Total Annihilation: Kingdoms - Gameplay

Gameplay

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

• A more in-depth storyline, told with cutscenes between missions just as Total Annihilation had, but with more detail.

• A change from a futuristic setting to a fantasy setting.

• 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.

• Simplified resource-management, with just one resource (mana) instead of two (metal, energy).

• Four sides at the start, as opposed to the original's two, with an expansion pack that added in a fifth.

• While the original Total Annihilation had players playing through the Core or Arm campaigns separately, Total Annihilation: Kingdoms switched between the four groups, players playing each side, as the levels progressed.

• Unlike the original Total Annihilation which had most of the units on its two factions virtually the same, other than in appearance, Total Annihilation: Kingdoms had very distinct characteristics between factions.