Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath

Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
Developer(s)	EA Los Angeles BreakAway Games[1]
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Designer(s)	Samuel Bass
Composer(s)	Steve Jablonsky Trevor Morris
Series	Command & Conquer
Engine	SAGE
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
Release	Microsoft Windows March 24, 2008 Xbox 360 June 23, 2008
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath is an expansion pack for the 2007 real-time strategy video game Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Developed by EA Los Angeles studios and BreakAway Games studios, it was released on March 24, 2008 in the United States and on March 28, 2008 in Europe by publisher Electronic Arts,^[2][3] and was also released on June 24 for the Xbox 360.

The storyline campaign is set between the end of Tiberian Sun and the beginning of Tiberium Wars. It revolves around the seemingly immortal leader of the Brotherhood of Nod, Kane, and recounts his ascent to power after narrowly escaping death in the year 2031, ending with Kane re-acquiring the Tacitus artifact from Tiberian Sun, in the year 2052.

Gameplay

The conquest mode map. Pictured is Europe controlled by Scrin forces, and Africa controlled by GDI forces with Nod having cloaked in south Asia.

Global Conquest mode

Kane's Wrath features a "Risk-like" gameplay mode called "Global Conquest", where players build and control their forces from a strategic, global level with the goal of either destroying all enemies or completing their side's alternate victory objective. Instead of the traditional Command & Conquer RTS gameplay, the mode uses a turn-based system where the player issues higher-level orders such as "build a base here" (to have the computer automatically build a base with preset structures) or "upgrade this base" (to have the computer automatically perform multiple structure upgrades on a base); the orders execute at the end of a turn and the other sides then get theirs. Combat in this mode occurs whenever two opposing forces collide on the world map; the battle can either be played traditionally (as a standard real-time C&C game) or be automatically resolved by the computer using the forces' relative strengths.^[4][5]

Kane's Challenge mode (Xbox 360)

Kane's Challenge is exclusive to the Xbox 360 version of Kane's Wrath, replacing Global Conquest Mode. Similar to the General's Challenge game in Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour, the player chooses one of the nine factions, and is pitted against all armies spanning ten challenges; referred to as "The Gauntlet" in-game. Also included in this game mode are all-new, high-definition video sequences featuring Joseph D. Kucan as Kane, congratulating or taunting the players as they progress in Kane's Challenge.

Campaign Mode

In addition to the Global Conquest mode, Kane's Wrath contains a Brotherhood of Nod campaign which spans 13 missions in length, spanning from the end of Tiberian Sun: Firestorm to Command & Conquer 3 and beyond, divided into 3 linear sub-stories that tell Kane's story. The player character in Kane's Wrath is an Artificial Intelligence created by Kane himself rather than a Nod general as in the main game. The player character is designated as "LEGION" (Logarithmically Engineered Governing Intelligence Of Nod), derived from CABAL but appears to be notably stronger and directly connected to the Tacitus itself.

Act 1 takes place between Tiberian Sun: Firestorm and Command & Conquer 3; The missions in Act 1 are primarily tied to the process of the reunification of the Brotherhood of Nod, after which the player destroys a liquid Tiberium facility in the Australian Outback. The destruction of the facility renders most of Australia uninhabitable. Act 2 takes place during the events of Command & Conquer 3. Act 2 provides additional insight into the events behind the main Nod campaign of Tiberium Wars. Act 3 occurs after Command & Conquer 3, as the player resurrects a remnant of CABAL's army, named the Marked of Kane, using it to acquire the Tacitus, setting the story for Command & Conquer 4:Tiberian Twilight.

Sub-factions

Each of the three factions featured in Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Global Defense Initiative, Brotherhood of Nod and Scrin) have received two additional "sub-factions" in Kane's Wrath; a gameplay concept previously used in Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and Generals – Zero Hour. Each of these sub-factions feature unique special units, upgrades and support powers, and are designed to cater to more specialized styles of real-time strategy gameplay.^[4] This sub-faction system brings the total number of playable sides in Command & Conquer 3 from three to nine.^[4] Additionally, the three main factions receive some new units and upgrades.

