One of the biggest improvements to the original Command and Conquer series was not better looking graphics or a few new units; it was the inclusion of a third playable race. Command and Conquer 3 was absolutely entertaining, but many players were disappointed by the shortened campaign mode for this new race. Gamers had high hopes for the inevitable expansion pack to rectify this issue and expand upon this mysterious race. Unfortunately, the first Command and Conquer 3 expansion pack doesn’t cover any of these issues. While it is fun to play, many people will agree that the developers unfortunately “dropped the ball” on this issue.

Command and Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath story is really convoluted because the storyline jumps through three different time periods. The first act deals with what happened between the second and third Tiberium War. The second act deals with the events that happened during the third war. The last act tells the story of what happens after the conclusion of the third game. Many players will find this jumping around to be confusing and hard to follow what is going on. This is especially true with the first act, as many people have not played Command and Conquer 2: Tiberium Sun in years.

The flames of war will wipe the Earth clean!

This game has a few different modes to partake in: campaign, skirmish, multiplayer, and Global Conquest. Campaign mode takes place over thirteen NOD-only missions in the different timeframes mentioned earlier. The problem is that most of the missions are very repetitive and get stale quickly. The only thing that saves this mode is the great live action cutscreens by Joe Kucan, in his role of Kane. While the other actors do a respectable job of carrying the story, Joe Kucan really fleshes the story out and makes players want to play through the entire campaign in order to find out what happens next.

Skirmish mode allows players to instantly jump into a game, and choose as any of the game’s factions or sub-factions, to get their Command and Conquer fix. As always the multiplayer mode for this game really shines, because of the fast paced action that this series is known for. The only thing that is slightly disappointing is the lack of new multiplayer modes. Players will find delight in playing with the new factions, but this game would have benefited from some new modes.

Global Conquest is a Risk style game where player’s goal is to capture the entire world, one city at a time. Players move in turns going to each city and trying to “persuade them” to come on their side. If another enemy is currently occupying that city, the game shifts to a normal skirmish mode, where the winner gets to keep the spoils. This mode is a nice diversion from the rest of the game, and will have players staying up late at night just to capture “one more city.”

Always fighting over Tiberium.

The newest feature in this game, which is borrowed from Command and Conquer: Generals Zero Hour, is sub-factions.  Each of the three main fractions: NOD, GUI, and Scrin gets two sub-factions. Each sub-faction gets special units, upgrades, and support powers. For instance the two new NOD sub-factions are: Black Hand and Marked of Kane. The Black Hand relies on the heavy use of flamethrowers, but they do not have any air support. The Marked of Kane prefers to use hit and run tactics through the use of cyborg warriors equipped with EMP and Tiberium attacks. The other factions’ have slight differences in them as well; overall it is nice to have a little variety when selecting which faction to use for multiplayer.  

Just as in Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, the music and sound effects are great. The musical score always plays the right songs at the right time, which helps players overcome any obstacle that they are currently facing. The sound effects will have players thinking that they are in the midst of a real battle with the various explosions and heavy gunfire. The voices for all the units are also good, and many have humorous one-liners that spurt out when selecting them.

Command and Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath is rated Teen for animated blood, mild language, and violence.

The system requirements are as follows:
Windows XP or Vista (32 bit)
2.2 GHz or greater processor
512 MB of RAM
8X or faster CD/DVD drive
6.3 GB of disk space
64 MB Video Card
Direct X 9.0c

Gameplay: 7.8
Fans of the last game will feel right at home with this expansion as very little has changed, which remains one of the biggest problems with this game. The game has a very “been there done that” feeling to it, meaning there is no real innovation found throughout the game. This is almost a carbon copy of last year’s game with a very disjointed storyline.

Graphics: 8.7
The graphics engine for Command and Conquer 3 has aged nicely. Everything on the map is still chipped full of detail: from the character models and their animation to the bombed landscapes players will battle upon. I still enjoy the special effects as they are really a sight to behold, especially all the explosions going on at any given time.

Sound: 8.8
The music is really well done. It will help players maintain their determination when they are on the cusp of defeat to try to push back the enemy and regain their dominance. As always the voice work is done really well, especially in the cut scenes. Sound effects help round out this entire section of goodness with really well done explosions, gun fire, and more.

Difficulty: Easy
If you have played any of the previous Command and Conquer games then you will feel right at home here and understand what to do and get adjusted to the new things pretty quickly. Even though this is the case you will have difficulty in later campaign missions as they get hard quickly, but it is not too hard to the point where you feel the AI is cheating.

Concept: 6.8
This is where the developers really faltered with this expansion, while the new game mode is a nice addition, they relied too much on the past instead of looking at the future. Even the new sub-faction feature is an idea borrowed from one of their previous games.

Multiplayer: 8.6
The online support for Command and Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath is really well done. Getting on and playing online is really smooth and I didn’t have any issues playing online or even via LAN. EA has put in a lot of support for the original game, so players know that the support will continue and that there will be plenty more battles in the future for them to partake in.

Overall: 8.0
Command and Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath is a decent expansion that could have been much more. If you are a fan of the original game then this purchase is a no brainer, but many players will be disappointed with the lack of innovation. The developers stuck to what they know works and didn’t expound upon it. Having more play-time with the Scrin would have been a huge leap forward for this game, but alas this was absent. The ending left this game wide open for another expansion pack, so hopefully this is where the innovation for this series will wind up.