Cavedog’s underdog never had a chance to be appreciated.
You may be wondering what on earth T.A Kingdoms is. This is because it’s an old game which didn’t quite make the hall of fame, but – in weasel words – many players who played it, adored it (me being one of them). T.A Kingdoms was a victim of the Sequel Curse and it could not meet the standards of its predecessors…
Total Annihilation (without the ‘Kingdoms’) was an award winning game, and sadly left Kingdoms with a high standard to surpass (and it seemingly failed). What doesn’t aid morale was the fact that Cavedog – the game’s creators – released the game in 1999 but collapsed the next year. The game was a popular one in its day, but was never as impressive as its older brother.
Digressing from the history lesson, there are 3 methods of play: Story mode, The Machine and Multi-player. T.A Kingdoms is an RTS, so one must expect to be bossing a few troops about.
The Story Mode presents the 4 Monarch Offspring of Garacaius, all of whom wish to dominate the land of Darien. Charmingly, the Offspring each represent one of the 4 Classical elements of constitution: Earth, Fire, Water & Wind. You get a chance to test out all of the factions, dictated by the way the story is being told. You basically follow the story, but it’s up to you to play and complete each scenario. Each level gives you one particular task, and a wide assortment of units to bear your will in their own specified way. The story is narrated beautifully whilst neo-classical static artwork helps stimulate your conceptual neurones.
The Machine simply lets you select any of the 4 sides and play against A.I., a maximum of 7 to a map – although there is a cap on certain maps. This is just as exhilarating as the story, although the maps alter choices greatly. For example, the Veruna (water) faction is the only side with a decent fleet, so one is inclined to choose them on a particularly hydrophilic level.
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The Multiplayer is like The Machine, except with real players. In its day, the ‘boneyards’ (as the servers were called) would have been thriving with players voracious for a skirmish. Sadly, when Cavedog collapsed, so did its prestigious boneyards. One can still find multiplayer servers on hosting sites such as Gamespy Arcade.
At times, Cavedog have put their gaming nous to good use.
Gameplay is one that requires constant attention and scheming; experimenting with building a beautiful kingdom is sure to have you be trounced by your bloodthirsty foes. One of the biggest boons in a game is to get as much Mana as possible. This can be achieved by creating ‘Lodestones‘ on Sacred Stones, scattered around the map. More Mana = quicker building time. The speed at which you build is essential for triumph! The Mana concept is a controversial one, and makes the game seem a little like disorganised Age of Empires.
Different troops cost Mana. Although you can create any unit from your faction at any time with the right conjurer, there are more powerful troops that cost more Mana: so will you be conservative or an absolute powerhouse? Troop-wise, there are some that are suited to different tasks or terrains, such as ones that can walk on land, fly, or travel by sea (some can do more than one). There’s a creative variety of dragons, mages, scouts, ships, soldiers and beasts. Each side has one Holy Dragon, a powerful unit indeed, although the tremendous amount of Mana needed to conjure such a monster isn’t at all worth the small amount of health the vogue units have.
For a game released in 1999, the games Graphics are rather disappointing. Terrains are noticeably 2D and although there is a little effort to distinguish mountains from grasslands (by making the two inaccessible via each other unless using a certain pathway), your troops will generally seem superior to the monotonous terrain with little satisfaction. There are a few glitches, and some troops look absolutely nothing like their icon art. As pretty as the post-Mannerist portraits of your minions are, their in-game appearances are no where near as alluring.
Jeremy Soule was the composer of the first Total Annihilation game and was again employed for T.A Kingdoms. His pseudo-medieval compositions match the atmosphere of the game perfectly. Mr Soule was aware of the rivalling elements, and composed different themed tracks for each – all the while keeping that medieval personae. It is a shame he didn’t compose very much! It is also a real shame that frivolous sound effects maim Mr Soule’s endeavours, and the gaming experience over all. Whenever a battle commences – and this could be the simple contact of an arrow to a tower’s wall – a harrowing chinese symbol is smashed. You scan your map in a scramble, only to realise how unneeded that audacious alert really was.
Indeed, this game needed a liberation from its undeserving popularity cesspool. Impartially, this has been done. At times, Cavedog have put their gaming nous to good use. In few a few cases, they did a half-arse job of it; and these glitches became an annoying depreciation. Whatever the conclusion, Total Annihilation certainly provided me with a memorable gaming experience, and I would definitely recommend it to anybody wishing to re-live it.
The Bad: Landscapes are messy.; Sounds are annoying and intrusive.
 
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Silver Y Award