Global Defense Initiative

General GDI changes

A new GDI anti-air unit called the Slingshot is available to all three GDI factions; it is a fast hover vehicle resembling the Hover MLRS from the Second Tiberium War, capable of great damage to any aircraft but is defenseless against ground targets. GDI also has a new aircraft, the Hammerhead, at its disposal; it is equipped with an anti-infantry machine gun and is capable of garrisoning a GDI infantry squad who can fire upon targets from inside the Hammerhead. GDI has also developed their sonic technology onto a tank platform, producing the Shatterer - a lightly armoured hover vehicle with a weapon similar to the Sonic Emitter - however, this vehicle is unavailable to the Steel Talons. Several new upgrades are available to GDI. AP Ammo increases the attack power of Riflemen Squads, Watchtowers, Hammerheads, APCs and the Steel Talon Wolverine. Tungsten AA Ammunition increases the attack power of AA batteries and the Slingshot. Hardpoints can be purchased to increase the ammo capacity of Orcas and Firehawks. Lastly, the Railgun upgrade for Predator and Mammoth Tanks is now also applied to GDI Guardian Cannons. GDI's new epic unit is the Mammoth Armed Reclamation Vehicle or MARV. This is a combined machinery of an ultra-heavy tank armed with tri-barreled sonic cannon and a Tiberium processor at which when moving over the Tiberium fields, the MARV process these crystals and turn them into cash. All GDI factions can build the MARV, and garrison it with up to four infantry units, boosting the MARV's own firepower.

Steel Talons

A post-Second Tiberium War battalion, the Steel Talons were an experimental task force specialized in field testing cutting edge technologies for GDI's original and traditional "superior frontal firepower" doctrine, before future policies retired the bulk of the organization's walker arsenal in favor of improved space-based assets. This sub-faction features upgraded Titan and Wolverine units from Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun.^[6] The Titan replaces the Predator Tank and fills a similar role, although it is more powerful and can crush smaller tanks than itself. It also can make use of the Railgun upgrade. The Wolverine is a fast walker capable of dealing great damage to enemy infantry, and can make use of the AP Ammo upgrade. The Steel Talon has a modified version of the Juggernaut, called "Behemoths" - the Behemoth has a bunker in which a Steel Talon infantry squad may garrison itself and fire outside to defend the Behemoth. However, the Behemoth cannot use the Juggernaut's long-range "Bombard" tactic in conjunction with a sniper team, since sniper teams are not available to the Steel Talon faction. Tiberium Wars-era sonic technology - the Sonic Emitter and the new Shatterer - are not available to the Steel Talons. Minor upgrades to standard units are also featured: the engineer is adapted to the Combat Engineer armed with a pistol, and Steel Talons harvesters have a one-slot infantry bunker instead of the light machine gun. The APC is replaced by the Mobile Repair Transport that has a repair drone to repair friendly vehicles in the field and it also has a bunker where a Steel Talon infantry squad may garrison itself and fire outside to defend the Mobile Repair Transport. Additionally, Steel Talons Titan battlemechs and Mammoth Tanks can be upgraded with heavy EMP-proof armor. To counterbalance their sheer prowess in vehicles, the Talons are not able to build Armories, limiting their infantry to riflemen squads, rocket squads, grenadier squads and their new pistol-armed combat engineers.^[7]

ZOCOM

Short for "Zone Operations Command", ZOCOM is an elite unit established after the Second Tiberium War which comprises the most veteran, high tech troopers of GDI, who have been equipped specifically to tackle the planet-wide Tiberium infestation and to begin the reclaiming of the Earth's Red Zones. ZOCOM units cater to technologies related to advanced sonic weaponry, special Tiberium-resistant powered armor as well as suppression and area-of-effect tactics. This sub-faction replaces GDI's Zone Troopers with "Zone Raiders",^[8] a newer power armored infantry unit equipped with anti-air rockets and sonic rocket-propelled grenades. Their Orca gunships utilize special sonic grenade payloads instead of their original rocket weaponry, and ZOCOM also receives the most powerful incarnation of GDI's new sonic-based "Shatterer" unit. The standard harvester is replaced with a Rocket Harvester. Their lower-end infantry also see the composite armor upgrade replaced with the more potent "Tiberium field suits", which increases even more so the armor of ZOCOM infantry squads, make them more resistant to Tiberium-based attacks, and render them immune to the effects of Tiberium radiation on the battlefield. ZOCOM aircraft also have the Ceramic armor upgrade, which dramatically boosts their health. For these benefits however the sub-faction does not have any access to rail gun technology and cannot produce Juggernaut artillery walkers.

