It should come as no surprise that Forged Alliance seemingly throws you into the mix of things since it is an expansion pack. Its entire purpose is to extend the base game with the same fundamental gameplay. The issue lies in being a standalone pack, one that enables play without having completed the original first. Jumping into the expansion without ever having played Supreme Commander is overwhelming and justifiably so. That doesn't prevent it from being a solid game; in fact, the amount of content between the six campaign missions and slew of multiplayer maps make it worthwhile alone. Just keep in mind that there's no circumventing dinner for dessert without ruining your appetite for what is undoubtedly one of deepest strategy games on the market.