In the long haul, lack of story ends up being a bit stale after a bit. It would have been a nice touch to add this extra element of drama to the story. The story does nothing to outline the ruthlessness of the Core, the force responsible for the transferance of concious to machines, and nothing to humanize the Arm, which is the rebellious faction fighting against this abomination. The mission parameters are outlined in detail in text form. The cutscenes throughout the solo campaigns were limited to mostly scrolling landscapes just before you entered a new mission that are narrated by a rather ominous voice sketching out the details of each individual mission. This is definately not a 'story' driven game. The Arm fought tooth and nail to maintain their freedom by constructing machines and cloning their populations. The civilians, unwilling to toss aside their bodies so casually, formed into a rebellious force named the Arm. The war began when the ruling body, a government ruled by science, decided that it was necessary for the 'immortality' of their race to transfer human concious, called 'paterning,' over to durable machines. You begin the game entering a war that has raged over a million worlds, and lasted 4000 years. These add-ons include completely new solo missions and a nice range of new muliplayer maps. Disc 2 is needed to play the solo campaign missions, and Disc 3 contains the two add-on packages called The Core Contingency, and Battle Tactics. Disc one installs the complete collection of multiplayer maps, as well as the initial solo campaign, and is necessary for playing skirmish mode (multiplayer maps with computer opponents). Installation is easy and works flawlessly. Along with all the available 3rd party maps and units available on the internet, replayability is guaranteed. It is exciting, fast paced, and has many more units than most games in this genre which make replayability that much more enjoyable. This game has everything you can want in the 'gather resources, build up your empire, conquer thine enemy' approach to gaming. If you are a fan of RTS (Real Time Strategy) games, then look no further. Total Annihilation: Was it worth the wait? Real Time Strategy game set in a galaxy far far away. Total Annihilation: Gold Edition for Macintosh The Mac Observer-Review - Total Annihilation: Was it worth the wait?

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