Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
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| Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath | |
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| Developer(s) | EA Los Angeles BreakAway Games[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Series | Command & Conquer |
| Engine | SAGE |
| Version | 1.02 (December 17, 2008) |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 |
| Release date(s) | Microsoft Windows NA March 24, 2008 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T OFLC: M PEGI: 16+ |
| System requirements |
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| Input methods | Keyboard and Mouse, Microphone (optional), Xbox 360 Controller |
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 Electronic Arts Los Angeles 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.
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[edit] Gameplay
[edit] Global Conquest mode (PC)
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]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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. Broken into 3 linear sub-stories that tell Kane's story; Act 1 takes place between Tiberian Sun: Firestorm and Command & Conquer 3; Act 2 takes place separately, but during the events of Command & Conquer 3; and Act 3 shows a preview of the story to take place after Command & Conquer 3, leaving the player with a strong cliff-hanger. The entire Campaign Mode is played as Nod (a first for the series) from the perspective of the AI system LEGION, which the players represents.
[edit] 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]
[edit] Global Defense Initiative
- 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 the Titan and Wolverine units from Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun,[6] and their Juggernauts (called "Behemoths") have attached infantry bunkers. Tiberium Wars-era sonic technology is not available to these heavy-hitters; their guardian cannons instead are upgradeable with rail guns. Minor upgrades to standard units are also featured: engineers are armed with pistols, harvesters have a one-slot infantry bunker, and their APCs are capable of repairing vehicles in exchange for the unit's own independent offensive abilities. Additionally, Steel Talon 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 any infantry outside of 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 payloads instead of their original 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 increase 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. For these benefits however the sub-faction does not have any access to rail gun technology and cannot produce Juggernaut artillery walkers and marv.
[edit] Brotherhood of Nod
- Black Hand
A feared order of warrior priests within the Brotherhood of Nod[9], specialized in powerful and highly trained shock trooper 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 gattling guns which can be upgraded with "Charged Particle Beams" to increase their 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 suppression. All Black Hand shock troops come with veteran status by default and their commando starts out at the heroic rank, with two such commandos being trainable at any given time. The "Black Disciples" upgrade adds a Black Hand shock troop to all of the Black Hand's infantry 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 to do much greater damage against all ground targets. In return for all this offensive and destructive prowess however, the Black Hand forgo stealthed or air units entirely and the vehicle laser upgrade is unavailable to them, having been replaced with infantry-based equivalents. Due to the Stealth Tank being unavailable, a new vehicle called the "Mantis" serves as a specialized anti-aircraft vehicle for the faction, which can also detect stealth units.[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 super-charged particle beams and an EMP attack that has an even bigger radius than that of the Awakened. These cyborg units, along with the sub-faction's Saboteur units and Tiberium Troopers, can be upgraded with cybernetic enhancements to greatly increase their rate of movement. 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. The Marked of Kane also receive deadly magnetic mines that slowly kill vehicles (unless removed by repair drones).[7]
[edit] Scrin
- 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 Storm Riders 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 Seekers, 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 and epic units or structures. The Prodigy receives area-of-effect mind control and a personal blink pack in addition to its old abilities. 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.[7]
[edit] Plot
In the first act of the campaign (set immediately after the conclusion of Tiberian Sun), Kane enters a bunker deep in the Earth's crust apparently healed of all injury save for his face mask. He instructs the player to begin the Rio Insurrection by taking out the GDI presence in the area. 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. 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.
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, LEGION, 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 Geraud from his research facility, explaining his disappearance in the GDI campaign of C&C3. 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(LEGION) 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 Abbess Alexa loses her cool and infects LEGION's core systems with a powerful computer virus while screaming: "I cannot let you connect to the Tacitus! I will not let you usher in an age of machines. I will not be your slave! I will not!". The virus destroys LEGION's systems, and Kane is alerted to LEGION's infection and catches Abbess 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 shoots the monitor LEGION is watching through and LEGION's systems shut 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. 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 video shows a reverse of the Scrin campaign introduction video in C&C3.
[edit] Cast
Kane is back, and this time, the self-proclaimed Prophet is the center of attention. The supreme leader of the Brotherhood concentrates on his new schemes, mostly related to the LEGION and Tacitus.
