Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
Review
A lackluster add-on with a brilliant twist
by Sergio Brinkhuis
reviewed on PC
Jumping around
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars hit PCs this time last year. When it did, no one in his right mind would have called it a groundbreaking title. The game was a culmination of its predecessors, offering tried and true gameplay that had worked for the series since its inception well over a decade ago. Some found this lack of innovation disappointing and had hoped for something new and refreshing. Yet most of us were so wrapped up in Tiberium Wars’ fast-paced action that we hardly noticed at all. I was part of the latter group, and still am. Electronic Arts must have thought “There’s more where that came from!” and slapped together what seems to be a hastily created add-on.
Big, bigger, biggest!
Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath isn’t quite sure what it wants to do for a storyline. The game has you jumping all over the Command & Conquer timeline and feels more like a ‘side quest’ than an actual story. As the name suggests, Kane is out for vengeance and world domination (isn’t he always?) and it soon turns out that you are an essential part of his plans. The ever charismatic Joseph Kucan is fun to take orders from, even for those who generally prefer to enter the field on the side of the good guys. If you don’t like working for him, you are in for a nasty surprise: the thirteen mission campaign revolves entirely around Nod. Playing through the missions will give you some insight into the Command & Conquer universe but it is perhaps the weakest storyline of any of the games in the series.
The amount of ‘commando’ missions in Kane’s Wrath can be a little upsetting to those who want to base-build and conquer the map. During the missions that you -can- base-build, the challenges set before you aren’t exactly inspirational. Veteran generals aren’t likely to break a sweat playing them. A handful of missions do offer a suitable challenge. These will definitely make you realize why you bought this add-on in the first place but two or three ‘moments of glory’ don’t make a good game.
As one would expect from an add-on, the gameplay hasn’t changed much at all. There are some new units that bring fresh tactics to the table, but in the end you will probably be building the same favorites that you built in Tiberium Wars. The exception to that rule should have been the new mega units. The first of these monstrosities that you will see appear on the battlefield is GDI’s MARV tank. This awesome piece of machinery is hard to destroy and nearly impervious to attacks from the air. The Nod Redeemer is a souped up version of an Avatar design and the Scrin can build the Eradicator Hexapod. Each of these are expensive to build, hard to destroy and infinitely useful. Or at least they would have been if their number had not been limited to just one at a time. By limiting their use, the game was obviously easier to balance but it would have been a lot more fun if there was a higher cap or no cap at all.
7.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
