It happened, to a small extent in Heroes of Might & Magic 3. It happens big-time in Total Annihilation: Kingdoms.

The story concerns four immortal warlords, children of a god-like wizard who split his lands between them and then disappeared. They’re the usual Central Fantasy Casting folks: an Arthurian king and sea-sprite ocean queen, both of whom are good; and a dark mage and elfin nature warrior, who are evil.

All would be well, we are told, as long as nobody went using magic for the wrong purposes. Gee, ya think, with an evil mage and warrior running around, somebody might break the rules? Ayep. The dead start rising from their graves, and soon it’s good versus evil.

Unfortunately, it’s good versus evil without allowing the player to choose a side. Instead, a series of missions is played for one monarch, and abruptly the player is commanding the opponent’s armies elsewhere. It destroys the suspension of disbelief absolutely essential for fantasy worlds.

It also doesn’t help that the game is slow getting to its real-time strategy roots; that is, building resources and raising armies to pound the snot out of the opponent. Instead, the adventure starts with several series of escort missions. Just like…

Yeah, just like Myth and Myth 2. Which did this so much better, especially considering TAK’s top-down view as opposed to the fully 3D world of the Myth games. It’s a comparison that veteran gamers won’t be able to shake, and it cheapens the TAK experience.

These failings overwhelm what is a competent and easy-to-use engine. This is a solid game in a territory (swords-and-sorcery fantasy) not so often explored in RTS. But it bears the name Total Annihilation, a standout in its own right, and so is forced to meet a higher standard than it can.

Folks new to the RTS scene should get this one, if only to compare to the Warcraft and Myth series. Veteran RTS fans will want to let the Kingdoms fade into the mists of history.