Total Annihilation: Kingdoms Critic Reviews

Far from being a fatal flaw, however, this lack of definition is sporadically encountered and can be viewed as a minor annoyance and is, in fact, somewhat offset by impressive designs of larger non-human units, such as ships or flying machines.

The only problem I had with the game was the lack of the ability to easily reclaim your own buildings and units. Total Annihilation had the option, but it's missing in Kingdoms.

A rare example of an RTS game that's a much more satisfying single-player experience than a multiplayer one. I doubt we'll see anything like the huge groundswell of online fandom and support that its predecessor earned, but solo strategists will still have a whale of a time.

Where TA offers a slew of different unit types for some traditional, hardcore warfare, TA:K goes the fantasy route with fewer units and buildings and a better story. TA:K is much more like "Starcraft" in its approach to strategical combat, the balance of different units types and gameplay that features varied experiences through the different sides.

Though Kingdoms addresses all of the original criticisms of Total Annihilation, it continues to suffer from extremely high system requirements.

I have no doubts about TA:K's entertainment value. Yes, it is a reincarnation of a two-year old game system (with radically different gameplay, I must emphasize) with various problems, and the innovation may no longer be there, but the fun certainly is.

A solid entry in the field, neither disappointing nor surprising me. I had fun with it, but it certainly won’t eat into my Tribes time. In the end, if you’re tired of Warcraft or the latest C&C expansion has lost its flavor, this is a pleasant alternative.

With a great background story and good graphics this is definitely one of the more fun games I have played in recent times.

All right, so the gameplay isn't that far removed from the standard RTS fare but Kingdoms is fresh enough thanks to the unique setting that it gets away with it.

Kingdoms doesn't blow open the walls of the RTS genre, it just bends them outwards a bit.

If the fact that RTS gaming isn’t that big this year and you’re jonesing for a fix, Kingdoms will do. Just don’t expect to be bowled over by it.

Personally I preferred Total Annihilation for its big guns and tanks and the larger range of strategic options, but this is an excellent effort by Cavedog to create a medieval version of Total Annihilation. A good solid strategy game which should provide weeks of multiplayer enjoyment, although I am disappointed in Cavedog for botching up their whole Direct 3D Mode.

A really good example of real time strategy. Maybe the best, but it didn’t do anything to revive my interest in a tired genre.

The real problem is that hand-to-hand units, when told to move to a particular location, will not attack anything until they get to that location. This means that if you tell a group to move to certain area, you must watch them every step of the way.

A potentially brilliant RTS title sadly damaged by a lack of polish, TA: Kingdoms is still a hugely entertaining experience if you have the hardware (and the patience) for it.

Cavedog's second game suffers from a long list of problems that collectively prevent it either from exceeding its ancestor or from rejuvenating a tired genre.

Kingdoms manages to present a lot of pretty scenery, rousing sound effects, and dynamite music, but it omits a foundation in adequate controls and unit AI. And without that, all the good looks in the world fall flat.

In the end, Kingdoms doesn't do much that we haven't already seen in the original TA. The strategy, the engine, and everything else is pretty much the same as it was a couple of years ago. While it's not bad on a really fast machine, it's still a standard real-time strategy game that just didn't make me want to spend $1000 upgrading my computer to make it run smoothly.