Beyond All Reason

What hackers pick instead

• Warcraft II: Tides of DarknessRecommended for its deep, varied real-time strategy gameplay, memorable soundtrack and strong nostalgia. Critics note the races feel nearly identical and the game is unbalanced against humans late on.51recommend
• Total AnnihilationClassic real-time strategy game people recommend for its large-scale battles, 3D terrain and queued orders, plus a rebuilt version. Critics note dated controls, weak balance and poor AI.48recommend
• StarCraftSci-fi real-time strategy game praised for its balance, deep competitive play, voice acting, and a long-lived multiplayer community; critics cite clunky controls and heavy micro demands.36recommend
• StarCraft IIRecommended for its deep strategy, strong campaigns, lasting competitive play and free-to-play multiplayer. Critics cite demanding execution, always-online requirements, and a small current player base.32recommend
• 0 A.D.A free, open-source real-time strategy game with polished music and formations, often compared to Age of Empires. Common caveats: lag with many units and desync or forking after disconnects.30recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 133 comments. Each links to the original.

1. The game is very mature and well thought RTS. The user experience and performance is beyond anything on the market now.

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

2. The multiplayer game (the thing available now) will remain free including all the updates and improvements to it.

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

3. Also open source and free to play wo any of the dark patterns that pervert most modern multiplayer online games.

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”

4. completely free and open source Total Annihilation/Supreme Commander remake which is great for nostalgia's sake

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Rainbow Six Siege Hacked as Players Get Billions of Credits and Random Bans”

5. my first setons/supreme match on bar I was literally being flamed out of the gate for not being totally optimal

   Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

6. There were plenty of noob-specific / noob-friendly lobbies with a mix of helpful players and fellow casuals.

   Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

7. The most fun i had been in gaming . They teach each other and help each other , share unit , share economy.

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

8. Best RTS ever made, in my subjective opinion, but incredibly toxic player base despite active moderation.

   Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

9. Beyond All Reason is, as far as open-source RTS games go, a few orders of magnitude more fun and mature.

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “0 A.D. Release 28: Boiorix”

10. BAR in general is such a great showcase in A) FOSS games can be good, work great, scale nice and be fun

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “0 A.D. Release 28: Boiorix”

11. This prevents a huge number of people from playing the game due to the ancient streflop library

    Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

12. there are stand alone scenerios you can play. There is also a fun swarm defense sort of thing

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

13. BAR and TA Escalation of course have it, and are among my favorites across the entire genre.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Show HN: Horizon – GPU-accelerated infinite-canvas terminal in Rust”

14. ive seen way more patience in "noob" lobbies than i would have expected for an online game

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

15. the openness allows for far more experiments than one would assume in a proprietary game

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “RTS for Agents”

16. There's not much hostility in Beyond All Reason outside of certain "newbie" lobbies.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

17. BAR has quietly become the best RTS to release in years and is a huge amount of fun.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”

18. Great game, technically impressive, but the community can be quite mean and toxic.

    Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

19. BAR is a TA clone, missing out on the structural improvements from Forged Alliance

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”

20. There are some single-player missions and modes that you can play to try it out.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”

21. The game also has a raptors PvE mode that's great fun, especially with friends.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

22. BAR runs fine on low end CPUs...until you have like 2,000 units on speed metal

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “0 A.D. Release 28: Boiorix”

23. there are a dozen other options. Single player, PvE, 1v1 through 4v4 and FFA.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

24. the community on there really is very much "nicer" to noobs that many games

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”

25. BAR is just modern graphics TA. which just feels old and outdated to me

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

26. a passionate FOSS recreation of the core of Total Annihilation. It's got really decent naval combat, with a distinct feel compared to the land and air.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness”

27. It's a good solo game, especially with the focus on "quality of life" improvements that reduce the need for raw APM to play well.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

28. No such problem with BAR, at least in early game: quite feasible to control each unit even if you don't have fast reflexes.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

29. BAR has very sophisticated anti-smurfing, so many bans to out to people who thought they could trick the system.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

30. I get a lot of value playing with a regular group of friends on a Sunday night in part because of it.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

31. It's a legit criticism that bar doesn't have a lot of guardrails to help you in the first days.

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”

32. delete all the rules that encourage players to gang up on other players for subjective reasons

    Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”

33. guys are doing it as an open source clone/followup to Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “StarCraft returns in 2030 as an open-world shooter”

34. I would recommend anyone interested in the genre to try both and decide for themselves.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”

35. the shared simulation that all machines connected to any given match have to perform

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Games using anti-cheats and their compatibility with GNU/Linux or Wine/Proton”

36. The amount of care they put into the little quality of life ui stuff is impressive.

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game”

37. Beyond all Reason has had some 50v50s or close that are a bit ridiculous to watch.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”

38. the engine just handles it, it feels the same, except there's 80 teams on the map

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”

39. Being able to scribble the exact spread of positions you want your units to take

    Recommends · Sep 2026

40. For a more relaxed experience, I'd recommend trying less established meta maps.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”