Well, I got done with most of the main campaigns for Core / Arm in the original.

The Core Contingency stuff is annoying. Particularly the hail storms on the ice world. Get one of those in your base early, and it's over. Can't remember how many times I wound up restarting some of the ice world missions simply due to hail storm timing. I think it's more annoying to just get some eaerly unit production going, then get hit with the storm because at that point, you have actually invested a decent amount of time in the mission.

All in all, I really don't think it's as good as some of the other RTS's of its age.

Some of the units in the Core Contingency are just bad. Minelayers seem useless. Sumos are just pathetic: too slow, too short ranged, and too slow a firing rate.

Also, the more I've played the game, the more I've come to the conclusion that the AI cheats on things like radar jamming. Had way too many games where I put some jammers out, have no AI fly overs, and the jammers get popped.

If I could make the decision again, knowing what I do now, I probably wouldn't have purchased this thing.

You can check the different player's line of sight by using the cheat code '+view #', whereas 'x' is the number of the player starting with 0.

Yes, the AI is horrible.

Also, the mission design is bland, the soundtrack doesn't work properly, units don't hold position etc.

It might be better than most 1997 titles, but not worth 5 stars. Tell that the fan-boys in the review-section.

True, but the AI bases can also get hit by them. Such as? The only one I can think of that I would put in the same ballpark at the time was Dark Reign. The UI was inferior though, even if it had some neat ideas (such as morphing and the phase transport). The mines are generally too expensive, although the nuke one can be quite nasty if positioned right. They're good at stopping rushes, but for offense on the Core side you're best off with the Morty and Goliath backed up by Copperheads\Slashers. Can't say I've had that happen, although radar jammers have a tiny LOS so it's best to keep them well protected because they will be sniped from outside their visual range. Sorry to hear that you disliked it, although I think you can do a lot worse for $6. SP isn't the game's strength at any rate, try some AI mods in skirmish like the Switeck one, or find online matches using the PhoenixWorx\GameRanger clients. Failing that I don't know what to tell you - perhaps C&C3 is more to your liking? Or Starcraft 2?

Personally I spend more time playing TA's spiritual successor, Supreme Commander (with the Forged Alliance expansion) these days. You can probably pick it up at retail or on Steam just as cheap as TACP is here. THQ dropped official multiplayer support but Steamworks and the Forged Alliance Forever client provide good substitutes.