He also masterminds several of the events seen in Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, such as picking Redmond Boyle as GDI's successor
- CABAL / LEGION
CABAL, the sentient Nod AI that went rogue in the aftermath of the Second Tiberium war, reappears in the game in a new form known as LEGION. Kane plans to use LEGION's unmatched tactical genius and its connection with the Tacitus to achieve his goals. LEGION is controlled by the player in the same way as the GDI/Nod Commander or Scrin Foreman from the original campaign. It shows an innate ability to connect to the Tacitus' signal and interface with the device itself.
LEGION was built by Kane on CABAL's old foundations, aided by one of his assistants, Abbess Alexa Kovacs. As a result of his CABAL roots, CABAL's face flashes onto the screen a few times during the campaign, highly distressing Alexa. Alexa shows a deep mistrust for the combat AI, as her parents had been slain by CABAL's cyborgs. In her last act before being apprehended by Kane, she disrupts LEGION's uplink to the Tacitus by destroying LEGION's core systems, and then, when caught, snatches a gun from one of the guards and commits suicide with it. LEGION resurrects itself many years later however, and receives a signal being transmitted from the Tacitus device which, according to Kane, only LEGION is able to detect. Once Kane orders LEGION to use the remnants of CABAL's cyborg army -now known as the Marked of Kane- to reclaim the Tacitus from GDI, LEGION is shown to become infused with the vast amount of knowledge from the device, and the game ends as a cliffhanger.
A new Nod character played by Carl Lumbly. After Kane's supposed death at the end of Second Tiberium War, GDI undercover agents succeeded in convincing Marcion that Kane was not the true Prophet. GDI also secretly arranged an assassination of the leader of the Black Hand, Anton Slavik, so Marcion could take his place. Eventually LEGION defeated Marcion's forces and captured him. Kane revealed himself to Marcion, and faked his public recantation, bringing the Black Hand back into the Brotherhood.
Another member of the Brotherhood of Nod. According to Natasha Henstridge, Alexa idolizes Kane in every way. However Alexa's parents were killed by CABAL's cyborgs. Thus her disdain for LEGION grows from mission to mission, until she eventually betrays Kane and attempts to destroy LEGION by infecting it with a computer virus, but is caught and shoots herself.
[edit] Bonus content
Every copy of Kane's Wrath, including the bundled Command & Conquer 3 Limited Edition, includes a code which entitles the player to enter into the beta for the next Command & Conquer: Red Alert series game, Red Alert 3, if the code is 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]
[edit] Reception
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The expansion has received generally favorable reviews, averaging a 77% score on Metacritic and 78% on GameRankings.
[edit] References
- ^ Featured Games by BreakAway, Ltd - Award-Winning Developer of Numerous Real-Time Strategy Games and Technologically Advanced Desktop Development Software
- ^ EA Command and Conquer 3 Kane's Wrath Expansion Pack
- ^ EA Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars , Electronic Arts
- ^ a b c "Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath First Look". IGN Entertainment. 2007-08-21. http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/814/814252p1.html. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
- ^ Jason Ocampo (2007-08-22). "GC '07: Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath First Look". Gamespot. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/commandconquer3kaneswrath/news.html?sid=6177178&mode=all. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
- ^ EA Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars - News
- ^ a b c d e "Kane's Wrath Gameplay Preview". GameReplays.org Staff. 2007-12-17. http://www.gamereplays.org/KanesWrath/task.php?nameid=multiplayer_preview. Retrieved on 18 December 2007.
- ^ "Kane's Wrath Zocom Zone Raider Spotlight". Electronic Arts. http://www.commandandconquer.com/intel/default.aspx?id=107#NewsMain. Retrieved on 26 February 2008.
- ^ "Kane's Wrath Marked of Kane & Black Hand Unit Spotlight". Electronic Arts. http://www.commandandconquer.com/intel/default.aspx?id=110#NewsMain. Retrieved on 26 February 2008.
- ^ Electronic Arts Singapore - Promotions Electronic Arts
- ^ Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath PC Review - MetaCritic
- ^ Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath PC Review - 1UP
- ^ Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath PC Review - GameInformer
- ^ Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath PC Review - GamePro
- ^ Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath PC Review - GameSpot
- ^ Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath PC Review - GameSpy
- ^ Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath PC Review - PC IGN
- ^ Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath PC Review - GameTap
[edit] External links
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