Total Annihilation
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 24 real-time strategy games by recommenders
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.
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.
55 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 48
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 87%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 48 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 6.9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Nostalgia for childhood play and favourite game
“This is amazing! Thank you for reminding me of the one game I spent so much time playing when I was young.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “I really enjoyed TA back in the day. And I still remember the fantastic music background”
Comment from 21 Jun 2026 in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)” “I played with it constantly. Even played a match at a lan party with friends last year.”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)” - Comment from 28 Sep 2026 in “Open Annihilation – Spent the GDP of a Small Nation Remaking a Classic 90s Game”
- Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “Dear Time Lords: Freeze Computers in 1993”
- Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”
- Comment from 21 Jun 2026 in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”
- Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”
Large-scale battles and 3D terrain
“Going from one lone commander with their side on the brink of defeat to orchestrating a final titanic clash of armies”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “Total Annihilation was a much bigger leap forward in terms of use of 3D terrain and ballistics and commands”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “Classic RTS isometric POV, but all of the benefits of a 3D engine”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “2DWillNeverDie” - Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”
- Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “RTS for Agents”
Intuitive orders and queued commands
“The game itself is the epitome of responding to a user's inputs precisely the way they would expect them to.”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “Programming unit routes and behaviour via factories was peak intuitiv design.”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 on Hacker News “Queuing orders in TA and then in Supreme Commanders was best-in-class.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” Memorable music and voiceover
“I really enjoyed TA back in the day. And I still remember the fantastic music background”
Comment from 21 Jun 2026 in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)” “That damn voiceover was amazing from the original TA”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “Total annihilation had an amazing score..”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “OpenRA”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Poor balance and simple gameplay
“original TA is notorious for not being finely tuned or balanced”
Comment from 21 Jun 2026 in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)” “TA and clones felt like simple straight to end game.”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “the actual OG TA is not a very well balanced game”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” Dated controls
“I find TA campaign quite enjoyable, but, sadly, controls are quite lacking.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “controls are quite lacking”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” Weak campaign and AI
“the TA campaign was... not very compelling”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “TA's ai was pretty dumb, actually”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” Technical flaws and slowdowns
“It has some major technical flaws which hold it back even on modern hardware.”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “PvE vs. AI on maps larger than 10x10 slows down to a crawl after ~40minutes.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”
Other real-time strategy games people recommend
The four most recommended other real-time strategy games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond All Reason | 76 | 17 | 82% | 10 | 1 yr6 owners | Approved |
| Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness | 51 | 2 | 96% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Total AnnihilationThis page | 48 | 7 | 87% | 7 | — | Approved |
| StarCraft | 36 | 22 | 62% | 10 | — | — |
| StarCraft II | 32 | 18 | 64% | 10 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 63 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It ran on Windows 95, 98, ME, and XP just fine.”
“I don't think it worked very well but it was fun getting a new unit every week or two.”
“the actual OG TA is not a very well balanced game”
“1v1 with a bot was insane and from what I've seen people need some meta strategies specifically for that”
“Man I love this game, so glad to see it again”
“PvE vs. AI on maps larger than 10x10 slows down to a crawl after ~40minutes.”
“Queuing orders in TA and then in Supreme Commanders was best-in-class.”
“As a kid I loved waiting the computer to do this and send that "nuclear" missile”
“controls are quite lacking”
“That damn voiceover was amazing from the original TA”
“The actual depth of the units was also smaller, compared to the fairly rich dynamics of TA.”
“I like how they documented the original game's data formats”
“Going from one lone commander with their side on the brink of defeat to orchestrating a final titanic clash of armies”
“that's so cool, thanks for bringing those vibes back to life!”
“This is amazing! Thank you for reminding me of the one game I spent so much time playing when I was young.”
“I find TA campaign quite enjoyable, but, sadly, controls are quite lacking.”
“The game itself is the epitome of responding to a user's inputs precisely the way they would expect them to.”
“the TA campaign was... not very compelling”
“in a lot of ways defined the genre of games I love today”
“TA and clones felt like simple straight to end game.”
“TA's ai was pretty dumb, actually”
“The original isometric view gains a new sense of scale.”
“The best thing about TA years after it was released was the mod scene.”
“It has some major technical flaws which hold it back even on modern hardware.”
“I was an angry 15 year old kid playing a game "Total Annihilation"”
“Programming unit routes and behaviour via factories was peak intuitiv design.”
“Classic RTS isometric POV, but all of the benefits of a 3D engine”
“Total annihilation had an amazing score..”
“I played with it constantly. Even played a match at a lan party with friends last year.”
“it was a pleasant experience, unlike the lag in multiplayer games”
“original TA is notorious for not being finely tuned or balanced”
“I really enjoyed TA back in the day. And I still remember the fantastic music background”
“It is sad that there never really was a successor that was as good.”
“Buy 1 game, 2 OTHERS can play against/with each other for free”
“It is still one of my favorite games to this day.”
“the games of my childhood, Total Annihilation and Seven Kingdoms”
“The scale of those games was already nuts”
“Still works fine on fairly modern hardware with Windows 11.”
“Total Annihilation was a much bigger leap forward in terms of use of 3D terrain and ballistics and commands”
“Total Annihilation and its spiritual descendants like BAR deserve more love.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.