Games in order to serve these significant markets better by providing products and services in tune with customer tastes.”

“Gas Powered Games is an accomplished development house that has demonstrated its ability to successfully create and develop intellectual properties,” said John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix and Square Enix, Inc.. “We are extremely excited to begin working with Gas Powered Games’ talented personnel and see this strategic partnership as a significant step in our efforts to bring Square Enix titles to a broader global audience.”

Creator of hit titles such as Dungeon Siege®, and Supreme Commander, Gas Powered Games® was founded in 1998 by one of the game industry’s most imaginative and dynamic visionaries Chris Taylor, who serves as chief executive officer. "It is truly a great honour to join forces with as renowned a developer and publisher as Square Enix, Inc." said Taylor: "Everyone at Gas Powered Games is thrilled about this collaboration, and the results will surely delight video game fans around the world.”

Details on SUPREME COMMANDER 2 including gameplay features, platform(s) and release date will be available at a later time.