Customer Reviews

Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I generally do not like expansions. They used to be additions only very successful games got to have. Nowadays they are mostly the...other half of the game the publisher withheld when selling us half the original for $50! C&C:KANE's WRATH is a rare exception that brings new dimensions to an already great game!

Story-wise, although an expansion, this is somewhat of a prequel to C&C3-TIBERIUM WARS, as it is set on the history of NOD, starting off just after the 2nd Tiberium War and continuing well past the 3rd.
There is a big campaign comprising of 13 single player missions, new units and upgrades and a new (a la RISE OF NATIONS) Global Conquest mode, that can turn C&C3 into a Turn-Based game! What make this REALLY interesting are the six subfactions, each with its special units, strengths and weaknesses. Not to worry, all GDI, NOD and Scrin get their own off-shooting factions.
On the opposite ends of the spectrum, there is Reaper-17 (a Scrin sub-faction): with hard-hitting and powerful offensive options; and then there is Traveler-59 (also a Scrin offshoot): a much more devious faction that relies on mind control of humans (remember how much fun Yuri's Revenge? was). In between, GDI's (retro) Steel Talons and (futuristic) ZoCom and NOD's (mind-benders) Black Hand and (cyborgs galore) Mark of Kane.

Production of the new epic-units can tip the battlefield scales dramatically. Most are not only devastating but are pretty hard to take down too. GDI gets the MARV [Mammoth Armed Reclamation Vehicle], a souped-up triple-barreled tank; NOD gets the Redeemer, an augmented killer avatar; whereas, Scrin get the Eradicator Hexapod, a impressive six-legged mech.
Revamped units, such as the Shard Walker or the Reaper Tripod, or back-to-the-drawing-board units, such as the Prodigy or the Ravager all add to a renewed experience. Moreover, as a long-time C&C fan, I particularly enjoyed the reappearance of good-ol' units such as Titans and Wolverines on the side of GDI!

The graphics are beautiful, the physics detailed and the explosions and beam-weapons spectacular! Don't forget to turn on the volume on those speakers, because this is a total immersion experience.

As with the original: it misses the 5th star for fun because one cannot hold a battle formation while moving. As most units move at different paces (and although the AI has improved they keep bumping on each other), this results in the more agile, yet vulnerable, units having to face the enemy first - a short-lived sight... May be the next C&C (say, RED ALERT 3) could have some TOTAL WAR infused into it, with battle formations options.

If you are boycotting SecuROM you should know that it is the copy-protection used (nevertheless, it is the usual version used in the original C&C3-TW as well, coming nowhere near the BIOSHOCK RootKit madness!). I usually withhold at least one rating star because of such security inconveniences. However, I enjoyed the game so much that I was willing to overlook it. On the other hand, since it is important for a great number of Amazon customers, I have to mention it for the sake of a well informed decision.

Finally, be advised that this is an expansion and, yes, you do need the original C&C3: TIBERIUM WARS to play it. If you do not have it, take note that there is a pack available, including both original game and expansion (the prices fluctuate so make sure to get the best deal).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

I give this expansion pack 5 stars for story line, new technology units and overall fun. I give it 1 to 2 stars for technical quality. I have a Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 video card in the system I play Kane's Wrath on. I can play the game from 5 to 20 minutes at a stretch. It then crashes with a debug that ALWAYS references to the video or some type of graphic rendering. I downloaded a new driver from Nvidia that did help space out the crashes. My DirectX version and settings match up to what EA is suggesting to resolve the issue. As I said, all of this helps, but I am still getting A LOT of video related game crashes.

Your video card may not have a single problem with this game. I only wanted to post this review to offer my own experience. I am definitely NOT sorry that I bought this game despite the crashes. I hope to purchase a new computer (my system is a bit aged) someday which will run this game with no crashes. Until then, I will play it for what I can, hope for some patches from EA and just hold on to it in my library until that new computer graces my home desk.....

I am a big fan of the Command and Conquer series and was thrilled when the series returned to form with the release of Command and Conquer 3. The previous release in the series, Generals, did not work for me, as I missed the GDI and Nod conflict as well as the full motion video that had been staples of the franchise from the start.

