Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency

• Platform: IBM PC Compatible
• Release Date: 1998
• Genre: Strategy
• Style: 3D Real-Time Strategy
• Similar Games: WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness (Hybrid PC/Mac), Command & Conquer: Red Alert (PlayStation), Command & Conquer: Red Alert (IBM PC Compatible), StarCraft (IBM PC Compatible), Total Annihilation (IBM PC Compatible), StarCraft (Macintosh)

Game Description

Total Annihilation was named by some critics and magazines as the 1997 Game of the Year. It was a real time strategy game in the grand tradition of Command & Conquer and Warcraft II. Rabid fans of this rather overpopulated genre couldn't get enough of this game. And just like C&C and Warcraft II, which have had many, many updates and expansion packs, comes Total Annihilation - The Core Contingency. But this is no ordinary expansion pack...

Total Annihilation - The Core Contingency seems like a whole new game, or at least a sequel to Total Annihilation. Here's a "short" list of what's been added for you TA fans: 25 new missions for both the Arm and Core groups, over 75 brand new units, a map and mission editor and a whopping sum of 50 new multiplayer levels. The Internet play, probably the main reason this game is so popular to begin with, now allows players' to play against the computer AI. Needless to say, if you loved Total Annihilation before, The Core Contingency is a vital CD ROM for your collection.

Review: Overall

Most expansion packs add a few new weapons, enemies and levels, as in Quake mission packs, and real time strategy games add a few new units and maps, as in Counterstrike for Command & Conquer - Red Alert. They tend to be skimpy on improvements and new things, rehashing what the actual game emphasized. But not THIS expansion pack. No, no, no! Total Annihilation - The Core Contingency (I'll refer to it as TACC) completely defies the above statements. In fact, TACC adds so much stuff to Total Annihilation that it's almost like playing a sequel (you do need the original TA to play this game). That or an extreme sense of overkill!

TACC features 25 brand new missions - a new campaign for the Arm group and one for the Core. The new missions take place on over six new worlds, featuring all kinds of new and improved terrain textures. There's also some more strategic elements too, thanks to the overwhelming 75 new units included. Some of the new units were pulled from Cavedog's homepage and some are brand new. The new units let you take your destructive warfare over or under water with new watercraft and flying ships. Heck, you can even build underwater bases! With the new units, everything is more balanced and equal. If there was a unit in Total Annihilation that may have seemed stronger than everything else and didn't have an equal match-up, there's one in TACC. Some of the units or buildings do seem a bit unnecessary, though. Some small or large units in TA now have middle units in TACC. That's okay though because there's so much to choose from. They can't be all ingenious or perfect!

Also included in TACC are over 50 new multiplayer maps for Internet play. Now THAT is a whopping amount of maps! Internet play is one of the reasons TA was critically acclaimed and received many awards in 1997, so these new maps are quite handy. If for some reason you can't find a multiplayer map that you like (doubtful), you can go into the Map and Mission editor and make your very own levels. This program allows players to make maps very easily, thanks to the user friendly interface. After all, it is the designer that Cavedog themselves used to make TA.

The only real problem with TACC (and this is quibbling) is that, like TA, it doesn't have too much personality. Starcraft is a perfect example of a real time strategy game with oodles of personality and story. The single player game in TACC doesn't really feature too much in the way of a good, solid story. Still, TACC is a must have for any fan of TA. There's an overwhelming amount of good, quality stuff in this expansion pack that's almost guaranteed to please.

Review: Enjoyment

This game is a blast to play. Watching the nicely animated units move around is very pleasing and there's just a lot of strategy to the game.

Review: Graphics

With six new worlds, there's plenty of new textures, all of which look pretty good. The unit animations are nicely done.

Review: Sound

There's some new unit sound effects, which aren't to shabby. No new music was added in TACC, unfortunately.

Review: Replay Value

With over 75 new units, 2 new campaigns spanning over 25 levels and a whopping sum of 50 deathmatch levels, there's always something to do. And of course, the Internet play adds tons of life to this fine game.

Review: Documentation

The instruction manual isn't too spiffy (probably because if you have {*TA} you already know how to play). It does tell you how to install or uninstall the game and some of the new features included.

Production Credits

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