Total Annihilation combines real-time strategy with campaigns and battles for solo or multiplayer play. It costs $4.99 from Humble Bundle; its Steam player rating is 96% from 3,626 reviews. If large-scale 3D battles and varied unit types are the draw, compare the displayed price with that specific style of play rather than deciding on genre alone.At $4.99 from Humble Bundle, weigh the price against the positive rating of 96% across 3,626 reviews.
Loading store offers
96%Steam Reviews3.6K reviews86Metacritic/100
Released: Dec 18, 2015
RTS · Strategy · Classic · Great Soundtrack · Sci-fi
Humble BundleTotal Annihilation·Platform:Steam·~ $4.99Buy now
Steam·Platform:Steam·United States Steam official price~ $4.99Buy now
Set a target to receive an email when an eligible offer in your selected region is at or below that amount.
Price History
Past 36 months · Updated daily
Historical Low~ $0.992024-02Current Low Across Stores~ $4.99Humble Bundlevs. Historical Low+404%
Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.
01About Total Annihilation
In Total Annihilation, build forces in real time and send them across 3D terrain into the war between the Core and the Arm.Steam player rating: 96% from 3,626 reviews.Released December 18, 2015.
$0.992024-02-15 · SSteamBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.
Language support
Language
Interface
Subtitles
Audio
English
Yes
Yes
Yes
Steam PC edition data · 2026-11-10
02Before you buy
Play modes
The Steam PC version has single-player campaigns and skirmishes, plus multiplayer battles. Teams can share resources, information, and units.
Real-time strategy
The description features 3D units and terrain, large maps, varied unit types, and battlefields with changing environmental conditions.
03Frequently asked questions
What modes are included?
The description lists campaigns for both sides, single-player skirmishes, and multiplayer battles.
What kinds of units can I command?
Forces can include aircraft, ships, submarines, vehicles, and infantry bots, among other units.
How do battlefields vary?
Maps include environments such as forests, deserts, archipelagos, ice, and lava; wind, tides, and gravity also affect play.
Popular Steam reviews
Native-language selection · 10 reviews
Selected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.
RecommendedSteam player
My favorite real-time strategy game. I'll try to make this short and sweet.
This particular version of the game:
+ Includes both of the expansion packs. The description doesn't mention it, but both Core Contingency and Battle Tactics are here.
+ Includes the map editor.
+ Supports resolutions up to 1920x1200, though I find that the game looks and plays better after bumping it down a few notches.
+ Seems to run perfectly on Windows 10.
+ Is good old version 3.1, combatible with countless fan-made maps and mods. There are probably thousands of extra units available to add on to this game, though the game has a cap of allowing ~230 custom additional units to be installed at one time.
- Does not include any updated multiplayer lobbies or functionalty.
- Does not currently support the Steam overlay.
If you're not familiar with the game itself, go read a real review. And then buy it. This game kicks all sorts of ass and it's worth five bucks all day long.
Enjoy!Show moreShow less
6.9 hours at review594 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
ATTENTION 4K USERS ONLY
Do not buy if you are running 4k. You will only see 1/4 of the screen. Review will change when/if this issue is fixed. Attempts to fix this issue through the steam version of TA wasn't possible. I recommend you buy through GoG as that version can be used to run in 4k with a patch.
Aside from this issue, TA is an amazing game and one of the best RTS games available.
Do not downvote this if you are not running 4K as this does not apply to you and this information is very useful to 4K users to save them time and money.Show moreShow less
1.1 hours at review45 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
This was my first PC game and something I spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours playing when I was a kid, so I won't even try to review this with any sort of objectivity
Pros: Everything
Cons: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Show moreShow less
3.4 hours at review469 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
This is not a review of the game itself, one needs to be able to run it first.
This is a package that contains all expansions and the last official patch to the game and nothing else. If you want to play the game on modern machines prepare yourself for a long and bumpy ride of getting the game patched with unofficial patches which do not guarantee the game will work all the times anyway. I had game launching problems, resolution problems (I have a 4k screen and FHD screen) and the game will crash from time to time.
