Posted on: November 12, 2012

[todd disliked that]

Games: 54 Reviews: 3

My personal favorite RTS

A couple of years back I found TA:K in a bargain bin for 3 dollars so I decided to buy it. I found it to be quite possibly the most fun, well balanced, and interesting RTS'es I have played. The game-play is heavily strategic in which you need to construct builder units to make structures. These units require a barracks in order to produce. But, like any good RTS, TA:K made a system where you need to build these structures in mana hot-spots called lodestones. You can build without mana but it's so slow it's practically suicide. You can play as one of four kingdoms each of which has a special ability. The kingdom of Zhon are very good at massing units but have practically no defensive structures. The kingdom of Veruna are very good at producing sea based units but lack in land unit production. The kingdom of Taros are fantastic at building offensive units but lack in defensive units. The kingdom of Aramon are great at building defensive structures but lack in offensive units. These kingdoms are balenced to accustom your play style. If you like making a fortress to protect your precious lode stones then go with Aramon. If you prefer to zerg rush it, then go with the kingdom of Zhon. And if you get bored playing the very smart computer (i'm still getting my ass kicked by the AI) then there is still a thriving multi-player community. Sadly the makers of TA:K, cave-dog studios, have shut down so there official multi-player service is gone which means you'll have to play on a server. If you even have the slightest tinge of strategy then you MUST play Total Annihilation: Kingdoms!

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Posted on: November 10, 2013

TAK_Sage

Verified owner

Games: 10 Reviews: 1

TaK: The New Era Expansion Project

Have you guys heard about this outstanding mod? It makes tak a great game with 4 tiers finished and pretty well balanced. All 5 races have melee, range, air, water, and structures that beats any RTS game now in days. Fun doesn't equal graphics but game play does. You can achieve great land, water, and air fights with this mod. Comes try it at: kingdoms.heavenfourm.org. You won't be disappointed. 4.2 is the latest version and it is currently under progress. The creator of this mod has also released a map pack with 51 maps, all taken from the Book of Darien and Iron Plague campaigns in result with 2-8 player battles with grouped manas spreaded all over these great terrains. You can find both the mod and map pack at: kingdoms.heavenforum.org.

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Posted on: December 7, 2016

JoachimBeinhart

Verified owner

Games: 357 Reviews: 8

The begining of Cavedogs downfall.

TA Kingdoms (even with the Iron Plauge Expansion) is a under par experience for gamers, who knew and love the original TA. The "fantasy" setting, the lack of different units, the slow paced and boring gameplay and only one rescource makes this game not worth playing. If you found TA to be fun, the do yourself a favor and steer away from this mess.

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Posted on: November 13, 2014

sandro88

Games: 69 Reviews: 2

One of my most loved games

Well, after many years I still have it on my PC and play it from time to time. It has it's own charm and on my opinien very under-rated.

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Posted on: December 11, 2024

xerxespersrex

Verified owner

Games: 245 Reviews: 2

Excellent game, but a little unstable

I've been playing this game since I was a small child. It was one of the first PC games I installed on my own computer from CD-ROM, and I played countless hours upon hours against the computer, and even some games online in the 2010's using various third-party online clients. I think the fantasy setting, the asymmetrical gameplay, and the beautiful graphics are all amazing and stand out for its time. The gameplay feels crisp, and there's lots of varieties to the units and races. The expansion pack is included here, adding a fifth race to all game modes and a new fun campaign to play. There's also a map maker included in the install directory (Cartographer) which lets you make custom maps for multiplayer rather easily and quickly. The game does have its faults, however. The controls are a little counterintuitive compared to giants in the field like StarCraft for example, and there are situations where the asymmetrical gameplay makes some races highly, highly favored over others depending on the map layout. For example, playing Aramon on an island map is torture, since you have very few units that can effectively cross water or do battle not tethered to walkable land in general. My main gripe has been my gripe with the game for the past 20 years: it's pretty unstable. Alt-tabbing out of the window, or even pressing the wrong button on the multiplayer screen, will freeze the game or crash it to desktop. Ironically, the older Total Annihilation is more stable on modern computers than TA:K is. This isn't GOG's fault at all, though I wish that this game, or at least Total Annihilation, would be adopted by the Good Old Game preservation efforts to keep the games stable on modern computers. Overall, I think for the price this game is sold at on here, it's a great game to pick up. Just make sure when you sit down to play that you're prepared to play for a long while without alt tabbing, or to save very often, as there will be crashes at some point while playing.

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Close, but not an exact hit

Total Annihilation: Kingdoms + Iron Plague

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