For Darien

In the fast paced world of internet journalism, it's difficult to remember the last video game that wasn't extensively hyped prior to release. These days, there's such an abundance of previews, interviews, and alpha features, by the time you actually fire up the game you feel like you've already played it. At the very least, you have a certain set of expectations built on your knowledge of the game-- it's almost inevitable that the game will disappoint in some way.

The title screen

In some ways, I miss the bad old pre-internet days of computer game magazines and their two month lead times. Honestly, can you remember the last game that completely surprised you and exceeded all of your expectations? In my book, nothing is sweeter than having zero expectations for a game and having those expectations completely blown away-- and that's exactly what Total Annihilation did for me.

Roll Call!

Getting back to roots

Total Annihilation, the first title released by then unknown developer Cavedog, hit the streets in fall 1997 with almost no fanfare. As a real-time strategy junkie suffering withdrawal symptoms from the aging classic Warcraft II, at that point I would've purchased anything on the shelf that had the vaguest whiff of RTS. Imagine my surprise when this modest title turned out to be nothing less than one of the best games ever released, and a watermark title in the RTS genre.

Desert battle

So, what was all the fuss about? Total Annihilation was to real time strategy games what Mario 64 was to platform games. Of course, it was the first RTS to bring a full 3D world and 3D physics to the table-- but most importantly, it used these conventions to radically alter the underlying gameplay. Planes, tanks, ships, hovercraft and robots all played by "real" physical rules and in full 3D, bringing a heightened sense of realism and strategy to epic battles. TA won dozens of industry awards and accolades. In a testament to Total Annihilation's lasting popularity, there are groups developing maps and units for the game to this very day.

Looks gruesome

As a huge TA fan, I was waiting with bated breath for the sequel, Total Annihilation: Kingdoms. Instead of the typical cookbook sequel with the numeral "II" on the end, this one is a bit of a departure-- Kingdoms is set in the far-flung medieval past of the Total Annihilation universe.