Total Annihilation: Battle Tactics

After the wondrous Core Contingency expansion disk for TA brought a flood of new units and missions, the latest mission disk for Cavedog's classic real-timer is just that -a mission disk. Battle Tactics offers you a choice of 100 new missions, ranging from quick five-minute rucks to massive hour-sapping epic clashes - all of which are preceded by a few hints and tips. Newcomers will benefit most from this package, as many of the missions are quite easy to complete. Seasoned TA fans are sure to pick up a few hints along the way, but nothing they wouldn't really find at one of a dozen websites.

The good thing about most of the missions is that they offer a different challenge to the usual ones where you basically have to build up a base and then go a-twatting. Staying alive is your main concern, and it makes the game feel a lot more action-oriented than it did before. TA has now gone pick-up-and-play, understandably, at the expense of any deeply involving storyline.

Multiplayer fans will find six new maps to get their teeth into, as well as four new units. But as you can download them for free from, it makes Battle Tactics feel a bit light compared with Core Contingency, especially if all you're after is extra spice for your deathmatching sessions.

In short, Battle Tactics is hardly an essential purchase. If you're starting to tire of TA, there's little here to drag you back for more. For the single player though, keen for some quick action or just wanting to brush up on real-time skills, this should keep you happy for quite a while to come.