User Reviews (1 - 11 of 30)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

not up to TA or the hype

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: November 25, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Amazon's review is accurate. The gameplay rewards the hedghog. Strong points from TA remain (unit ordering, squad numbering, ...)but if that is all there is, then TA is a better buy/choice.

Cavedog should be ashamed...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 15, 1999
Author: Amazon User

While TA: Kingdoms is a good overall concept, it's the little concepts of the game that destroy it. Location mana stones can be built on are very limited, and guarding each one spreads your forces too thin. If you have a concentrated force guarding a mana stone, so what? A powerful wizard spell can wipe the force out in seconds. The dragons, "the most terrifying and powerful of creatures" fall all too quickly under half-decent defensive structures. If you're looking for a good RTS game, get the original Total Annihilation, as it still stands up in the genre. This one was sugar-coated, and over-hyped...it doesn't do any justice to the TA franchise.

Why TA:Kingdoms is a good game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: December 23, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I am a gamer, and I own every major RTS game since Age of Empires (including Tiberian Sun and Age of Kings), and let me tell you, TA:Kingdoms is one of the cream of the crop. The 3D graphics are the best of any RTS game ever, and so are the physics. The interface is very good, letting you do practically everything you could dream of with the click of a mouse and a couple key strokes. The sides are very different (second only to Starcraft), and the AI is very smart, with several interesting tactics up it's sleave. The support from Cavedog is second to none: downloadable maps, units, and huge patches (such as one which makes the game run much better on slower computers). Other companies make you buy add-ons to get this kind of stuff. One gapping error is the lack of a scenario editor, which I have to say is really unexcusable nowadays, but with good multiplayer support and a relatively long campaign, you can live with it. The worst Con, by far, is the system requirements. While the package states that you can play this game with a 233 P1, this is a very bad joke. You really need a P3 with 128 megs of RAM (unless, of course, you're willing to turn all the graphics options off). Overall, however, this is a definite winner: if you've got a real machine, and like RTS, buy this game.

The Good: Incredible graphics. Unbelievable physics. Great interface. Four very different sides. Good "humanistic" AI. Nice campaign. Very good support from Cavedog.

The Bad: No scenario editor. A HORRIBLE system hog.

Cavedog deserves a pat on the back!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: December 30, 1999
Author: Amazon User

5 words explain it all. "One of the best games!" Cavedog should be proud of Kingdoms. The only bad thing is its map editor. Otherwise a wonderful game. Even if you never heard of Total Annihilation, you'll love this game! The Crusaders Internet multi-player option is also good.

So-So Game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Maybe it's just me, but I would have liked this game more if it had more choices and would have allowed one to focus more on the creation of their cities. It's too war based, and I know a lot of people like that, but I like to be able to create somewhat of a notable empire, and it's hard to do that when you're being attacked every second. The graphics are very high quality for this kind of game, but I wish they would have offered more battlefields. There aren't too many and most of them are kind of bland compared to the few that are really good. It also would have been nice if there were more civilizations to choose from, and although there are some very creative creatures, it would have been better if there had been more. There are too few choices in general, and the actual strategy seems too simplified. I was very excited about this game, but unfortunately, I got bored of it much too quickly. Just to give you an idea of the kind of stuff I like... Hero's of Might and Magic and Civilization II... both of which I could play for days. This game did not measure up to these at all, beyond it's graphics, and I bored of it within a couple hours. It had/has a lot of potential, but unfortunately ended up to be a let down. Maybe if they made some ad-ons for it, it would be better, but then the strategy is still kinda too one dimensional.

Ok..... This is isn't what I expected

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: February 26, 2000
Author: Amazon User

What I expected was another Total Annihilation, but obviously I was at err, I don't know who made this game but if it was the original design team of TA then they were smoking somethin that made pretty colors dance across the screen. Ok, bottom line, TA kingdoms is by far the worst possible stradegy game ever! It is SO slow on my P2 450mhz computer( after I got about 50 units or so) it was ridiculas! I mean it was like watching your units walk through glue because the game slows down so bad, it took my little army of 30 units 15 minutes to reach the enemy base! Also 3D acceleration for this game is non-existent! In the original TA the computer cheated, but it wasn't to an extream sence, here they made it ten-fold! Whenever you aren't looking over the enemy's base, they make units in 3 seconds or less, they can make thousands of units with only one lodestone in place! its ridiculously IMPOSSIBLE in skirmish(when you are just getting your defences finished they will have those plus a 30+ army coming to attack your base) and just plain weird in campaign mode. Do not buy this game, buy the original TA, its WAY better, trust me. Avoid Kingdoms like it is a urine cup used to serve apple juice!

A Different View Makes This Game Rock!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I think that this game is awesome because it is soo different from games like TA. I love the fact that they used the medieval theme. If someone has a probelem with the game speed then maybe they should get a faster computer, defrag the hard drive, delete some of their other games, or get a faster computer. I have no problems with the game speed on my 533 megahertz pentium computer. Over all this game gets 5-stars from me partially because of its originality and also because of Cavedog's guts to try something new with the RTS genre. Way to go guys!

Not what I expected

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: April 19, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The game is extremely slow and boring. It takes forever to build up a formidable force. I thought it would be more like the original TA(which wasn't exelent). The good part is its 5 different forces as opposed to StarCraft's (which is a much better real time strategy) 3.

The Internet more than makes up

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: July 03, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Many people are coming off with a bad impression of TA:K. Yes, the game did seem unfinished at its initial release, but the online TA:K community more than makes up for it. You can get the units to make up for what the game initially lacked, and the player-made units are a lot of fun. There are even entire races that can be incorporated into the game.

Of course, if you're looking to buy TA:K, you should probably get Iron Plague while you're at it, and be sure to pick up as many Net add-ons as you can, since those are what really give the game the boost it needed.

In addition, the Multiplayer is fun, since you can go on the Internet and buddy up with another person. It's highly addictive to play with others, so if you get it, be sure to log on to the Boneyards.

Too generous?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: September 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is so bad I hesitate with my second star. I would categorize this game as a great concept ruined by a bad game. While the movies are great and the wide variety and impressive uniqueness of the different players is truly an accomplishement the actual gameplay is crap. For one thing the sides aren't evenly matched. Play Veruna with even a small body of water and its a gauranteed massacre of the other side. Play Zhon, on the other hand, and expect to spend 5 hours on a single game before deciding to give up. Amazingly, the expansion pack fails to correct this problem at all! The game is pathetically slow and worse, the somewhat baffling placement of mana makes it impossible to fortify yourself in a base. Furthermore (and there's more) the unlimited supply of bafflingly placed mana is in-exhaustible, so the computer builds anthropomorphic bases with defensive fortifications every two feet. Try and set foot in one of them and your army of 30 is dead in 3 seconds! 30 is also the biggest force you can ever truly hope to assemble, by the way, because to control more than that is impossible, flatly impossible! While you can group units, ordering a group is ill-advised because while you may order them to move to a certain location on the way if they're ambushed by the enemy they'll just keep walking and not even fight back until they're all dead. Tell them to attack the enemy and they kill the unit you clicked on and then just stand to be slaughtered by the rest. Even setting them to agressive mode does little to combat the problem. I prefer turn-based strategy anyway, but this is truly a new low. This game sucks, it sucks hard. Won't someone ever make us a decent strategy game thats not sci-fi?

Review Page: 1 2 3 Next 

Actions