Review: Total Annihilation (And TA:Spring)

A nostalgia-driven review.

Published on April 19, 2008 By erathoniel In PC Gaming

Total Annihilation was one of my first games, and remains, to this day, one of my favorites. It is pure concentrated awesome science fiction joy. Take lots of robots, have them blow each other up, and watch the chaos. Or control them. Those were the best years, before we worried about 3d and whatnot, we had Total Annihilation. The awesomest game ever. I hereby give it my best game ever award (7 @'s). TA:Spring is a project to remake Total Annihilation into true three dimensions, and it includes lots of neat features (and free license content packs, for you who heathens don't own in even one, much less excess of eight copies), such as individual unit control. Try it today.

Or my ARM commander will kick your Core Krogoth's butt across the battlefield with his D-Gun.

TA Spring

TA Spring Screenshot

Total Annihilation

TA Screenshot

TA Coverart

For all you skeptics, here's more evidence to my best game ever claim.

List of awards recieved by Total Annihilation

I also declare September 30th Annihilation Day, an international holiday.

Comments (Page 2)

erathoniel

on Apr 24, 2008

Is AA 6.0 just for TA, or is 6.0 also for Spring? I've seen it for Spring.

SinbadEV

on Apr 24, 2008

Hey, how did we get this far in without a link to the actual project instead of the wikipedia link.

Spring Homepage

Download Page

The name is officially just Spring now because a number of non-TA-based projects have cropped up. The official installer now will download a number of the available games and maps automatically so it's easier then ever to get started.

If you have any trouble post in the forums... but first check the stickies.

erathoniel

on Apr 24, 2008

I decided for a Wikipedia link because it's just more info on an objective basis.

Yes, I do know the name is just Spring, but I prefer TA Spring, because I've played TA for so long.

SinbadEV

on Apr 24, 2008

That's ok, Our homepage sucks a bit anyways... Also I loved TA and mostly play TA mods with Spring anyways.

MachinaManiac

on Apr 24, 2008

wasn't Supreme Commander based on TA? and what do you guys think of it?

erathoniel

on Apr 24, 2008

Supreme Commander is based sorta off of TA. In fact, it's pretty much the same game with a new skin, altered setting. It's even made by the same developer (Chris Taylor).

It's a decent game, though not as good as TA, in my opinion.

EvilWayne

on Apr 24, 2008

TA is still one of my favorite games. I did nothing but play it multiplayer for the longest time. In fact, when I finally went back to play the single-player campaign, I thought it kind of tame.

It's on my system right now; my 6-year old was playing it the other day (he does best with all metal maps). The only thing I miss is the music. The patch to get it to run under XP does away with the CD, so no music. Although, I did rip the CD for my iPod.

RonLugge

on Apr 24, 2008

wasn't Supreme Commander based on TA? and what do you guys think of it?

Because another company owned the rights to Spring, Chris Taylor couldn't make "TA2". So instead he created a "Spiritual Successor" -- TA, with 10 years of new insights and developments. Did a great job, IMO, except for the (problematic) issue of system requirements. I just need a 64 bit OS so I can safely ignore the 2GB limit and I'd be set to go! (Heck, I think they included Mad Boris's fix, so all I need is the /3GB switch... which I think I may have added... I think I'm going to go play a really big map now...)

matt112986

on Apr 25, 2008

Oh well, what's more important is that it's the most awesome game ever.I hear this, over and over, so I pull out my copy, install it, and play.And then I never even make it past the second level. Usually not even the first.I wish I could get into it. I just don't. I usually exit out, fire up Unreal Tournament - yeah, the first one (the real most awesome game ever, heh heh) and kill stuff.Kill it DEAD. With my flak cannon.

TA's campaigns (and SupComs too) start off very slowly. I too have trouble getting into them because of the early missions but they improve. Skirmishes can be really fun too. There is a couple of keys you press to allow up to 9 AI, but I can't remember them offhand. If you don't have the Core Contingency Expansion get it, it greatly improves the game. Also look for cheats, there is one that unlocks all the missions (can't remember it either).

SupCom is a great game but I like the feel of TA better. I was also disappointed that the unit variety is greatly limited compared to TA.

RonLugge

on Apr 25, 2008

*X lets you do 10 players, *IX lets you do 9, *V is five, etc etc.

matt112986

on Apr 25, 2008

I knew it had to do with Roman numerals, but I couldn't remember the asterisk.

matt112986

on Apr 25, 2008

Sorry, didn't think it posted the first time.

P5yy

on Apr 25, 2008

If anyones curious as to the last remnants of "online" total annihilation community that still actively play TA...

The community can be found here WWW Link

However its better to goto TA Spring. Its free to download and play. You dont need to own any TA product or anything to play Spring. 300+ players online , fun lively.

- PRO_-|[Psy]|-_

erathoniel

on Apr 25, 2008

Actually, it's commonly considered copyright violation to play XTA or BA or certain other mods without owning the original TA.

polarstar_111

on Apr 25, 2008

Following the release of version 3.1 a while ago, all missions are unlocked from the very start.

Oh, the cheat is "drdeath" or something like that anyway.

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