Computer games have the bad tendency to age badly. Especially today when a plethora of them come out, in a few years many are all but forgotten and leave no impact on the world of gaming. Naturally there are exceptions and these are mainly games that cause a stir or craze via one of their innovations. Wolfenstein 3-D, Doom, Half-Life, the original WarCraft, Mario, etc...
Total Annihilation is one of those games, but is in fact an exception to the rule of the exception. It came out in 1997 when the RTS craze was in full swing with the WarCraft and Command & Conquer series. I remember playing C&C for prolonged hours much to the disliking of my parents. There is just something uniquely exciting for a boy when it comes to commanding and army and conquering virtual little enemies. It takes the old army toys to a new level. In fact one of the many games to come out at this time was in fact, "Army Men" and RTS that doubles back on it's roots with the player controlling army toys with fighting in and around desks, rooms, and yards.
The thing with TA was that it was, at least in my opinion, overshadowed by StarCraft which came out the following year. I found this awfully unfair, when all my friends were crazy for StarCraft and haven't even heard about Total Annihilation with its superior animation, spectacular battles and epic soundtrack. I was never a fan of WarCraft as much as Command and Conquer, so Blizzard Entertainment didn't make too happy. However, Blizzard must be commended for giving their game a real living story that engrosses. That is the only thing that Total Annihilation lacks as a game. It's not about graphics, just like movies aren't about special effects, it's about story. The gamer has to be interested in commanding those troops. TA has but one introductory film sequence, rather monotonous narration on mission briefings, no characters to identify with, and has only two sides compared to StarCrafts vastly varied three.
Despite this, Total Annihilation is a sheer blast to play. The Commander unit, typically the only starting unit, is truly unique and puts the player into the battlefield unlike any other game of its time or even now. Additonally with with hundreds of down-loadable units, not all of which are compatible with one another, a player can make his own custom army mixing various fictional technologies (many fan made) and have epic battles on ready to download huge new maps. New as in they don't some with the retail product. Total Annihilation has enjoyed huge cult success if not the mainstream spotlight of Blizzard's WarCraft which has remained shining with steady popularity and continues to do so with World of WarCraft.
Gamers should get the "Commanders Pack" when they get the original TA as it includes the first game as well as two expansion packs, one of which is a campaign-based sequel and the other contains a multitude of quick battle scenarios large and small. Also, take time to download units from fan sites and customize your intergalactic war machine. --- 10/10
Also a long awaited sequel, designed by original mastermind Chris Taylor, is due out soon.
Rated TEEN for animated violence.