Total Annihilation: Kingdoms

Total Annihilation: Kingdoms
Developer(s) Cavedog Entertainment
Publisher(s) GT Interactive
Producer(s) Ron Gilbert[1]
Designer(s) Clayton Kauzlaric
Programmer(s) Brian W. Brown
Composer(s) Jeremy Soule[2]
Series Total Annihilation
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s) June 25, 1999
Genre(s) Real-time strategy (RTS)
Mode(s) Singleplayer, Multiplayer

Total Annihilation: Kingdoms or TA:K is a medieval fantasy real time strategy game created and released by Cavedog Entertainment on June 25, 1999. While it was the last major title from Cavedog Entertainment, an expansion pack, The Iron Plague, was released in 2000.

Plot

Four sibling monarchs struggle for domination of the land of Darien: Elsin of Aramon, Kirenna of Veruna, Thirsha of Zhon and Lokken of Taros, following the disappearance of their father, Garacaius.

Gameplay

Differences

Total Annihilation: Kingdoms is the anticipated second installment of the Total Annihilation franchise. Although the game is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the original Total Annihilation game, comparisons between the two games are inevitable. There are numerous thematic and design differences between Total Annihilation and Total Annihilation: Kingdoms.

Aspects

Players must seek out lodestones to build mana tapping structures on, getting the renewing energy to build structures and units with.

Players can choose between the original game balancing or the "Crusades" balancing, which was added in after feedback from online play, it allowing defensive structures to do more damage against most tier 1 units to prevent rushes. They can also choose whether to end the game after their opponent's monarchs is killed, or to keep playing until all of their enemy's units and unit producing structures are destroyed. Up to eight players can be in a game, either human players or game AIs.

Additional units were created and freely released by Cavedog after the game was released, as well as additional maps and scenarios.

Multiplayer mode

With the shut down of Cavedog, TA:K cannot be played online through the game's multiplayer option. For that, there are several other Total Annihilation: Kingdoms servers worldwide. Up to 8 players can play together at a time either on teams or against one another. This mode of the game also enables scripting (mission-type games in multiplayer) to be played.

The Iron Plague

On March 6, 2000, shortly before Cavedog's collapse, an expansion pack was released titled The Iron Plague. The premise of the sequel continued the storyline of the lost father of magic, Garacaius. Believing that magic was a source of conflict, Garacaius fled his kingdom and founded a new empire based on science and engineering, as opposed to magic. This new empire, Creon, quickly dominated the neighboring provinces and absorbed the knowledge of their conquests. Garacaius himself died, but the elected ruler of Creon (in a steam-powered robotic suit) eventually led the kingdom on a crusade against magic and the magical sibling rulers of Darien. The expansion pack added an entirely new faction to the game (the science and engineering kingdom of Creon), as well as hundreds of new maps and entirely new graphics for map tile sets. It included the newest patch for the game, although anyone could freely download this from the official site.

Reception

References

  1. "Let Sleeping Dogs Die". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. 28 February 2000. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  2. http://www.discogs.com/Jeremy-Soule-Soundtrack-From-Total-Annihilation-Kingdoms/release/4293479
  3. IGN review
  4. Cnet review on 07/02/1999
  5. Cnet review on 03/03/2000
  6. "Total Annihilation: Kingdoms Review - PC Games - CNET Reviews". Reviews.cnet.com. 2000-03-03. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
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