Command and Conquer: Kane’s Wrath

Command and Conquer: Kane’s Wrath

While the Xbox 360 version of Tiberium Wars struggled to map all of the complex keyboard commands and short-cuts to the Xbox controller, the transition was nevertheless a success. Kane’s Wrath is an add-on to Tiberium Wars, elaborating the enjoyable story via thirteen extensive missions and again tweaking the control system to make it more user-friendly for console players.

The story is told, as with its forebear, by way of live action film clips which play out in between missions. Featuring a cast of well-known American television actors (including Natasha Henstridge from Species and Curt Lumbly from Alias) these do a good job of introducing newcomers to what is a complex mythology as well as bringing depth and nuance to those who have been following the series’ events closely.

For those who didn’t experience the earlier game, the mechanics are, on paper at least, fairly straightforward. At the start of most levels you’ll need to deploy a base somewhere in a wind-swept, Mad Max-esque wasteland environment. Next you’ll be harvesting recourses (mostly the luminous green energy substance that is Tiberium) in order to fund the ongoing production of various types of forces to assault and conquer the opponent's base with. The game’s controlled with a cursor which is used to direct specific units, scroll around the gigantic map and point to where you want to deploy weapons, vehicles, turrets and other structures.

While the control system has been designed specifically for the Xbox 360, it’s far from perfect and fails to provide the precision and speed that a mouse cursor does. However, with a bit of time and effort the game’s menus and options become workable in the heat of battle, and it is an improvement on the previous game’s effort even if it’s still anything but pick-up-and-play.

That said not all of the platform comparisons are against the game: the addition of a Kane’s Challenge mode, new for the Xbox 360 is a very welcome one, and the usability and ease of Xbox Live make multiplayer matches smooth and straightforward. For gamers who didn’t experience Tiberium Wars, it’s probably best to start with that game before venturing into this expansion, but for those console owners who ploughed hundreds of hours into last year’s title, Kane’s Wrath is a competent and enjoyable continuation of the theme.

3 out of 5