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Video Game Review: Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
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Published: July 11, 2008
System: Microsoft Xbox 360
Also available for: Windows PC
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Reviewer's rating: **½
ESRB rating: Teen
Game type: Real-time strategy
Kind of like: "Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars"
Best feature: The new command wheel is a huge improvement over the old point-and-click menus.
Worst feature: The level of complexity will seem impenetrable to casual gamers.
The bottom line: Real-time strategy games simply don't work on consoles - or, at least, that's the prevailing wisdom. But last year's "Tiberium Wars" forced the arbiters of interactive entertainment to rethink their entrenched position on RTS. The game not only worked, it felt like a natural fit.
No small accomplishment, then, that sequel "Kane's Wrath" actually improves on its predecessor. The controls remain intuitive, but commands are even easier to execute thanks to an efficient new command wheel.
But even the most streamlined interface wouldn't make a bit of difference if the game wasn't fun to play. In typical "C&C" fashion, it is.
You battle through the single-player campaign as the sinister Brotherhood of Nod, commanding a horde of soldiers, tanks and bases under the watchful eye of megalomaniac Kane (Joe Kucan, natch). But the new subfactions - available in single- and multiplayer skirmishes - are more fun, with all-new vehicles, weapons and upgrades.
Detractors will say it's more of the same, and they might have a point. But although "Kane's Wrath" probably won't recruit many new fans, it'll keep the existing ones happy - at least until the next inevitable sequel.
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