I write this review simply out of respect. Everything good that can be said, has been said about this game. To today, no other RTS game comes close. Back in the days the game hit the shelves I actually went down to the shop (really!) to buy Starcraft. I had downloaded the demo and had fallen in love. I had never heard of Total Annihilation, but Starcraft had sold out and by that time I simply had to still the thirst, so I checked out every other game in the shop. And there it was: Total Annihilation. Even of the people in that shop no one was certain about what kind of game it was. RTS, sure. But no one had heard of it. The package of three CD's (!) had some screenshots on the backside. I wasn't sure I liked them. Returned home. I remember having reservations about the view (Top Down; literally) after firing up the game the first time... Boy. Was I wrong. Was I surprised. And taken in. At once. I still play today. I did buy Starcraft later on, liked it as well. Bought and played almost every available RTS since. But Total Annihilation rules. It is as simple as that.
Straight forward sci-fi themed RTS, at first. Some game mechanics are peculiar which is something you need to find out thru trial and error and reading the manual carefully. No in-game way of telling what to do with the 'cards'; skills that are displayed with in-game buttons you can click when in battle: learning to use these is obligatory, since they make ALL the difference when the shit hits the fan. These skills are remorseless and therefor considered disproportionate. If the fight goes well the player doesn't need to worry about money or finding resources - they get rewarded. Power Ups can be found at the battlefield as crates. The graphics are sort of a mix between Age of Empires and Zeus. Music: Heavy Metal. When this game first hit the streets it not only had to compete with aforementioned C&C, but with the much better marketed Starcraft, that came out a little later, as well - these were the days of buying discs in wonderful boxes somewhere downtown as opposed to today's spiffy downloading experience ;-) 7th Legion just got crushed. Both C&C and Starcraft have the delight of wonderful game mechanics for these days. 7th Legion lacks behind in many ways in that area. Yet - I would like to propose that 7th Legion has charm and appeal, not always found in today's games. You start to love your units. The game has some interesting ideas, that, however imbalanced, can make a fun game once mastered.
It has to be said: the environments and characters all look great; graphics are simply beautiful and very well done. Unfortunately, that is not enough to make a great game... The game / story is so linear one might feel boxed in: the game forces one's decisions into one specific direction. The story itself is not gripping enough to overcome this 'problem'. And that is bad since it is story based adventure...
Though Spiderweb Software is a sympathetic small software house Avadon and its brethren Avernum aren't that well crafted. Yes, Avadon has an intricate storyline but loads of text doesn't automatically generate a great storyline. Avadon's storyline is tedious and boring; dragging on and on. If it would have been a book, it would be surprising if anyone bought and read it. Visuals and sound should enhance atmosphere and gameplay but they don't. Some games are great despite their lack of great sound and graphics but Avadon isn't one of them; the sounds tend to become very, very annoying and once you have seen one area, you have seen them all. I never got to finish either Avadon or Avernum. I simply fell asleep. If you are a die-hard fan of the genre and you are in dire need of a shot cRPG and you don't know where to turn; then maybe Avadon could be something for you. But it is not the real thing; it is a replacement.
Beautiful, original and funny. Works flawless on Mac with a Wineskin wrapper.
Plus: great game. It's like Quake top down. Great game play. Minus: Voice acting is incredibly bad; dialogues and monologues are poor; the storyline is not original. And, the Mac version is a bit buggy; sometimes quits during loading screens. Due to some graphical glitches that are easily fixed in the PC version, but not in the Mac version, the game has to be restarted every couple of levels.
If it is also available for MacOSX then why not here on GOG?
...known this game has ridiculous controls. Couldn't play with mouse; keyboard is required. Ah, such a shame. Looks like it could be a fun game; graphics are still attractive; interactivity with the environment enjoyable. However. Those controls!
