Total Annihilation: Commander Pack

In most real time strategy games the objective is to destroy all of the enemies forces. In Total Annihilation we begin with one unit, The Commander. The Commander begins the creation of our army, has the most powerful gun in the game, and can capture units and structures. However, if the commander is destroyed the game is over. There is no mop up, searching for one last useless structure. This gives battles a twofold dynamic. There is the war of resources and of territory, but at any point the sighting of a commander and a well orchestrated attack can change things if an enemy oversteps. This likens the game to chess, where the capture of the King is the goal, where armies can be sacrificed to pry him out into the open. Total Annihilation is no different: go for it.

I remember as a kid having a blast playing this game. The best part had to be, setting up a impenetrable defense. You had to possess a chainsaw to kill anything that might pose a threat. In the mean time, you would mass up an army that could crush anything in its way. Another fond memory would have to be the music. Songs that change to what scenario you were up against. It will set the mood for all the action going on. Another great feature that was Unique to any RTS was add-ons. Thousands of downloadable units still available online.

TA is a really good game in terms of RTS elements. The micromanagement is still considered to be almost perfect. The thing that destroys this game from being absolutely perfect, is the balance between the player and the enemie AI. I dont have a problem with challenging games/missions but some missions in TA are downright unfair and ill balanced. Almost all missions, where the player has to rely on naval warfare or aerial warfare are absolutely unfair. In naval warfare, the enemy can use ships that can destroy you from 100 miles away while you cant see them. In aerial warfare, the enemy is capable of using exactly the right route, so that his planes wont get shot down. But on the other hand, if you use a perfect route, a few shots from the enemy LLT and you are done for. Do i recommend this game? Yes in terms of RTS experience, but not for players who want to have a fair challenge

I have been playing Total Annihilation for as long as I can remember. It was one of my first computer games as a kid. I am now 19, and still play TA on-and-off. When I saw it on GOG, expansions and all, for only 6 dollars, I had to pick it up again. No other RTS game I've ever played has done so many things quite as well as TA did. I'm a huge fan of StarCraft and StarCraft 2, but TA just keeps pulling me back. The game goes above and beyond the standards of even games being released today in many ways. TA skillfully blends simplistic gameplay and complex mechanical workings to present a game that is both easy to learn and hard to master. The balanced mechanics allow for both offensively and defensively minded players to prevail. Whether you are green as grass or a hardened veteran, you can find a level of success in any play style that suits you. TA brings a wide array of interesting strategic and tactical elements to the table. For example, any given weapon behaves differently, based on what type of weapon it is. Many variables are at work each and every time a unit fires a weapon, every one of which could cause a hit or a miss. TA's physics and in-depth interactivity of various mechanics leave room for micro AND macro-management. It isn't like your typical RTS, where every shot hits and fights come down to mathematical superiority. Your tactical prowess actually matters, but you can get by without it if need be. Due to the many interesting and realistic mechanics, each battle in TA can play out differently. Everything can have an unexpected outcome because there are so many variables at play. Basically, every object in the game, be it a projectile or unit, can act on any other object, even in unexpected ways. An airplane could collide in the air with a nuclear missile, detonating it before it reaches its target; a unit could stand in front of a plasma turret to block its shot, causing it to be hit by splash damage. Resource management in TA is, again, both simple and complex. There are unlimited resources to be gained, but you must keep a fine balance of incoming and outgoing resources, or your construction will stall. Your laser and long-range plasma weapons may also lose power with low energy reserves. You can extract energy and metal from objects on the map (rocks, trees), or even from the remains of destroyed units and buildings. You can take an active or passive role in resource management, yet again, catering to any caliber of player. In short, Total Annihilation has the most depth of any RTS game I have ever played, but does so in a way that doesn't make the game difficult to get into. I was able to enjoy it as a child, and I am now able to enjoy it as an adult that can see all of the complexity I used to take for granted. The visuals of TA may be dated by today's standards, but they were incredible for their time. On high resolution, the game still looks wonderful. It gets the job done, and you will never find yourself wondering what you are looking at, as you do so often in older RTS games. One of the most interesting aspects of the game is the musical score. The game adapts the music to the events in progress, whether that be the calm before the storm (building), the celebration of a major victory, the crushing blow of defeat, or the intensity of battle; it sounds amazing. While the transitions can be a little choppy and abrupt, once the right music is playing, it sets the mood perfectly. The soundtrack is absolutely an unforgettable experience, and is easily one of the greatest any game has produced to-date. If you will find any flaw in Total Annihilation, it is probably the enemy AI. They can sometimes break themselves and stop building entirely, but that is usually caused by having certain mods while playing certain maps. The worst thing the AI will do is mass land units and try to send them over the seas, resulting in a giant, robot beach party. This can actually be very entertaining sometimes, as you can just shell the shore with a battleship and watch the explosions send metal chunks flying all over the place. Total Annihilation was ahead of its time. It sets the bar for a great RTS, both in 1997 and today. There is still an active community of players and modders for TA and you can easily find people to play with by using a program called GameRanger, which sets up P2P multiplayer servers. This is probably the best investment of $5.99 that you can possibly make as a fan of the RTS genre. Don't miss out. P.S, I wish a modern developer would pick up the rights to TA and remaster it with updated graphics and AI improvements. It is nothing short of amazing that those are the only two areas that would require major improvements to compete with games like StarCraft 2.

I played this game during years, so enjoyable I could not understand what people saw in the (by comparison) quite limited "Starcraft". You may have heard about this game from time to time and wonder: is it that good? the answer is yes. Even the quite good "Supreme Commander" doesn't match the fun of waiting for the Krogoth juggernaut to come to your base and trying to stop it throwing everything you've got at it. If you never played this game buy it now! TA did age very well and supports quite a big screen resolution compared to other games of the time. You can build truly huge armies that feel "robot-alive", there are lots of units and each of them server its purpose. Once you beat the game you can download hundreds of mods, and alter the game mechanics to your to your heart's content. The soundtrack alone is worth what gog is asking for the game, as it is one of the best scores on a game ever.