Command & Conquer 3 Kane's wrath For PC With Cheats Codes Walkthroughs
Last year's Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars featured a horde of
freaky alien units, hammy acting, and lots and lots of explosions. With
Kane's Wrath, Electronic Arts provides freakier aliens, hammier acting,
and bigger explosions, and mixes them into an expansion pack that
doesn't improve the core game in any meaningful way. Of course, it gives
us more ways to experience the terrific gameplay, and for that we can
be grateful. Nevertheless, Kane's Wrath misses the mark in many ways and
comes across as a wasted opportunity.
The story, such as it is, fills a number of gaps in Command &
Conquer history, jumping around like a jackrabbit on speed. For example,
the first act takes place between the second and third Tiberium Wars,
whereas the second act jumps to events that took place during C&C3.
As a result, when Kane and other characters address you during the
live-action cutscenes, you're not even the same character each time. Joe
Kucan as Kane, God bless him, almost saves this scattershot structure
with his usual superb mix of spittled monologues and ominous glares. As
Alexa, though, actress Natasha Henstridge misses the whole point by
misunderstanding the difference between histrionics and plain bad
acting. Her bouncy hairdo is more energetic than she is. We expect
cheese in a Command & Conquer campaign, but its taste is altogether
overpowering here. With the third act, Kane's Wrath starts hitting the
right notes and then comes to a halt, leaving the promise of yet another
expansion...the same promise Tiberium Wars left with us. Let's hope
that the inevitable second expansion pack makes good on it.
Once you take command of the battlefield, things pick up, but not in the
ways you might expect from an expansion pack. You play as the Nod
faction through the whole of the 13-mission campaign, which is fine, but
it fails to capitalize on the pitifully brief Scrin campaign of
Tiberium Wars. Nevertheless, this is at heart the same gameplay that
made last year's game such a success. It's fast-paced, fun, and
eminently playable. When the game emphasizes these strengths, such as in
a mission where you have to capture a GDI researcher, the gameplay
soars. Other missions just speak to overlooked possibilities. For
instance, in one scenario, you're teased with the possibility of
experiencing one of Tiberium Wars' best missions from the perspective of
a different commander. But rather than delivering on the promise of a
heart-pounding battle, the game whips the rug out from under you, and
you get stuck using a commando and saboteur--and then a dinky attack
bike. Talk about an anticlimax.
Thankfully, all of the issues that the campaign presents are mostly
offset by the variety of new toys available. Many of them come courtesy
of the subfactions in Kane's Wrath. You can still play skirmishes
against other players and the AI as the standard GDI, Nod, and Scrin
factions, and they've seen some minor changes. However, you should check
out the subfactions if you want access to the best goodies. For the
most part, the subfactions aren't radically different from their vanilla
counterparts, but they bring some subtle and interesting additions and
changes to the battlefield nonetheless. For example, the Nod subfaction
called the Black Hand replaces the avatar warmech with a flame-spewing
monstrosity called the purifier. The Black Hand has no flying units,
though, so this isn't the faction for you if you like to spam venoms.
Other tweaks have very little impact, such as the addition of shields to
harvesters of the Reaper-17 Scrin subfaction, though such small changes
undoubtedly have effects on the overall balance.
Some of the new units are available to the main faction and subfactions
alike. For example, all GDI players get the hammerhead helicopter, which
is invaluable for troop transport and can stay aloft for a while
without having to refuel. The Scrin mechapede is a particular (and
slightly overpowered) favorite, given that you can extend its length by
adding pods to it, and there are four different types of pods you can
use. This flexibility makes the mechapede one of the most versatile
units in the game, but in the spirit of the Scrin, it requires a healthy
amount of micromanagement. The most superficially dramatic units are
the new epic units. Each faction and its subfactions get access to a new
powerful unit: the MARV tank in the case of the GDI, the redeemer for
the Nod, and the eradicator hexapod for the Scrin. How important they
are to your strategy depends on how long your matches draw out, which is
always a crapshoot in the rush-heavy Command & Conquer. However,
should you get to the point where you can create one, you'll enjoy the
additional help it provides on the battlefield. They have powerful
attacks (even more powerful if infantry is garrisoned inside), but their
other abilities can be helpful as well. For example, if you need extra
credits, just drive your MARV over some Tiberium, and it will be added
to your coffers instantly.
And in a sign that Electronic Arts kept throwing different things at
Command & Conquer 3 to see what would stick, they've introduced
Global Conquest, which is a Risk-inspired turn-based mode similar to the
ones in Rise of Nations or Dawn of War. In it, you create strike forces
that let you expand across the globe to crush your enemies while
exerting influence on cities. It's an interesting diversion, but it's
esoteric without having the depth to match. Not only is the gameplay
diluted compared to other turn-based games, but the world map isn't
separated into distinct areas, which diminishes the thrill of expansion.
It feels as if you're trying to take over vast tracts of empty land,
and without the geographic and visual divisions you'd expect, you never
get that "just...one...more...turn..." compulsion.
There are more than 25 new maps to skirmish on, too, against either
other players or the AI. All these additions--new units, a new mode, and
so on--add more ways to play, but they don't add up to an essential
expansion pack. It all makes for a broader package, but not necessarily a
better one. Sure, the new subfactions give you more variety, but not
every addition is significant, and in some cases, they're underwhelming
(Steel Talon subfaction, this means you). Throw in a competent campaign,
and you have a good expansion that should have been much, much better.
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