# Total Annihilation Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/total-annihilation/ 41 people recommended Total Annihilation in Hacker News comments, 4 had mixed feelings and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 12 months, in 12 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. 24 of the 41 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”. **Verdict:** Classic 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. Summary written by Claude from 48 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 46 of those comments still count. ## Why people recommend it - Nostalgia for childhood play and favourite game (8 comments in the sample): "This is amazing! Thank you for reminding me of the one game I spent so much time playing when I was young." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50050133)) "I really enjoyed TA back in the day. And I still remember the fantastic music background" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48620785)) "I played with it constantly. Even played a match at a lan party with friends last year." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48624648)) - Large-scale battles and 3D terrain (4 comments in the sample): "Going from one lone commander with their side on the brink of defeat to orchestrating a final titanic clash of armies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50050986)) "Total Annihilation was a much bigger leap forward in terms of use of 3D terrain and ballistics and commands" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46206769)) "Classic RTS isometric POV, but all of the benefits of a 3D engine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49849478)) - Intuitive orders and queued commands (3 comments in the sample): "The game itself is the epitome of responding to a user's inputs precisely the way they would expect them to." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50048510)) "Programming unit routes and behaviour via factories was peak intuitiv design." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49850035)) "Queuing orders in TA and then in Supreme Commanders was best-in-class." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50056796)) - Memorable music and voiceover (2 comments in the sample): "That damn voiceover was amazing from the original TA" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50052223)) "Total annihilation had an amazing score.." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48700987)) ## What people warn about - Poor balance and simple gameplay (3 comments in the sample): "original TA is notorious for not being finely tuned or balanced" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48622226)) "TA and clones felt like simple straight to end game." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50047311)) "the actual OG TA is not a very well balanced game" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50060067)) - Technical flaws and slowdowns (2 comments in the sample): "It has some major technical flaws which hold it back even on modern hardware." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046435)) "PvE vs. AI on maps larger than 10x10 slows down to a crawl after ~40minutes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50057761)) - Weak campaign and AI (1 comment in the sample): "the TA campaign was… not very compelling" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50048255)) - Dated controls (1 comment in the sample): "I find TA campaign quite enjoyable, but, sadly, controls are quite lacking." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50049726)) ## Other real-time strategy games people recommend - [Beyond All Reason](https://hackerapproved.com/p/beyond-all-reason/): 59 recommend, 15 mixed, 15 criticize - [Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness](https://hackerapproved.com/p/warcraft-ii-tides-of-darkness/): 42 recommend, 8 mixed, 1 criticize - [StarCraft](https://hackerapproved.com/p/starcraft/): 26 recommend, 8 mixed, 19 criticize - [0 A.D.](https://hackerapproved.com/p/0-a-d/): 26 recommend, 2 mixed, 8 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Total Annihilation", https://hackerapproved.com/p/total-annihilation/ (41 recommend, 4 mixed, 7 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.