Total Annihilation (Windows)

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Description

It is 4000 years in the future, and the epic battle between the Arm and the Core has devastated the galaxy. Both sides fight on with super-advanced technology, from plasma guns to giant robots to sonar jammers. The only acceptable outcome is total victory.

You, as the Commander of either Arm or Core, must build up your base to destroy the other side, in a game developing the ideas of Command & Conquer. Unlike earlier titles in the genre, it uses a 3D world in which elevation changes have an effect.

Mission objectives range from taking out specific targets to rescuing hostages to capturing the enemy base and using it in the next mission. Usually you must construct a base, although in some missions you lead an attacking force.

Unlike other strategy games, however, you start out with the Commander, the game's most powerful unit, and must defend him at all costs. Resource collection is very quick and easy, since a single unit can extract metal indefinitely from a mine without ever having to return to your base, while options for producing energy include solar power, wind power, hydroelectric power, geothermal power, and fusion power.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "横扫千军" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
• "Total Annihilation: Use Your Senses" -- German tag-lined title
• "TA" -- Common abbreviation

Part of the Following Groups

• Gameplay Feature: Fog of War
• Symphonic Orchestra: Northwest Sinfonia
• Total Annihilation series
• Total Entertainment Network (TEN) multiplay platform

User Reviews

Really cool strategy classic	Maw (884)
3 years old and still up to the challenge.	Robyrt (54)
The best RTS game ever made. Get it.	Rick Jones (111)
Possibly the best real time strategy game ever.	Travis Fickett (2)	unrated
An epic work of RTS genius.	Steelysama (106)	unrated
Stood the test of time?	Peter Clark (10)
THIS GAME WILL NEVER DIE	David Lafferty (16)
The Best RTS game of all time!!!!	Nick Wang (3)
The Best RTS Game Ever!!!	Sharon I (3)
It could have been so good... but no	Aapo Koivuniemi (46)	unrated

Critic Reviews

PC Player (Germany)	Oct, 1997		100
Adrenaline Vault, The (AVault)	Jun 21, 2003		100
Mega Score	Nov, 1997	95 out of 100	95
GameSpot	Oct 01, 1997	9.3 out of 10	93
Game Revolution	Nov 05, 1997	A-	91
CD-Action	Jan, 1998	9 out of 10	90
JeuxVideoPC.com	Aug 31, 2006	18 out of 20	90
Meristation	Apr 16, 1998	8.6 out of 10	86
PC Games (Germany)	Oct, 1997	84 out of 100	84
Jeuxvideo.com	Oct 18, 2010	16 out of 20	80

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Trivia

1001 Video Games

Total Annihilation appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development

Total Annihilation was based on an idea for a game project leader Chris Taylor first thought of at the age of 14.

Mods

Total Annihilation has a massive base of users who customize and modify the game. Among these is a group called Swedish Yankspankers. This group developed an open source engine that plays multiplayer Total Annihilation in full 3D. They can be reached at http://springrts.com/.

Sales

Total Annihilation was a success for Cavedog:

Seattle, WA, October 30, 1997 -- Total Annihilation, Cavedog Entertainment's groundbreaking 3-D real-time strategy game, was simultaneously launched in three languages and 14 countries on September 27, blasting more than 250,000 games into retail stores during its first month of release.

Title

While in development, before the name Total Annihilation was chosen, the game was referred to as Really Cool War Game. This name was reused for an April Fool's Day joke in 1999, when Cavedog Entertainment supposedly had to rename all their trademarks, including the game's name, due to "a legal snafu with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office".

Awards

• GameSpy
  • 2001 – #50 Top Game of All Time
• GameStar (Germany)
  • Issue 12/1999 - #80 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
• PC Gamer
  • 1997 or 1998 - Greatest Game Of All Time
  • April 2000 - #17 in the "All-Time Top 50 Games Poll"
  • April 2005 - #34 in the "50 Best Games of All Time" list
• PC Player (Germany)
  • Issue 01/1998 - Most Stunning Music in 1997

Information also contributed by casimps1; Jeanne; MachTen, Maw, PCGamer77, Rick Jones and Vitarcus

Related Web Sites

• D-Gun (A useful resource for playing Total Annihilation online)
• File Universe (A site with news, downloads and forums.)
• Planet Annihilation (The GameSpy Network site. One of the larger TA sites around, though thousands exist.)
• Total Annihilation (A mirror of Cavedog Entertainment's official Total Annihilation website)
• Total Annihilation: Spring (A modern-day remake that uses Total Annihilation's data files)
• Total Annihilation | StrategyWiki (Free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki.)
• Total Annihilation: The Story So Far (Learn about the development, release, and future plans for TA.)
• Total Annihilation Universe (An independent Total Annihilation and TA Kingdoms site)
• Unit Universe (An archive of downloadable Total Annihilation units. Over 5,000 custom units available.)
• Wikipedia: Total Annihilation (Information about Total Annihilation at Wikipedia.)