Thankfully the series not only returned to form, but took the series in a bold new direction by combining all of the classic elements of the series with the latest in 3D graphics and an dynamic story told from the point of three factions including the brand new alien Scrin faction.

With the success of Command and Conquer 3 and the pending release of Red Alert 3, E.A. decided to release a new expansion to the game, Kane's Wrath which provides a brand new story arch for the Nod side as well as a host of improvements for multiplay.

The story spans more than twenty years and places players in the role of Legion, a minion of the enigmatic cult leader Kane who is placed in command of the armies. The missions are introduced by the use of full motion video sequences as well as in game messages that appear in the command bar.

With the story spanning the end of the second Tiberium War as well as the third war and beyond, the game cleverly gives players new missions, as well as expands on the back-story of some of the missions from the last game.

As is typical for the series, players must collect Tiberium and harvest it into currency in order to buy more structures and units to build and defend a base as well as an army to carry out the assigned missions. With a multitude of units available, players will have many options to choose from ranging from vehicles, planes, ground troops, specialty units, and the really big weapons which show up later in the game.

The campaigns are enjoyable and do offer some challenges even when played on some of the lower difficulty settings.

The inclusion of new units is always a selling point of any expansion pack in the series and Kane's Wrath is no exception. As well as new ground units, there is a new transport vehicle and a super unit called the Redeemer which has to be seen to be believed. This is not overkill, as the forces pitted against you have their own new super units and it will take skill to complete the missions as raw firepower alone will not do it.

One issue I had with the game that was a source of frustration was the fact that several times, despite clearing every enemy on the map, I was tasked with protecting/escorting a unit after reaching a specific point in the mission. Usually this is not a problem, but time and again, enemy units would appear out of nowhere before I could scramble or manufacture units to counter attack or defend.

I had to resolve this issue by returning to an earlier saved game and staging the area with appropriate defenses in anticipation of what was to come. While it does hamper with the flow of the game I was able to complete the missions but it was a pain having to prepare for what you know is coming instead of being able to react accordingly as threats arose.

The missions as stated are enjoyable and the final mission was a real challenge though it did not start out that way. It took some careful strategy and a few attempts before I was able to complete the task, but after doing so, I was happy to have my strategy pay off.

I would have liked to have seen more missions with the Scrin as they show up briefly in the game but I am sure fans of not seen the last of them.

The acting in the game is solid and it was nice to see Natasha Henstridge of the "Species" films as well as Carl Lumbly of Alias join the series as they really added well to the story as does the always good Joe Kucan who plays Kane.

Graphically the game shines as the 3D graphics and the ability to zoom in on a unit is almost as much fun as watching the tracks and damage units create on the landscapes as they travel.

The only real issue I had with the game other than the escort problem I mentioned above was path finding as units still got jammed up. More than a few times I had to remove one of my own buildings so harvesters would not spin in place and would take their precious cargo to my refinery so I could have the ever important funds to press on the fight.

Multiplay also shines in the game as players match up via the online service in the game and as a bonus, can now play some of the rogue factions in the game. Aside from playing Scrin, Nod, or G.D.I. options such as Steel Talons and various rogue factions are playable online.

In all, despite some glitches the game shines and continues the great legacy of Command and Conquer in style.

This expansion of Command and Conquer 3 it a whole new game on it self. The new global domination game style reminds me of a variation of RISK; where all three factions (GDI, NOD, and Scrin) battle it out for world domination. The single player missions are also quite enjoyable, taking you back to the end of the 2nd Tiberium war and having change to play with some great units of the past. All in all a must have for the collection, and definitely not just an expansion.

First off, if you only play C&C for the single player then buy the game, you'll like it. It's a little slower than Tiberium Wars, but not terribly. Also I cannot speak for the online gaming; haven't bothered with it but I hear it is flawed.

The main reason I give KW a low score is because network games that played just fine in TW no longer work in KW... a high number of games are plagued with a de-sync error that will not let you finish. Also, if you are buying for the Risk-like Global Conquest mode, don't bother... you are not allowed to play against humans as the manual implies.

