Total Annihilation: Kingdoms

The Good
Re-played some 4 years after it first came out, this game holds up surprisingly well when viewed in comparison to more recent offerings. Anybody who likes Warcraft III or Age of Mythology will still find plently to enjoy with this game, and it's somewhat amusing to contemplate how original this was when it came out, but was not recognized as groundbreaking, yet so many follow in its footsteps and are praised. It also caught a lot of criticism when first released because frame rates suffered unless details were dialed down, whereas today almost any computer still in service will allow full detail in the graphics which are obviously dated, but still look pretty good.

The Bad
The 'top-down' view is almost literally straight down, and a little more angle would improve the realism. Micromanagement of the details is slightly fiddly at times, but this is true of many games in the genre and is part of managing your strategy and staying actively on top of things.

The Bottom Line
As much a spiritual predecessor of Warcraft III as was Warcraft II. Underappreciated in its day, there is still a lot to like in playing this amusing Real Time Strategy game in a Fantasy setting.