Total Annihilation: Core Contingency

Rating: 3/5

Total Annihilation came out of nowhere, from a hitherto-unknown company, to become one of the most popular Command and Conquer-style games of last year, in the face of considerable competition.

Several advantages put it ahead of its rivals - its realistic 3D terrain and flexible and robust multi-player support were key. But the new feature that really tipped the balance was the sheer number and variety of the units available. Not only did it begin with more than 150 beautifully rendered units - the company released a new unit every week on its website.

Or at least it did until a few weeks ago, when the flow of new units dried up. Cavedog was kept too busy working on its first expansion pack - Core Contingency.

If you were of a bitter and cynical frame of mind, you might ask why you should pay for new units and maps when hitherto Cavedog was giving them away for nothing? That's not really fair, though - after all, Cavedog was just being generous in offering free units. Very few companies have ever made a similar offer, and there is no reason why Cavedog should have continued to do so forever. In fact, it is still releasing new maps and the occasional unit.

More to the point, though, most of the 75 new units in Core Contingency (unlike many of the units already released) are not just more of the same. Together with the six new terrain types they offer some entirely new combat options. New single play missions (25 of them) and 50 new multi-player maps are also provided, and the free-to-download but huge terrain and scenario editor ship on the CD for the really motivated (its system requirements and complexity are rather large).

The first new unit types are hovercraft and seaplane units. Hitherto, aircraft needed to be built and serviced on land. Now new specialist planes can lurk underwater and fly out to attack. Hovercrafts allow you to attack a foe on an island without having to airlift your units in or rely on slow and vulnerable sea transports. They are also invaluable in planets with the new acid lakes which slowly eat away at conventional naval units.

Another vital new unit type is the minelayer. One of the drawbacks to Total Annihilation is that it does not lend itself well to defensive play. Walls and dragon's teeth are time consuming to build and given the size of the maps (Total Annihilations maps can be very large indeed) it is difficult to build up a walled base in time to repel an enemy's attack. Minefields can help to restore the balance between offence and defence.

Gamers love Ultimate Weapons, and Core Contingency offers a new one - the Krogoth. Each side begins with a "commander" which can build new units quickly and has a "super-gun" which can destroy almost any unit in a single shot. If you lose your commander, the game is usually over. The Krogroth is a kind of "super commander", only available to the Core side, which requires a special building and loads of resources to construct. Think of it as the Godzilla of units. Quite honestly, however, if you as the Arm player have left the Core player alone long enough to build a Krogoth you deserve what you get.

The rest of the units are more run-of-the mill. They offer a few more different combinations of armour, speed and weaponry, but don't enable any radical changes in tactics.

The new building types are disappointing. Nearly all of them simply serve to allow you to build the new kinds of unit. The one exception is the Targeting Facility. One frustrating aspect of the game is that long-range units only fire at units they have spotted, not units that have been spotted by radar. The Targeting Facility, once built, means your units will fire at anything you see. Of course, a really diligent commander will keep an eye on the map and radar and make sure to direct his long-range weapons by hand to attack incoming units, but the Targeting Facility can save you a lot of work, particularly in a long game.

Most of the new terrain types are just cosmetic - the Urban, Lusch (sic), and Crystal Worlds just give a new look to the maps that use them. The Slate World makes air units critical (because islands are separated by air, not water) and the Water World, as its name suggests, is for naval freaks. The Acid World is more interesting - as noted earlier, you could build a conventional navy in an acid lake, but you'd have your work cut out for you keeping it in repair.

Probably the most disappointing part of Core Contingency is the single-player missions. Total Annihilation's strength was always in its multi-player capabilities. There are no video cut-screens, and a very perfunctory plot. What both it and the expansion pack boil down to is a succession of missions where, using a variety of different starting units, you look for and beat the crap out of the other guy.

As with all-too-many expansion packs, Core Contingency doesn't really move the game ahead much. If you are an ardent Total Annihilation player already, you'll buy it and be happy. You'll probably find most of your potential opponents will buy it too and if you don't have it you'll be left out of the fun. But if you are a bit tired of TA anyway after a couple of months, I doubt Core Contingency advances the game enough to re-awaken your interest.