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KKND2 is, surprisingly enough, the sequel to KKND (Krush, Kill 'n' Destroy), a game released about 2 years ago and initially touted as the first "Red Alert killer". Well, it never really made it that far. It was a decent title by most standards, but it failed to truly demolish the already well accepted Red Alert. KKND2 is to KKND what Red Alert was to C&C. Using the same (or at least very similar) engine to it's predecessor, it adds in a wad of new units and buildings, new tilesets, and a completely new race, the "series 9" robots. Obviously if you liked KKND you will love this. However even if you didn't catch onto KKND (as most of us didn't) you may find this title somewhat more appealing.

The graphics are interesting to analyze in that they vary so drastically in quality. Most of the units are, to be honest, ugly. Infantry and small vehicles/animals in particular are poorly designed and have mediocre animation. The larger units are somewhat better, having more detail but the same average animation. In contrast to this the flying units are downright pretty, for a 2d game at least. While lacking the realism and fluidity of Total Annihilation's 3D models, the aerial units fly, circle, strafe, and land with an impressive display of 2D technology. The only real limiting factor appears to be that they have to land facing south, but this isn't a huge concern. Overall the flyers get a big thumbs up, but the rest of the units are a bit of a letdown. Buildings in general look ok, but are nothing special. Most are animated in some way, some are quite well drawn, but others lack detail. The terrain and tilesets are a completely different story. I make no exaggeration when I say that it is the most beautifully rendered RTS terrain I have ever seen. Every last tileset is a masterpiece, to the point where the ungainly units on top of it look severely out of place. Despite the terrain's attractiveness however it is also highly functional. High ground plays a major role, with the simple rule being that high can see low, but not the other way around. While your initial reaction may be to cringe at the simplicity of this system, it actually works extremely well in game terms. I found myself going out of my way to dropship troops and vehicles onto high ground simply for map control. Defenses laid on high ground are nigh-impossible to breach, whilst an artillery piece landing on high ground near your base spells big trouble unless you have plenty of air cover.

The sound effects are decent and functional, though not earth shattering. I should point out however that I have yet to play an RTS game where the sound effects have really impressed me. The music I thought was quite poor. It certainly wasn't out of place, but it never really inspired me or caught in my mind.

The single player game provides three campaigns, each consisting of a series of missions. Whilst non-linear in the sense that you have some choice as to the order in which you do them, it's pretty pointless since you have to do them all anyway. The missions are standard single player stock, nothing bad, nothing special. One thing I noticed about the missions was that they seemed to revolve around problem-solving more than tactics. There is a definite way to finish each mission, and it usually takes more than a few reloads to figure it out. Once you do however, it becomes a formality to run the mission to its end. Interesting for a while, but the lack of a continuous plot other than "Kill them all" makes it hard to maintain interest. One thing that is definitely worth a mention however are the mission briefings. These have to be some of the coolest looking, funny, and graphically impressive briefings I've seen. Using some new lip-sync technology, you are briefed by a full CG character with almost perfect lip-sync. The characters themselves usually have amusing attitude problems and are always fun to listen to. A classic briefing involved a Survivor Engineer named Hank briefing you on a group of stranded oil tankers. "Please bring back my babies!" He weeps as you are given the mission.

Multiplayer is an interesting experience with this game as there is a frightening amount of variety as to how games can turn out. Early rushing is VERY easy to do as basic infantry is capable of dishing out plenty of damage, but it is easily countered with a couple of cheap turrets and troops of your own. Infantry never loses it's place in the game, even though some late units can eat them like popcorn. High-tech units are not always the best units to use, though they can be devastating if used correctly. Air units play a very balanced support role, being extremely weak but being capable of attacking where no other unit can. Air transports become vital to dominating the map, and amphibious units are also a necessity on certain levels. Overall I thought KKND2 ran very well under multiplayer conditions, combining elements from many other games and balancing them well. No real originality though.

Resources can be gathered it two basic ways, the easy way or the hard way. The hard way involves finding an oil deposit, setting up a rig, and mining it in the same way as every other RTS game handles resource gathering. The easy way it to build resource generators, while basically sitting at the back of your base and spew out res units a la fusion plants from TA. Unlike TA however, you may only have 4 of each type of resource generators, so to get the edge economically you must harvest oil as well. I found the balance between unlimited resources and finite, low-tech resource gathering to be very good, both type of resourcing are required to succeed.

Lastly, the basic engine, or "feel" of the game. More than any other RTS game out there KKND2 plays FAST. Units in general have low armor and kick out high damage, especially infantry. This results in quick, intensely bloody battles that are determined literally in seconds. A massive mob of 100 infantry meeting an equally powerful ground unit will result in mutual annihilation within about 5-10 seconds. Most units are fast movers over land, so getting to an opponent's base is usually no problem either. I found this was fun for keeping the game moving, but did inhibit any sort of micromanagement to affect the outcome of battle. Retreat from a battle in progress will nearly always result in you losing everything.