...than THIS game would beat old TA by miles. But it doesn't. Why is this so? Basically, TA:Kingdoms is a slowed down version of the original TA with more factions,way better graphics but less resource management and less fun. The factions are not balanced well against each other, as are the units. Theres a faction relaying mostly on swimming units - so when theres no water, theres half of your army useless... The units are not well balanced: as soon as you get ranged units, you will build only them, because in masses, they beat melee fighters 4 to1 if not better. And it will be only unit masses in mid- to endgame. But the worst is: compared to old TA, there is no "to and fro", the fighting is not dynamic. The units behave like zombies, one after another in a row slowly shambling across the landscape... Were it not for the good music, the very good graphics and the name .. hey, there's TA in it.. I wouldn't have bought it back then and wouldn't recommend it now. Which I don't, in fact.. buy it and take this as an example how small changes in game design can ruin most of the fun and the dynamic - and that good graphics doesn't equal fun.
...promised us Microprose around 1992 - and they delivered ! What a game this is! It believably blends the "real world" with a world, where monsters, demons and saints do really exist. There is actually a (rather small) background story - it is embedded loosely in (german) medieval lore - the devil himself is about to enter the world of the living, the wild hunt is on the prowl and you are the only ones to fight against a dark future. At your 4 person parties disposal is a very wide variety of weapons like swords, pickaxes, (cross)bows, and even very early versions of black powder rifles; alchemy plays a big role, since you can cook and brew your own acid-bombs, tar-traps, firebottles.. even the Saints are there to be called upon and help you. It offers kind of a "sandbox" gameplay, where you could explore the dungeons, kill evil knights, slay wyrms, burn witches and punish dark priests everywhere when YOU want it. The world around you acts in "real time", some evil events plague a region just for some time and are gone when it takes you too long to arrive. Even your party members age over time!!! If you hire an older character, she/ he will most likely have better combat values than a younger one, but after reaching a certain age, those values will decline rapidly. So if you take your time to do many sidequests, explore most of the world of medieval germany, you will most likely have to replace your older party members by younger ones - which is a nice way to let the players know that the programmers do not like overpowered mega-characters ;) The graphics have aged, yes. The map on which you travel around by clicking around the landscape wasn´t a beauty even then ;) The real time battles are scarcely animated, but functional. You can pause at any time, select the weapons, fighting style (!) and enemies by clicking on them, explosions, gas or tar fields are animated and shown on the battlefield. So, I would say, very good for a game that is not a RTS game at it´s core. But the hand-painted (!) watercolor-background pictures are still a sight to look at ! Allthough the sidequests are getting from mid-to endgame a bit repetitive, the game offers many (and for a game from that time unrivalled!) options of what to do next. I own both the 3,5" and 5,1/4" versions of this game and I am still in awe because of the work of detail that went in creating the manual, the map and - THE GAME itself! Play it, if you can spare a few hours just to get "into" a game. You will be rewarded!
To say that you HAVE to play "Betrayal at Krondor" is like saying you HAVE to read a good fantasy novel or listen to good music. Of course you do not need to... But if you are into some of the things that make life a little more colourful at times.. BaK offers both - story and music- , since R. Feist (author of the Riftwar-legecy and other) wrote the storyline and helped with character developement, and the programmers added some really epic music to accompany you through Midkemia (the "World" of BAKrondor). I have to admit, BaK was my first real big RPG. I played it around ´95. At first, I thought "WHAT THE...??" as I saw the graphics.. Non-textured triangular polygons were the "trees", while a brown line at the middel of your screen was your "path"?! Well, ain´t you an ugly one?! This was a total contrast to the finely drawn intro and the character portraits. But after I got a little used to it, my mind filled in the missing details, while the music and story began to tie me to my PC. I couldn´t stop playing -discovering unknown places, feeling as if I was treading forbidden paths all the time, battling and looting enemies, all the while developening my characters step by step... Wow, this was (and still IS) pure RPG greatness !! BaK offers a VERY detailed world, with its own culture, own dieties, own style of people, politics and so on, and that is because it is based on Feist´s best selling novels. It makes the world very believable, almost palpable, not like most modern RPGs, where a new universe is created from scratch within a few hours and everything feels just like a hollow facade.. And then there were the riddle-chests... Next to the road you could sometimes find treasure-chest sealed with a riddle-lock and a rhyme engraved on the front-plate. If you guessed right, what the rhyme was telling you (and typing the answer into the riddle-lock), the loot was yours :) I have never before - and NEVER AGAIN- seen my parent show interest in a computer-game of mine before. But the riddle-chests : "Son, you got another riddle for me to solve?!" :D :D Just plain awesome, like a game inside a game! So, you can ignore this game, your choice! But he who has never tasted a good wine can´t tell a good vintage from goat-piss. Ah, there is "Betrayal at Antara" in this package, too... Well, let´s say. it is like BaK WITHOUT all things that made BaK great (story, music, riddle chests) but instead with better graphics. Saddening.