Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency

Notice the new Hover Tank unit.

Did Total Annihilation really need expanding?

Developer Cavedog seems to think so. But then again we probably shouldn’t even be that surprised. You don’t make a wildly successful game like Total Annihilation without producing a follow-up expansion. The Core Contingency is Cavedog’s first add-on to the original game, and its content manages to impress despite TA’s already voluminous amount of content. The CD has two new campaigns and 75 more units overall, spanning the spectrum of land, air, and sea warfare.

Both Arm and the Core get new naval units, Seaplanes, and naval structures such as Advanced Torpedo Launchers, Floating Dragon’s Teeth (does anyone use these?), and buoyant laser and anti-aircraft towers. But those are not the only Waterworld extras; Cavedog has thrown a whole new class of units into the mix: the Hovercraft. Part seaplane, part anti-grav vehicle, these are nifty, if not downright necessary, for navigating some of the new levels.

Want more explosions? You got ’em.

Land units are also notable. You can now deceive your carbon-based lifeform opponents with Decoy Commanders and protect your base with minelayers. All this pales, however, in comparison to the Krogoth. A Core unit standing five times taller than a Commander, this bad boy is the Godzilla mech of the Total Annihilation universe. But Core Contingency isn’t just about units. Loading the CD will pop 50 new multiplayer maps, 25 campaign missions (12 Arm, 12 Core), and six new worlds onto your hard drive. And better still, you even get a mission editor! Expansion pack don’t often come this meaty, but when they do it’s a real treat.