Total Annihilation - is it worth it?

Alex · April 16, 2003, 12:36

I was walking in front of a news-stand this morning and saw something that grabbed my attention: a gaming magazine which featured a Total Annihilation CD-ROM. It is really cheap, and I almost bought it, but since I'm not that much into RTS games, I figured it would be good to know what other people think about the game. Is it interesting? Even after all these years, does it still manage to be fun?

Felch · April 16, 2003, 19:49

If I saw that, and had money, I'd get it.

General Ludd · April 16, 2003, 20:46

I got Total Anhilation and the expansin pack bundled together for less then the cost of a magazine. ($10CND)

DinoDoc · April 16, 2003, 21:15

It's worth the money.

Alex · April 17, 2003, 12:07

Thanks, guys!

VetLegion · April 18, 2003, 19:25

I dont know about singleplay, but me and some friends had huge kicks out of it in LAN multiplayer back then

DrSpike · April 19, 2003, 08:57

TA wasn't a bad game.........but very dated now.

General Ludd · April 19, 2003, 09:20

Quote:

Originally posted by DrSpike
TA wasn't a bad game.........but very dated now.

How can it be dated when the genre barely changes.

It's a good game, and one of the few RTS games that I like.

Some of thebest gameplay out of all of them, that's for sure. Especially with some of the player-made AIs and units.

St Leo · April 19, 2003, 21:58

TA wasn't a bad game.........but very dated now.

It's not dated at all. The only missing thing is the double-click-to-select-all-visible-units-of-same-type thing. Infinite queues a la Warlords Battlecry II would also be nice, but ordering a couple hundred units is quite easy with the SHIFT modifier key.

DrSpike · April 20, 2003, 09:42

Since 2 people have commented on my post I guess I'd better respond.

In SP it's dated because SP campaigns in RTSs like Warcraft3 have really improved, with a lot of effort put into variety of gameplay and storyline. Traditionally (before MP became widespread) I hated RTS, because SP could never interest me for long. TA didn't change this.

Now I did play TA quite a lot, because I played it on the LAN we set up in my halls as a undergrad. And that comes on the next point. In MP it is dated because TA came before the advent of MP games played by 100,000's of people. Hence when you get to know the game by playing it a lot there are a lot of outstanding balance issues MP.......so much so that if you try and get a game of TA now 90% are no unit x, no unit y type games.

So, TA was a great game, which I enjoyed playing when it came out 6ish years ago......and the fact that some people still play it is a testament to that class. But frankly whether your primary interest is SP or MP you can do much better these days.

Alex · April 20, 2003, 11:25

Interesting. I didn't buy it, but SP is my primary interest. Dr. Spike's comments were not disheartening enough

, so I may still give it a try.

DinoDoc · April 20, 2003, 11:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Alexnm
Interesting. I didn't buy it, but SP is my primary interest.

You won't like it then.