Total Annihilation

The Good
The game has an incredible diverstiy of units, enabling a wide array of different strategies. You can fight full ground, air and sea battles in the course of one game. There is no "running out of resources" here, though the dynamics of your resource gathering will change as you progress up the tech tree or use up scrap metal/organic material.

Strategic elements include real-time physics, line of sight, elevation, as well as many units which have unique capabilities that contribute to the overall strategy mix.

The soundtrack is one of the best ever, a world-class symphonic score worth listening to without the game. The ability to customize the music adds even more playability - put in anything and you can assign tracks to 'battle' or 'build' music. The game also has a vast support community on the web - download more units, more maps, and other features. The latest patch will add some hotkey controls, improve the AI and increase overall playability.

At three years old, TA is still one of the best games around.

The Bad
It could use some menus to see what units you have, where they are and their status. This information is attainable, it's just hard to get it all when you need it. The AI could still be better, but there are plenty of 3rd party AIs that will prove more than a challenge. The AI doesn't matter in multiplayer. Finally, the setting is great, and a '4000 year war that has destroyed a million worlds' is quite dramatic - however the story isn't as dynamic or as involving as Starcraft. Still...that matters little when you're fighting a massive battle with dozens of units, explosions and cannon fire eminating over the blistering score. It just doesn't get much better.

The Bottom Line
Quite possibly the single best real time strategy game ever developed.

The Good
Well, first the feel. From the spacious outdoor landscapes with towering heights and vast bodies of water to the stirring orchestral score, Total Annihilation feels great to play. As well, the great number and variety of units (and cool units at that) is a definite plus. And the graphics and effects are simply beautiful. But it all comes together when the mayhem starts and that is when Total Annihilation truly shines. I have never had an RTS experience like seeing my TA forces roll over the hills and crevices of the beautifully sculpted terrain and meet the enemy on the field of battle. It's inspiring.

The Bad
There are a few niggles. The biggest is that, despite the epic feel, there isn't really an epic plot to go with it. Certainly, there is a plot and the devistation of humanity (or whatever race this is, it's never clear) is a dramatic setting. But there is nothing that allows you to relate to either side or wish them to win. It is simply a matter of personal glory, which really isn't all that inspiring. Other niggles are negligable indeed. The only other one I feel I should mention is that it's hard to control when you get a lot of units.

The Bottom Line
Despite flaws, one of the greatest RTS experiences available.

The Good
This game is NOTHING like Command and conquer. Its much better in every way.... the units of the two sides, the Arm and the Core are almost identical but each unit is designed excellently. It has proved better than C&C in many ways:

The movements of each unit is realistic; far better than the animation you see in command and conquer...i.e u cant kill a unit when ur pointed in another direction.

The units will attack aircraft whether it is capable of destroying it or not instead of watching a Rapier Destroy its undefended base

The bigger and better units take large resources and time to build; Besides taking a long time to move/build/fire, preserving a sense of balance in the game. The Big bertha, though an incredibly powerful cannon with long range has many weaknesses like it is easily destroyed, it cant fire close range, it is VERY inaccurate.

The explosions and the ability to reclaim resources from destroyed units is awesome.

The Bad
The only thing i can think of is that the unit sounds are a bit repetitious. But its the same in C&C right?

The Bottom Line
This game is NOT for players who would rather sit in a corner and build and build and build.....until he finally feels ready to attack and destroy. attack early and effectively and u will have an advantage. attack at different points on the base, ensuring that the enemy cant build stronger weapons like the Big Bertha/Intimidator or the retaliator/silencer which will probably send your commander to kingdom come.