So, months later the gamers are stuck waiting for a patch. EA has really bungled this one with an untested, rushed, buggy piece of junkware. They are not doing much to address the problem and their support # people are clueless. C&C is made for multiplayer, and this game does not deliver... I wouldn't even recommend C&C in the future based on this, and I've been a fan for many years. Westwood and even Blizzard did much better in the past.

I thought this game was a good addition to the main game C&C3. It gave a good back story to the main storyline and the game play was very good. I liked the fact that the units would get switched up on you throughout the game and thus making the need for new strategies. The only con there was, was that it was to short. It was only like 13 missions and only nod. There is a neat Global Conquest feature but its a little different. But over all I thought it was well worth it for the money, especially if you are a fan of the C&C games.

Even though I had owned C&C3 Tiberium Wars for quite some time, I had ignored this expansion as I really didn't want to spend any money just to get a few additional units and I never really liked epic (or hero) units in RTS games. It was not until I watched VODs and commentaries of some of Kane's Wrath top level games that I realized this was a totally different game than vanilla C&C3.

You should be aware of 4 major changes to Kane's Wrath economy :

1) Refinery cost has been increased from 2000 to 3000 credits.
2) Harvester health for Scrin and GDI factions have been reduced 50% (NOD harvesters were weak to begin with).
3) Capturing tiberium spikes now earns you 10 credits per second rather than 25.
4) Base expansion by crawling your base to the next closest tiberium field is no longer possible.

All changes made to existing units and the addition of new units to the game are really secondary to the changes in the economy as the flow of the game has changed dramatically. C&C3 TW was about eco-boom. Refineries were cheap, it was easy to expand. If you memorized an effective build order for each map you could outspam your opponent and create massive armies. Army composition mattered if 2 opponents of equal skill faced each other off but with so much money flow it was possible to create an army with anti-tank, anti-infantry and anti-air without scouting what your opponent had and you could win if numbers favored you. In other words, TW was a homage to classic C&C.

Kane's Wrath is less forgiving. The game flow is similar to Starcraft in the sense that the early to mid-game is usually focused on harvester harassment. Protecting your harvesters is critical as you are usually on a tighter budget and you won't be able to spam refineries and harvesters. It is tougher to recover from an economic setback. You have to put more thought towards the timing of your expansion and timing of your teching as both put you in a vulnerable position. Because your economy won't support as many production queues as TW did, scouting is crucial in order to gain enough time to set your counters up.

TW may be considered an action-RTS, KW on other hand is more competetive and suited to e-sports. Don't let that scare you, TW still requires more actions per minute because you are handling larger armies and you are building structures and training units constantly from a greater number of production queues. KW requires you to put more thought into what you are building and prioritize certain production queues or upgrades because the number of harvesters you have usually won't support them all simultaneously. KW tempo is slower than TW although the first 7-8 minutes are still faster than Starcraft 2 (because you start the game with money as opposed to harvesters) so it is no slouch.

Faction diversity in KW has increased. Each faction now has a hard hitting steamrolling sub-faction and a tactical finesse sub-faction. The downside is that the original factions have most of their weaknesses covered and they've become jack-of-all trades factions. For example GDI did not have good anti-air in TW, now they've got tungsten shell upgrades, slingshots and hammerhead helicopters garrisoned with rocket troops that never need to return to an airfield to reload. NOD has great artillery (spectres) now. The Scrin (and T-59 sub-faction) are still hardest to play because their weak Tier 1 (no tanks, no ranged infantry) has not been strengthened. The addition of the mechapede unit to all Scrin factions is useful but their Tier 3 was already very strong. Unfortunately with 9 factions and only 2 patches the game is far from balanced. Vanilla GDI and Black Hand are the stongest factions in the game. However if you approach the game with the intent of having fun rather than competition it really doesn't matter, there are no huge imbalances.

