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A great strategy game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: May 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is what REAL strategy is about - you have to watch your economics, your production, your civilian approval, and of course keep those military units in check! But anything you don't want to do yourself, just get your Minister to take care of. You can even give the ministers "priorities" like "increase reveneue" or "cut taxes", or you can just do the job yourself in any particular area.

The combat stuff is really what sets Supreme Ruler 2010 apart - even though it is real-time, this isn't a simple "RTS". You have to plan, deal with supply, different unit strengths, terrain and choke points, and lots more. Even without everything else, just the combat stuff would make this game worth the price. With all the other bits in there (and did I mention the diplomacy and elections?) this is just one incredible game.

Strategy Gaming at its very best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: June 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Supreme Ruler 2010 is an in-depth game. This is not something you'll master quickly, but it is also not a game that you'll finish and tire of quickly either.

There is a lot here - a wargame / military side, a diplomatic / political side, as well as economics, resources, and even social policy. And you can get 'Cabinet Ministers' to handle the stuff you don't want to do, so the micro-management doesn't take over.

Personally I love the military side - this is likely the best wargame produced since Panzer General. But here you need to consider issues such as supply, morale, efficiency (if you don't pay your army, or if you overwork them, don't expect sharp soldiers!), and lots more. But even these things are not overwhelming - for example, the supply model is very realistic but amazingly simple to understand. I don't know why other games haven't done this already.

If you like 'real' strategy, this is game that you MUST have for your colleciton.

Best Grand Strategy Game...But Not For The Casual Gamer.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 19
Date: June 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm an old-time PC gamer, and have been saying for years "god, I wish someone would release a solid, comprehensive hex-style/board-game style grande strategy game based on modern day military and politics rather than the same old WWII sims". I stumbled across this game quite by accident when reading over a review of the game on a popular game site. I was overjoyed! I downloaded the demo and was completely taken aback at the level of complexity (which I love), the volume of detail, and the smooth interface. I enjoyed my Arizona vs New Mexico game so much I ran out and bought the game.

Be warned: The game does have a steep learning curve. This is not for the casual RTS gamer. The few reviewers that have written negative reviews touched on this. So, if you are used to playing Grand Theft Auto, The Sims, or Command & Conquer, rather than Hearts of Iron and Operational Art of War, be prepared to invest considerable time learning the games economic, social, and policital models before jumping in an invading your neighboring countries. But, if you are persistent, the game really is not to hard to learn after a couple hours and the game developers are very helpful on their official game site forum. I spent about four hours with the demo and about two hours with the full game (after reading the great 155 page manual) to get the hang of the complexity of the game.

I've now completed three campaigns (lost two), and am having a great time. This is a serious, comprehensive wargame that sets out to model modern warfare, and does a top-notch job. I STRONGLY recommend this game to any serious wargamer. If you're not convinced, try the demo, and don't go by negative reviews.

MicroManager Should Buy This Game!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: July 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you really, really like micromanagement, skip the reviews and buy this game right now. You'll love it. If not, be warned, there are some good things about this game, but some not-so-good, too.

First the manual. Very small print on grey pages, some poor screen-shots, as usual. If you need reading glasses, read the manual outside in natural light. Otherwise, pretty routine "how to stuff." The good news: Hints sprinkled about, and appendices with good, helpful ideas on how to get started, how to run the economy, etc. Plus, a couple of read.me files on the disk to help with some of the missions. They call these "Walk-Throughs" but they are really "Things to do before you begin." Very useful, but not (IMHO) true step-by-step walk-throughs of the actual mission. Considering the poor quality of manuals elsewhere, I'd rate this one 4 stars.

Lots, and lots, and lots of detail in this game. Want to create a military vehicle? Within limits, you can build most anything! The amount of information and statictics available is almost overwhelming. The same applies to almost any facet of the game.

The interface is good (compared to some I've seen) and easy to use. There's just so much of it you'll spend loads of time learning. Being able to pause the game and give orders, make changes, etc. is a bonus. You'll need it.

The AI "Ministers" you appoint remind me of the Viceroy in Master of Orion 3, only there are six of them and I don't trust them any more than I trusted him. You can give them instructions, of course, but I wouldn't depend on them too much. I'm really not sure (at this point) if they actually help or hinder the game.

Another good thing, you can adjust mission and scenario rules, difficulty settings, time, and a lot of other things. I like that. But you are completely limited in the regions you can interact with; if you're playing in Adriatics, for example, the rest of Europe and the Near East simply don't exist.

Read the other reviews, too. They're accurate, in my estimation.
Overall, a good game - for some people. For me it suffers from a really severe case of TMI.

Too Much Emphasis on Details, Not Enough on Playability

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: May 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

"Supreme Ruler: 2010" is grand strategy game where the player starts off with a small territory in the near-modern world after it has been splintered apart by global chaos. Your goal is to win over other territories and eventually conquer the entire world.

You have almost full control over your territory. You can build improvements (such as power plants, military bases, mines, etc.) in your territory; build any of countless military units at your bases; and control your economy, diplomacy, and domestic affairs. You can also delegate many of these tasks to your cabinet ministers, each of whom has their own personality and interests and can be fired. This allows you to micro-manage or delegate the governance of your territory, as you see fit.

You play (and win) the game through a series of scenarios, starting with a small territory and winning over (usually through military conquest, although elections are another option) nearby territories to consolidate your territory into a larger one. Eventually, after a few scenarios, each larger than the last, you can attempt to become the supreme ruler of the world.

While the concepts of the game sound great, the developers failed to create a fun, playable game in "Supreme Ruler: 2010." First, it's easily won, and I never felt challenged playing my scenarios, and each played pretty much the same: build your economy and military, gain popularity, wait for the other territories to attack you, and then easily defeat the computer AI's attacks.

This game is also too detailed, both on the domestic and military side, but those details don't add to the playability in the game. The designers felt that it was important to model every imaginable military unit and piece of hardware (from armored units to UAVs to transport helicopters to theater missile defense), but there is no need for many of these units on a game of this scale. The units do not integrate or complement themselves very well, and (if your military initiative is set low enough that the units do not all act independently), you are forced to micro-manage a large number of units that are fairly useless.

I also found the diplomacy model unworkable. Other territories wouldn't respond to my overtures for any peaceful relations, even if I offered them absurdly favorable terms or came in from a position of overwhelming power. Other territories attacked me with impunity, but the one time I declared war, I was immediately declared an outlaw by the other nations and could not trade with anyone any more.

In general, I love games like this - I've spent too many hours of my life playing all four versions of the Civilization games. "Supreme Ruler: 2010" had the potential to be a great game, but the designers spent too much effort making a "complete" detail-oriented game without making a playable or fun game. I also encountered a number of bugs with the game, such as not being able to stop the automatic production of military units (that gets expensive!) or revert to a peacetime Defense Condition after conquering a nearby territory and being at peace with all other territories. I do not recommend this game to anyone unless you are looking forward to micro-managing a huge, complex territory and aren't interested in gameplay.

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