As it is, in the current year the game is unplayable to people without at least average computer skills and the willingness to fix the old game to work on their moderns gear. It is a shame, I think whomever takes money for it should also maintain the game to be playable on every platform the game can be installed on. Otherwise it is just a scam.Show moreShow less
0.5 hours at review33 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Buy it
Just buy it
Don't let your dreams be dreams
In 1997 you said tomorrow
So just buy it
Make your childhood dreams come true
Just buy it
Some people dream about Planetary Annihilation
While you're gonna wake up and play Total Annihilation
Nothing is expensive
You should get to the point
Where anyone else wouldn´t buy
And you're not going to stop there
No, what are you waiting for?
Buy it
Just buy it
Yes you can
Just buy it
If you're tired of starting over
Stop giving upShow moreShow less
20 hours at review298 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Loved TA back in the day and was very happy to see it land on Steam. It is one of my all time favorites.
The only downside is that there is a glitch when running the game from Steam for the first time. For me it was an easy fix (as described below).
If you're ok with doing a one-time workaround, then definitely go purchase this game. Otherwise, I’d wait a little while. The game was recently released and I’m sure it will be fixed fairly soon.
So here’s the problem and my fix. Keep in mind that this worked for me and may not work for everyone!
Problem:
When launching TA for the first time through Steam, I kept getting “Error: Environment initialization failed! Check your DirectX”
The Fix:
Launched the game directly by running TotalA.exe. This is found in the installation folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Total Annihilation
Afterwards, you should be able to start TA from Steam everytime.
If the above does not work, then take a look at Peepswood's post describing how to use these patches:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/298030/discussions/0/487877107150113391/
If this issue is officialy resolved, then I will change my review to a thumbs upShow moreShow less
0.5 hours at review33 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Yes, it is Total Annihilation.
Yes, you get Core Contingency and Battle Tactics with all official patches for one incredibly low price.
Yes, it works on Windows 7.
Yes, it runs at 1920x1200 resolution.
Yes, it is almost 20 years old.
Yes, it is still one of the best RTS ever released.
No, I don't know why you are still reading this when you could have clicked "Add to Cart" by now.Show moreShow less
0.2 hours at review211 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
First of all, this game is really great. I played it in my youth a long time!
- Why a negative review then?
Because Iam disappointed of this steamversion.
I thought they would support multiplayer games like Gamespy did for a long time.
But no... You have to do it all yourself and spend much effort to organize.
For what reason do I need steam then, if they don't spend much effort to make
this game well playable?
Why no server-rooms and autoconnect? Would make it a lot easier.
In the www there may be much better tools to handle multiplayer for this game
and unitsupport etc. than steam.
There is a great website with much support, tools, units, maps etc.:
http://www.tauniverse.com/Show moreShow less
0.6 hours at review23 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
I remembered ALL the keyboard shortcuts. The game runs will on my SSD / Windows 10 machine and it's as fun as I remember.
No RTS has duplicated this game's "feel" which is a shame, since a straight rewrite of the mechanics would probably sell well today. Every RTS I try I compare to this game and every RTS I've played falls short.
Basically the best RTS ever written. Many have attempted to become it's succssor, none have succeeded.Show moreShow less
3.9 hours at review191 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
SHORT REVIEW: Get the game if you've never played it, but love games like SC and AoE. DON'T GET IT if you already own it and are expecting an updated one that works well with Steam.
Love the game I grew up playing (Literally played it for hundreds of hours in long 10 AI matches), but this is literally not improved in any way. Resolution changes don't work, Steam Overlay doesn't work, MULTIPLAYER DOESN'T WORK (which is the worst issue by far). Believe me, it's painful to have it on steam but not have any improvements over the copy I already own on disc.
It may only be $5 ($2.49 on sale), but it's the principle of the matter. They didn't change it so you have to enter the cheats for activating more than 3 A.I. at a time (in the Skirmish screen typing * then the roman numeral for the number of players, i.e. X for 10 A.I.), You have to type in the cheat +shareall to share resources with allies, and you have to STILL create a text document in order to increase the total unit cap from 250 to 500. This is all stuff that would have been amazing to have been fixed for easier access, as lots of new (or even old) players of the game probably don't know about being an option.
It's one of the best games I've played, but it's not much point buying a DRM game when there are alternatives to relive it.Show moreShow less
5.7 hours at review19 people found this helpful
Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/15/2026.
