Story

There better be a story this time

One of the major criticisms of TA was, like Quake, it was more of an engine demonstration than a single player experience. The TA back story was passable, but that's about it. The entire manual for TA-- which included over 250 units-- was a 20 page CD cover booklet!

That's not Zeus

Hey, an airship

This time, Cavedog spent a lot of time fleshing out the universe. Inside the box, you'll find a large 83-page manual titled "The Chronicles of Darien" which even includes a fold-out poster of the fictional continent of Darien. The story revolves around the four fictional children of the god-like Garacaius, all powerful wizards, each aligned with one of the archetypal elements-- earth, air, water, and fire. Logically, this translates into four distinct "races" in the game itself, all with units loosely related to their element, but very different from the other races. Did I mention that another criticism of the original Total Annihilation was that the two races were very similar? Anyway, these four children end up dividing and ruling Darien as Monarchs-- until someone starts getting greedy. Go figure.

Tons of cannons

Invasion of the giant bugs

We like movies

The story is actually very well executed, with cutscenes rendered before each mission in a consistent medieval style. The 48 mission campaign alternates between each of the races depending on what is happening in the story. In almost every campaign the "good" sides of Water and Earth are pitted against the "evil" sides of Fire and Air, but there are some interesting rescue, rebellion, and survival missions to spice things up, and several twists to the story. I appreciated the ability to play the story from each of the sides, so gamers can get experience with each race as the game progresses. Further, equal time is given to showing that the so-called "evil" elements of Fire and Air are acting with what they consider perfectly reasonable motives.