When you find something that works, clone it! However; if Total Annihilation came out of the Warcraft mold, it came vitamin-enriched, and with icing on top! Real-time strategy gamers will savor the improvements. This futuristic war game looks great with the 3D terrain of hills, mountains, rivers, islands, deserts and lava pits. The units move and respond realistically according to laws of physics. For example, the machines tilt while moving over hills, weapons recoil and fire with aerodynamic arcs. The gamer is put into the battlefield itself by means of the Commander unit, an ultimate (yet not invincible) unit that builds and manages other units but also can engage in combat. If you want more than the 150 units to play with, the game builders at Cavedog have already made more available through Internet download. So go ahead; use all you want, they'll make more. <surn> this is a great top-down, real-time strategy game of the warcraft genre. i like the futuristic theme around the good lookin' graphics. even the 3d look of the terrain not only adds to the aesthetics, but has an effect on gameplay. what i like about any game is the degree tactical control i have. the selection, and subsequent order in which you build your structures and units is open-ended and can make for a realistic and believable scenario with aircraft, armor, navy and infantry units supporting each other. there are more than 150 units that come with the game. you can even download more units when you get the hang of the ones you have. Commanding the units does not turn into a micro management nightmare. You can make multiple commands simply by holding down the shift key. This game really appeals to me because it uses big robotic war machines. If you have ever played Mechwarrior, you know how fun these are. I highly recommend this instant classic. <Spamtrix> Big robotic war machines? what a tech-head. <Vi-Rex> He's a GEEK! Betcha he still plays with his erector set <Spamtrix> and you still play with your choo-choo <Vi-Rex> more like the bullet train, baby <weaponx> in the style of warcraft ii, red alert and age of empires, total annihilation has a few twists. you start your basic mission by being dropped on a planet with your men, each a different machine. you are the commander, you must order each man/unit to stand guard, roam, fire on the enemy, etc. the units will otherwise sit around until an enemy comes around and blast them to bits. as commander, you alone have the ability to erect solar power arrays and windmills, extract ore, and build basic stuff you will need to beat the enemy. the more stuff you have, the better your chances are! you better select men to guard each installation, because the enemy will come right up and blow the stuff to kingdom come! this game is similar to what mechwarrior 2 would be like if it were changed into a warcraft-type strategy game. it is hard to find anything to complain about this game except that it gets difficult to keep track of your men, upgrade your power, and kill enemies all at the same time! <Vi-Rex> think he can walk and chew gum at the same time? <Spamtrix> naaaa, probably doesn't get out enough to practiceÖwalking that is <Vi-Rex> oh, another nerd-boy <Moggy> I was soo looking forward to playing this gameÖI installed it and the required DirectX software but when I came to play the game, the absence of any video made it very difficult to do anything! The music played fine. The voice-over was cool. But the lack of anything on the screen was quite unhelpful. Maybe my video card wasn't considered up to snuff? On the box it said all I needed was 640x480 VGA, and I have an SVGA cardÖWho knows? <Spamtrix> little cheese with that whine? <Surn> did you turn the monitor on? <Katana> did you email tech support? <Moggy> no <Spamtrix> typical guy, can't ask for directionsÖ <Moggy> who ARE you, and what are you doing here?