So you may be asking yourself why should you play this game when it's online community has dwindled to the point where you can only find games at weekends during peak hours whereas with Starcraft 2 you can find a game anytime ? Well, as most of you know, SC2 does not support LAN gaming so if you don't have the bandwidth for a 3v3 game with your friends, Kane's Wrath might be a better choice. KW is also a better choice for casual RTS gamers. The game has good depth but simpler macro mechanics than SC2 and the learning curve is not as steep. The micro mechanics are of similar difficulty to SC2 but a little more interesting (units can shoot while moving, garrisonable structures, tanks may reverse move) so it feels less static. KW maps are less campy as the maps are usually open (no elevated bases with single ramp) so turtling is harder but it is still a viable strategy, especially with NOD defenses. KW encourages heavy turtling only AFTER you set up your expansions because a single tiberium field won't support you for long. If you are used to walling off as Terran in Starcraft you may find KW difficult at first, but many urban maps (not used in official ranked ladder games) have clear choke points which may make the transition easier.

I would not suggest you buy this game if you only play campaign mode. Campaigns are scripted therefore you won't notice the major differences between TW and KW with linear, objective-based gameplay. If you play against skirmish AI, TW is more challenging because the faster pace and larger armies favor the computer. TW "rusher" or "guerilla" AI will easily launch attacks on you on 3 fronts so TW skirmish may feel more overwhelming. The slower pace in KW makes it easier to take advantage of the AI's weaknesses (harvester defense, unescorted engineers, expanding using vulnerable expansion vehicles only, love of superweapons) even though both games' AI share the same weaknesses within their core tactical logic. On the positive side, both games have multiple alternative build orders per AI personality so even though "turtle", "steamroller" and "balanced" personalities are easier to skirmish against, you may want to set the AI personality to "random" so you may practice scouting and map awareness.

After the C&C4 debacle it is possible that EA pulls the plug on the series. As such, this game deserves a spot in your library as the best C&C game in the long history of the series. Many may consider Red Alert 2 as the best, but that is because they grew up with that game. KW will age better over time. I still feel SC2 is the best RTS out there because it is the only game where all factions have completely different economies but KW is a very close contender to the crown!

By the time I purchased C&C3 I was totally addicted to C&CGeneralsZeroHour and I could not get use to new Tiberium Wars. However, time passed, Kane's Wrath expansion appeared and now I enjoy it very much.For me, it is not a perfect, but defintely the best RTS game I ever played.

AI is almost completaly predictable and playing constantly against computer quickly becomes boring. In skirmish mode, AI attacks with large number of mixed units usually without using any tactics (for example: pushing some 20 helicopters against anti-air defenses)depleting all resources.
On the other hand, online play is fun and often really challanging.In order to win 1vs1, player needs to be quick and have his eyes in every corner of the map (it means expanding base,detecting opponent's tactics and rushing squads - all at the same time). It requires skill.

Pros:
1. Well developed system of commands and controls. It allows player to implement tactics quickly.
2. Variety of avaliable units. There is plenty of different units with different abilities that gives player possibility of surprise attacks
3. Interesting economy. Player needs to gather "Tiberium" from the fields that may be depleted but gradually grows back again after time.
4. Very good graphics.
5. Variety of maps.In addition, many fascinating, unofficial maps are avaliable online.
6. Game runs very well. I never had a single crash.
7. Factions are relatively well balanced.
8. Global Conquest is a nice addition. However, comparing to other turn-based strategies (for example MedievalIITotalWar) in my opinion this part is underdeveloped.
9. Interesing story.

Cons:
1. Sometimes units fail to respond to order (for example Harvester running around like a retard and unable to provide income or MARV, blocked by some other units unable to move) It certainly needs a fix.

What I would like to see about C&C game is more advanced camera rotation. Possibility of observing army and base from every perspective (like in WorldinConflict)could be great addition to already great game. I just hope that recently announced C&C4 will have this type of improvement.

Though this may be a spoiler it's rather an explanation - the campaign is told entirely from Nod's point of view. It details behind the scenes events and leads up to another sequel at the end.

Is it fun? Yes. Is it oh-my-god-this-is-amazing? Not really. The campaign, depending upon difficulty versus skill level with RTS games, can range from incredibly easy to moderately tough.

