Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
Electronic Arts
PC
5 stars (out of 5)
Review by Simon Kemp
The original Command & Conquer was one of the first RTS (real time strategy) games to appeal to the masses.
Before then, to play a strategy game you had to study maps, formations and learn dozens of controls before you could get your army to leave the comfort of their barracks.
C&C changed all that with an easy, point and click graphical interface, uncomplicated gameplay and great video-enhanced storylines that kept you hooked from the start.
Since then, there have been several follow-ups, each adding it's own new and exciting features, but each taking away something from the original, meaning the Command & Conquer name eventually blended in with the rest of the, now increasingly popular, RTS games available.
Until now.
Someone at EA must have gone back and played the original and thought, blimey, this is good, why don't we make one like this . . . so they did. Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars is quite simply one of the best PC games you'll play.
Even if you aren't a fan of RTS games, or have never played one, try this. You'll love it.
All the things that made the original are back and better than ever, from the newly-returned sidebar, which you use to control the action, to the incredibly cheesy but fantastic live action video sequences which keep the story going in between missions, to the weapons that are only usually found sketched on 12-year-old boys' school books (fire breathing tripods and space cannons that can level a continent included).
The game, as the original did, features the Global Defence Initiative, the goodies, and The Brotherhood of Nod, the baddies, led by their leader Kane, battling it out over Tiberium, a plant-like mineral, which is in danger of taking over the planet.
This time, there is another faction to contend with, the Scrin, a race of aliens who appear part way through and who also, unsurprisingly, want to take over the world.
The missions are well balanced and the graphics are stunning.
The game very rarely slows down, even with battles going on in the air as well as on the ground, all featuring massive explosions and laser fire.
You'll need a pretty high-end PC to run the graphics at their highest resolution, but the average settings are still impressive and once the battle hots up you won't have time to notice.
Yes, it is over the top, but it's done so well that it just drags you in. It'll take weeks, if not months, to complete both GDI and NOD campaigns, as well as the bonus one you unlock at the end.
And then there is the multiplayer. Playing against the AI is fun, but the ability to play on new maps against up to eight other people online is even more satisfying.
And after all that, when you think you've finished, you can add on Kane's Wrath, an expansion pack which gives you a brand new campaign, brand new units and brand new maps to play with.
The story may be a bit weaker than Tiberium Wars but the action is more of the same. And in this case, more is most definitely better.
