Then and now, this is one of the best RTS games I've had the pleasure to play. It was overshadowed in its time by Starcraft, but to my thinking at least, had several things Starcraft couldn't touch. The game has a truly 3D environment. Hills and trees will block direct fire (though the tree may be blown away or catch fire in the process), making indirect fire weapons truly relevant and tactically useful. An excellent variety of ground units (Mech-type units called "Kbots" as well as tanks), aircraft (and bombers actually act like bombers, flying around for runs over their targets!), naval units (both on and under the water), and static defenses, already provide a tremendous variety of tactics in the base game. Core Contingency adds a great variety of them, including hovercraft that can move over land and sea. The classic nuke is included, but it's also possible to build antimissile systems that will defend a given area from nuclear missiles. Radar (allowing you to see units outside your units' viewing range as dots on the map) is included, but radar jamming units can keep radar from seeing the area under their influence. Sonar allows the detection of surface and underwater vessels. Finally, what I consider TA's crowning achievement-the Commander unit, which each player starts off with. The Commander is responsible for getting your construction started, but is no defenseless construction drone. Instead, this unit is the centerpiece of your army, and is armed accordingly-with the D-gun, capable of instantly destroying anything it touches. The Commander is also capable of building all first-level structures, armed with a standard laser for times when firing the D-gun would risk friendly fire or cost too much energy, and is capable of capturing enemy units and buildings. The Commander is also amphibious and can move (though not fight) underwater. Of course, power comes with a price. If the Commander is destroyed, not only does the player lose immediately, but the equivalent of a nuclear blast goes off from the vanquished Commander's location. Why is this such an advance? Especially in multiplayer, it prevents the "little guy rush" from being an effective tactic. The Commander can easily dispatch a good number of small units with his laser and a few larger ones with the D-gun. Challenging a Commander requires skill and a significant force. Because of the nuclear blast, it also is not advisable to D-gun an enemy Commander, as your own would have to get close enough that it would be destroyed as well. For these reasons, you do not play multiplayer games of TA that are over within the first couple minutes. To account for this, resources do not have an all-time limit. You must use energy and metal to construct units, and energy to power and repair some of them, but this is limited only by current production and reserves. A metal deposit is always a metal deposit, a solar collector is always a solar collector. Games are long and require strategy and skill, not a cheap rush. So, all my rambling aside from rediscovering an old friend, the point is: play this game. You won't be sorry you did-at least not until you look up and several hours have passed.