Onto the more important information - game play. Overall, the six factions are balanced rather well for it accommodates several play styles for each of the three major factions - fast attack rush tactics, expensive and incredibly durable steamrollers and a middle ground behind the main factions of GDI, Nod, and Scrin.

I've played each faction and each has its ups and downs that can if the player doesn't fully understand each faction's favored play style, may end up being the nail in his coffin. I suggest playing skirmish before trying online play.

C&C 3: Kane's Wrath is an expansion for the excellent C&C 3: Tiberium Wars. Those that liked the core game will most likely enjoy this one, as will people that are fans of the series and have followed it from its inception. In general, Kane's Wrath is very standard expansion fare- nothing that will blow you away or change your mind about the game if you didn't like it before, but enough to satisfy anyone that did.

The expansion adds three major components to the game: a new Nod campaign, global conquest mode, and new sub-factions and units. The campaign is difficult in comparison to the original game, but not overly challenging if you're a C&C veteran. It's also not particularly long, but is well done with the traditional FMV cutscenes and cheesy acting. As you might have gathered from the title, Kane is back in all his insidious glory. Joining the cast are Natasha Henstridge and Carl Lumbly as Nod sub-commanders. You don't play as GDI or Scrin, but do get a chance to play all of the Nod sub-factions and also fight each of the other side's sub-factions. The plot is a bit of a departure from previous C&C outings. It is actually a back-story that spans from Tiberian Sun to the end of Tiberium Wars, and is obviously a lead-in toward some future game or expansion. We'll see which eventually, I'm sure...

The expansion adds two new sub-factions for each of the sides, and these behave somewhat similarly to the generals in C&C Generals: Zero Hour, or to the sub-factions in Emperor: Battle for Dune. Specifically, they grant you the ability to make unique units, some of which take the place of regular units. You may also get new powers and upgrades. Some sub-factions also lack the ability to purchase core units or upgrades, as a balancing factor. Additionally, GDI, Nod, and the Scrin each have a new 'epic' unit: the MARV, Redeemer, and Eradicator Hexapod, respectively. These units are similar to the Mammoth Mk 3 or Cyborg Commando in Tiberian Sun, in that only one can be on the field at the time. They both require a unique structure to build (which can also serve as a standard war factory) and cost a lot of money. However, they can single-handedly slaughter pretty much anything short of an entire army, and are simply cool to look at.

Global conquest mode is very similar to the War of the Ring mode in Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 (with the expansion). You can build bases across a world map, upgrade them to make them tougher and able to produce better units, and build strike forces (essentially, armies) to attack other factions' bases. In strategic map mode, the game is turn-based, and you can either fight battles in real-time or auto-resolve them in a manner similar to the Total War series. Each side has different victory objectives, or can win simply by wiping out the others. For example, GDI can achieve victory by claiming a certain percentage of the map within the zone of control of its bases. This is a nice touch that adds replay value to the game. It's got a bit more depth to it than the usual skirmish, and- while not exactly groundbreaking in any way- is new for the C&C series.

I only have a few complaints with Kane's Wrath, first and foremost the fact that many of the sub-factions look really weak to me. This can and likely will be fixed in balance patches, however, so it's not a major concern. Secondly, I'd have liked at least some of the campaign to showcase the story of the GDI and Scrin sub-factions. It's kind of weird to just suddenly see all these new toys everyone is using, when we finished grinding through three large campaigns in the original game without hearing a peep of them. I can kind of understand why the expansion focuses solely on Nod, but it would have been nice to have a few unlockable extra GDI/Scrin levels.

The bottom line is that if you liked C&C 3 or any of its predecessors, you will likely enjoy this expansion. If you didn't, then you should probably give this one a pass. It doesn't do much to break the mold of the game, but this is likely by design. Personally, speaking as someone that's played C&C since the original on DOS (remember, back in the stone age when we thought that was so cool?) I still haven't tired of this time-tested RTS hallmark. So far, more of the same hasn't quite worn me out.