Retrobot presents: Hardcore games

Supreme Commander (PC)
PC gamers have access to a lot of hardcore games - with so many shooters, strategy games and role players available for the platform, it's hard to pick a definitive title for this list. Retrobot thinks Supreme Commander is the game for this role. Coming from Chris Taylor, who brought the world the first fully 3D RTS with Total Annihilation in 1997, this RTS is a wholly consuming experience.

With thousands of units at your disposal, it's pretty clear you need a decent PC to run the game properly - a hazard of the hardcore gamer's favorite occupation. The best hardware configuration, running the best games will give the best experience, so you'd better be prepared to fork out. And Supreme Commander is the perfect game to test your new set-up with.

The game itself lets you stockpile commands for each unit (or group of), so you can set up an entire assault in advance before deploying it at just the right momemnt. Pull the camera up and away and you can even see the whole map as... well, a map - taking in the entire battlefield before zooming back in, seamlessly. An RTS with near incredible scope in more ways than one.

Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.

Latest in Action
Former Xbox boss says GTA: San Andreas and its infamously NSFW Hot Coffee minigame "signified a maturing of the industry" and put games "on par with movies and music"
Death Stranding 2 PS5 screenshot
Death Stranding 2 pre-orders are estimated to go live this month, and will reportedly include a $230 collector's edition that I pray doesn't come with another creepy baby statue
Assassin's Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji expansion Naoe and Yasuke in Awaji forest
Assassin's Creed Shadows roadmap, DLC and future content
Grand Theft Auto 3
A GTA streamer is trying to beat every single 3D entry without dying, and in 33 hours he's made it as far as San Andreas but keeps getting caught in Vice City purgatory
The Last of Us 2
Naughty Dog has done it: it's remastered the PS5 controller with a Last of Us-themed DualSense announcement 24 hours after Neil Druckmann dashed our hopes for The Last of Us 3
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows reverses roles to show off Naoe's combat and Yasuke's stealth, and I'm suddenly sold on playing Yasuke like a clumsy Snake in Metal Gear Solid 3
Latest in News
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
The Witcher 4 devs explain how Ciri's fighting style will differ from Geralt's: "He's nimble, but he feels like a block...she's liquid"
Challenging The Manacle in Balatro, which limits hand size by -1 and playing two Jacks
From "I stopped working on the project entirely" to "we are so back," Balatro creator says the roguelike's development was always about passion and taking breaks was essential
InZOI screenshot from creation studio demo which depicts a shockingly realistic character model rendered in Unreal Engine 5
The director behind The Sims competitor InZOI spent 20 years making MMOs, but he ditched the massive RPGs after playing life sims with his son
Demon Slayer season 4 episode 2
True to the anime, Stardew Valley's hottest mod adds two romanceable Demon Slayer dudes who are both "rude and standoffish" at first
A group of Men wearing armour during the TV show, Vikings.
Vikings creator is heading back to his Norse roots with this new historical drama on Amazon
Balatro screenshot showing an assortment of joker cards
Balatro creator intentionally avoided roguelikes but did eventually play and "steal from" Slay the Spire anyway: "Holy s***. Now that is a game"