Brotherhood of Nod

General Nod changes

A new Nod artillery unit called the Specter is available. It resembles the Nod artillery vehicle from the Second Tiberium War, although it is faster and capable of stealth. It also has the ability to bombard near a beacon dropped by a Shadow Team. Another new vehicle is the Reckoner, a fast transport vehicle with two infantry slots. Its passengers cannot attack targets outside the Reckoner and the Reckoner itself does not have a weapon, but the Reckoner can deploy itself into a heavily armored infantry bunker. Once deployed, it cannot move again but gains an additional infantry slot, cannot be targeted with explosives, and cannot be clear-garrisoned (for example, by the Grenadier Squad). A new structure called the Voice of Kane is available, a statue which calls out Kane's message. Friendly infantry nearby receive an inspirational bonus in battle, while enemy infantry are suppressed. Only one Voice of Kane can be deployed at a time. New upgrades are available to Nod in the form of Tiberium Core Missiles, which increase the attack damage of SAM Turrets, Attack Bikes, Stealth Tanks, and the Black Hand's Mantis. The Quad Turret upgrade can be purchased which improves all triple-turret base defenses by adding a fourth turret to the hub (although the upgrade is known to crash multiplayer games). Disruption Pods can be purchased for Vertigo Bombers, allowing them to drop a stealth-generating disruption pod that will last for a temporary period of time. Finally, the Laser Capacitor upgrade is now also applied to the Laser Turret (however only available to "Nod" and not any of its sub-factions). Last but not least Nod (and only Nod) has a new support power that, when activated, can resurrect any militant squads killed during that time as "Awakened Cyborgs" from the Marked of Kane sub-faction. Nod Militants have also been remodeled to look like Nod's Light Infantry from Tiberian Sun. This is a purely aesthetic change and does not affect gameplay. Nod's epic unit is the Redeemer, a massive walker with a triple beam laser and a rage generator ability, which causes enemy units to start attacking each other. The Redeemer can garrison two infantry units.

Black Hand

A feared order of warrior priests within the Brotherhood of Nod,^[9] specialized in powerful and highly trained Black Hand Infantry. The Black Hand’s standard infantry is the "Confessor Cabal"; a squad of six Confessor units armed with hallucinogenic grenades (this time a manually activated ability), as well as anti-infantry Gatling guns which can be upgraded with "Charged Particle Beams" to increase their firepower (Charged Particle Beams are also applied to the Shredder Turret for increased firepower). Confessor Cabals also give other nearby allied infantry a buff that increases their rate of fire, their endurance on the battlefield and which renders them more resistant to almost any suppression. All Black Hand shock troops and Flame Tanks come with veteran status by default, and the Commando starts out at the heroic rank, with two such commandos being trainable at any given time, although the commando is not stealthed for this faction. The "Black Disciples" upgrade adds a Black Hand shock troop to all Confessor Cabals and Militant Rocket Squads, in similar fashion to how Confessors are added to the militia squads of Tiberium Wars. The Black Hand's warmechs, an earlier model of the Avatar warmech, are called "Purifiers" and automatically come equipped with flamethrowers, yet cannot be further upgraded. All flame weaponry of this sub-faction, whether infantry or vehicle-based, can be upgraded with Purifying Flame for much greater damage. In return for all this raw offensive and destructive prowess however, the Black Hand forgo stealthed and air units entirely - including the Call for Transport ability - and the Laser Capacitor is also unavailable to them. Since the Stealth Tank and Venom are both unavailable, a new vehicle called the "Mantis" serves as a specialized anti-aircraft vehicle for the faction - it is very powerful against aircraft, and can also detect stealth units, though it cannot attack targets on the ground. The new Specter artillery unit is still available to the Black Hand, but is not itself stealthed.^[7]

