After stepping away and coming back, it will often take several sweeping failures against an AI opponent set to Medium to get rolling again. A misplaced turret or building an expensive unit barracks you can't build fast enough see crippling returns with such immediacy, it punishes you into getting better each time. Mistakes in T&T cost so much more than, say, in Age of Empires. Like never before in an RTS, I learned to manage my resources to the utmost. You must remain constantly focused on the goal, on staying lean, agile, and putting no resource to waste. Tooth & Tail necessitates playing in scales of seconds or half-minutes. You cannot build up massive armies and keep them out of harm's way, hoping to eventually build enough strength to overwhelm the enemy. You can not prioritize economic gain and hoarding resources. In Tooth & Tail, you cannot approach games as even 30-minute grind fests.

You feel disoriented initially, blinded by the blistering pace of the AI until you realize something profound- the AI is not too fast or beefed up, YOU are playing too slowly. The third campaign level took me three times to beat. Having progressed through roughly a quarter of the campaign, but having spent several hours in multiplayer (splitscreen and online), I finally Having progressed through roughly a quarter of the campaign, but having spent several hours in multiplayer (splitscreen and online), I finally feel qualified enough to say this game is absolutely fantastic.

Ohmrecker tooth and tail