Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

100 or More Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Amazing"

Total Annihilation is the very first RTS I played (got it at release), and I loved it. TA is a great game to play simply because of it's solid graphics, good selection of units, simple way to gather resources and that it's just plain fun.

For its time, Total Annihilation has a stellar quality of graphics. All of the units are highly detailed, the envionments look great and and the sounds are excellent as well. The music tracks are well done and helps to add to the fun experience. Overall, the quality of sounds are visuals is very impressive.

TA's gameplay system is great, and in my opinion is one of the best in RTS history. Although the tutorial is very brief, only telling you the basics, the game's controls are easy to catch on to after a short while.

One of the things I loved most is how you collect resources. Unlike in most RTS, where resources are limited and you need a special unit to collect them, all you need in TA are buildings that produce them for you. The resources, known as Energy and Metal, are made by specific buildings such as Solar Collectors, Metal Extractors and Fusion Power Plants can be placed anywhere on the map without worrying that resources will be depleted. Your current amount of Energy and Metal are represented by 2 bars on the top right corner of your interface, and are easy to obtain.

What I also liked was the great selection of units and buildings you could make. Although all teams start with a Commander (can be considered the main, essential unit of the army), the two factions: Arm and Core, have a varied selection of units. One of my favorites was the Arm's Spider Tank, which although fragile, has a laser capable of stunning enemy units.

Buildings are not just limited to resource collection and unit creation, as there are a number of them that can be used to attack the enemy, like a simple Light Laser Tower, to a long range Plasma Cannon, and even Nuclear Missile Launchers. There are several other useful buildings, such as a landing pad capable of rapidly healing your aircraft.

Total Annihilation is truly a masterpiece in the RTS genre, and continues to impress over a decade after it's release.