Marked of Kane

A sinister sub-faction which epitomizes both the Brotherhood of Nod's stealthy methods and reliance on radically advanced cybernetic and Tiberium-based technologies and weaponry. The Marked of Kane replace the militia squads of Tiberium Wars with the "Awakened" cyborgs; heavy infantry units that are devastating against enemy infantry and which come with the innate ability to disable vehicles through EMP charges. Their elite "Enlightened" cyborg infantry squads are comparable to GDI’s Zone Troopers, and are armed with particle beams and an EMP attack that has an even bigger radius and effect than that of the Awakened. The Black Hand flame infantry are replaced by "Tiberium Troopers" within this sub-faction, which are capable of dealing damage over time, clear out garrisoned structures and slow the rate of movement of their targets. Tiberium Troopers do less damage per second than Black Hand shock troops do, but have increased range. The Enlightened, along with the sub-faction's Saboteur units and Tiberium Troopers, can be upgraded with cybernetic enhancements to greatly increase their rate of movement. Additionally, Enlightened cyborgs can be upgraded with Supercharged Particle Beams which are also applied to Shredder Turrets and Venom Aircraft. The Marked of Kane also receive deadly magnetic mines that slowly kill vehicles (unless removed by repair drones).^[7]

Scrin

General Scrin changes

From Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, the Scrin possess their most units and structures after the liquid Tiberium bomb explosion in Sarajevo. The "Warp Chasm" is a new structure that Reaper-17 and Traveler-59 can handle all land combat vehicles on the battlefield. The "Ravager" is an infantry unit that fires Tiberium shards effective against infantry, while the Ravager itself may also detonate Tiberium in certain units and structures. The "Mechapede" is a fully customizable harassment unit, and the "Eradicator Heaxapod" is the Scrin's epic unit, unleashing massive plasma barrages and "recycling" destroyed units in a large radius. The Scrin also now have the "Attenuated Forcefields" upgrade, which grants Seekers, Gun Walkers, and Reaper 17's Shard Walkers a small forcefield similar to the original forcefields upgrade. The Shard Launchers upgrade replaces most disk-firing units with much more powerful Tiberium shards.

Reaper-17

Themed as the heavy “shock” faction of the Scrin, Reaper-17 possesses more powerful and effective vehicles and ground units. The trade-off for its enhanced ground power is a marked lack of the Mastermind and air units, except for Stormriders and Drone Ships. The Gun Walker is upgraded and renamed as the "Shard Walker", whereas the Tripod has been upgraded to "Reaper Tripod", which converts Tiberium into extra damage in the same way the Devourer Tank can. An upgrade is "Conversion Reserves", which allows for Reaper Tripods and Devourer Tanks to store more absorbed Tiberium. They also receive an upgrade that allows Shard Walkers and Ravagers to shoot blue Tiberium shards for extra damage. Reaper-17 Harvesters now come with shields of their own, similar to those that can be added to Tripods. Reaper-17 also has a new structure called the "Growth Stimulator", which functions as a normal Growth Accelerator in addition to providing a steady trickle of income like a Tiberium Spike. The aforementioned lack of a Mastermind means that Reaper-17 can not upgrade its Hexapod with teleport capabilities.^[7]

Traveler-59

The polar opposite of Reaper-17, Traveler-59 focuses on speed, teleportation and mind-control. It features new "Cultist" infantry units, as well as an upgraded Mastermind unit called the "Prodigy". Cultists have no regular attack, but can control units just like Masterminds without the build limit, but cannot take over air, epic units and structures. The Prodigy receives area-of-effect mind control and a personal blink pack in addition to its old abilities. The Shock Trooper is automatically equipped with a Blink Pack as well. However, Traveler-59 doesn’t get Devourer Tank units or shields, however their Seekers are upgradeable, also the "Advanced Articulators" upgrade gives infantry units a significant speed boost and "Traveler Engines" give a speed boost to Traveler's heavier aircraft units. Traveler aircraft are cheaper compared to the other two Scrin factions. However, they lack the forcefields upgrade of Scrin and Reaper 17.^[7]

Plot

In the first act of the campaign (set immediately after the conclusion of Tiberian Sun), Kane enters a bunker deep in the underground, apparently healed of all injury save for his face mask. He instructs LEGION to incite the Rio Insurrection by taking out the GDI presence in the area and giving Kane a substantial amount of followers. After the player succeeds, Kane informs the player of his plan to reunite the Nod splinter factions. Since he cannot risk revealing himself to the world yet, he chooses Brother Marcion, the leader of the "new" Black Hand to convey Kane's will to the Brotherhood in his stead (since Marcion had Anton Slavik assassinated). The player is then commanded to drive Marcion out and capture him. Brought before Kane, Marcion comes back into the fold of the Brotherhood as Kane reveals himself to him, and removes his face mask, showing a completely scar-free face. Kane then orders the player to destroy a Liquid Tiberium facility in the Australian Outback as a 'grand gesture' to the remaining splinter factions to rejoin him, turning the continent into a Yellow Zone in the process. Kane deactivates LEGION and begins to build Nod into a superpower.

During the second act (set before and during the events of Tiberium Wars), Kane begins to lay down the plans for the destruction of the Philadelphia, commanding the player to steal plans for the Ion Cannon network. Since the destruction of the Philadelphia would eliminate most of GDI's leadership, Kane predicts that Redmond Boyle will be his pawn and become the Director of GDI, so as to provoke the future liquid Tiberium explosion. The player is also ordered to capture Dr. Alphonse Giraud from his research facility, explaining his disappearance in the GDI campaign of Tiberium Wars. Afterwards, Abbess Alexa Kovacs has taken the view that General Kilian Qatar is a traitor to Kane, and plans to have her discredited by attacking Temple Prime in her guise, then leaking Ion Disruptor technology to GDI, thereby leading to General Qatar's execution being ordered by Kane. She reveals her doubts and fears about LEGION, and about LEGION being connected to the Tacitus during a cutscene before a mission and also tells the player that CABAL's cyborgs murdered her family, and is worried as LEGION is based upon the same technology that created and powered CABAL. After the Tacitus is secured on a mission, a highly distressed Alexa snaps and infects LEGION's core systems with a powerful computer virus, fearing that the AI will turn hostile like CABAL upon interfacing with the artifact. The virus destroys LEGION's systems, and Kane is alerted to LEGION's infection and catches Alexa red-handed in the act of destroying LEGION. Kane discovers to his horror that Alexa attacked Temple Prime in Killian's guise and had Kilian executed for a crime she did not commit. Alexa snatches a pistol from one of the guards as she is about to be taken away for interrogation and aims at Kane with it. Clearly beside herself, she shouts Nod's motto "Peace through power" and then commits suicide by shooting herself in the head, just as LEGION shuts down.

In the third and final act, LEGION reawakens five years later in the post-Tiberium War 3 period, and Kane focuses it on recovering the Tacitus. GDI has been meddling with the device, causing it to become highly unstable; Kane needs the Tacitus for his master plan, so he orders the player to first awaken the Marked of Kane, a faction of cyborgs that only LEGION is capable of controlling due to its link with the destroyed CABAL. With the successful reactivation, Kane then sends the player to recover the Tacitus from GDI's NORAD facility. After the Tacitus's successful capture, Kane connects it to LEGION, and the AI becomes infused with the vast knowledge of the object, ending the game in a cliffhanger. The ending cutscene shows a reverse of the Scrin campaign introduction cutscene in C&C3, and a message that implies that the Scrin would later try to send a full invasion force, similar to what the Scrin Overlord states at the end of the Scrin campaign in the original C&C 3.

Bonus content

Every copy of Kane's Wrath, including the bundled Command & Conquer 3 Limited Edition, included a code which entitled the player to enter into the beta for the next Command & Conquer: Red Alert series game, Red Alert 3, if the code was registered before September 15, 2008. The beta started in August for most participants who bought the game in retail stores and registered quickly, the beta was reported to be 500,000 strong on August 3, 2008.

A special edition version of Kane's Wrath which included a Kane's Wrath Razer DeathAdder mouse was released exclusively for Singapore customers.^[10]

Reception

The expansion has received generally favorable reviews, averaging a 77% score on Metacritic and 78% on GameRankings. IGN rated the game 7.9, saying, "Ultimately, Kane's Wrath is something that old school RTS fans and die-hard C&C veterans will enjoy. There's enough here to keep them busy for a long time. Those looking for a more modern RTS experience should look elsewhere, though.".

References

External links

• Command & Conquer Website