Kane's Wrath

[Dunenewt]

Yes, it has been produced by the evil cash cow EA, and yes, it doesn't seem to add much to the game, but will you buy it?  I probably will, but only to play the Dune mod.

For those of you who don't know what it is, it is the expansion pack for Command and Conquer 3:  Tiberium Wars, and is coming out on the 24th March this year.

It adds two factions to each of the sides.  GDI have 'The Steel Talons' who concentrate on superior firepower, and 'Zone Operations Command' (ZOCOM) who concentrate on superior GDI technology and tiberium resistant infantry.  The Brotherhood of Nod have 'The Black Hand' who specialise in enhanced infantry and flame weapons, while 'The Marked of Kane' specialise in Tiberium weapons.  Finally, the Scrin have one side that specialises in heavy firepower and another than concentrates in technology.

[gunner154]

That makes it a must-have for fans of C&C3. I don't have the game... and I'm more eager for Dawn Of War: The Complete Collection. They should be out at around the same time.

[Dunenewt]

To be honest, the problem with this, is it doesn't seem to add too much to the game.  What is interesting however, is that the expansion pack is set in three different periods:

* Before TW

* During TW

* After KW

Which means we'll see how Kane comes back after TS.  I think it it leads on to Tiberium as well, as in the First Person Shooter.

One other things, is that they will be bringing back some of the TS units.  The GDI Steel Talons will have the Titan and Wolverine back.  I wonder if the old Mammoth Mk II will also make an appearance.

[gunner154]

If I've read correctly, there are a total of 5 sides added to the game. That's more than double of what the game started with. Unless I've gotten an idea wrong somewhere...

[Dunenewt]

It's six sides added.

[gunner154]

My bad. I'd almost thought Scrin only got one side.

The sides are probably really identical to each other then. 6 sides that play out differently certainly makes many thumbs go up for the expansion on gameplay.

[Sneakgab]

I'm under the impression that these are sub-factions or modified ''versions'' of the main factions. Eg: If you choose GDI, you can choose between Steel Talon GDI and ZOCOM GDI, who all have mostly the same units but have one or two unique units. Kind of like RA2 nationality teams or Age of Empires uniques. In effects, basically like choosing a sub house in Dune except the sub houses are limited to certain houses and you can only have one.

[gunner154]

Nothing special if that were to be the case, really. But... I think that's more likely to be the case. A Black Hand ARMY? Don't kid me.

[MrFlibble]

6 sides that play out differently certainly makes many thumbs go up for the expansion on gameplay.

Balancing six different sides must be a lot of work... or not?

I must try out those Warhammer40k games sometime... ::)

[Sneakgab]

''Balancing six different sides must be a lot of work... or not?''

Not if you don't actually balance them  ::), which is what we can expect from EA.

I suspect that basically each original side (GDI,Scrin,Nod) will become two different sides with a few different new units added by the expansion. A large amount of similar sides doesn't normally = problems. Normally they're easier to balance. But with things as they are with the C&C series these few new units are likely to cause great imbalances even between the Steel Talons and ZOCOM (GDI versions 1 and 2), for example.

You would think that balancing a few new additions would be relatively simple, but you'll have to wait and see if they are ever balanced.

[gunner154]

I must try out those Warhammer40k games sometime... ::)

I'm planning to, when the complete collection comes out. I've heard that they're surprisingly well balanced, despite their vast differences. They do have some similarities here and there though, so it depends on how you look at it.

[MrFlibble]

I think Games Workshop (or how is the developer called) must be very good at balancing as they're into tabletop strategy games for quite some time, if I'm not mistaken. They must have some really good background on this.

[Dunenewt]

Sneakgab's got it right about the sides.  They're just different varients of GDI/Nod/Scrin.

[MrFlibble]

Sneakgab's got it right about the sides.  They're just different varients of GDI/Nod/Scrin.

I never doubted that. I just wanted to point out that creating six or more really different, independent sides requires a lot more effort than a company bound on making money can afford.

[Dunenewt]

No, they're not too different.  I wonder what happened to 'The Forgotten'.  No bad puns here please. :P

[gunner154]

No, they're not too different.  I wonder what happened to 'The Forgotten'.  No bad puns here please. :P

Ooo, a bad pun!

Games Workshop worked on the tabletop part, but Relic did most of the computer game part though.

Looking at it, it's just another cash cow strategy. 6 sides... or 6 very different sides? Which brings more money for the least effort?

It's advertising, my friend.

[jeff2429]

I might get it for one reason.  Red Alert 3 Beta!

[Dunenewt]

Oooh yeah I forgot about that.  That's a great reason.

[gunner154]

Red Alert 3 beta? ???

[Dunenewt]

The first step towards participating in the Beta program is ordering Command & Conquer 3: Kane

[Sneakgab]

''By ordering Command & Conquer 3: Kane

[gunner154]

Sigh. They would want people to beta test it as much as possible to reduce bugs. Besides, the game would have gone gold by then, according to your example...

[Sneakgab]

How can a game go gold before it's released? And if the bug reduction logic were true, then beta tests would not be closed lotto like affairs but rather they would invite the whole world to beta test their game. Why they don't is obvious, some beta testers who would have bought the game will now not to do so after discovering the game isn't any good or that the game is no longer ''fresh'' to them.

Not that I doubt that EA will be honest in this beta regard at least, since it is a small issue, but I should remind you that this EA we are talking about, the company that even closed down their Emperor forum because it was just too much of a tax for them (how much does an unmoderated and an unupdated forum cost to maintain?). This after their promised support. These were small matters that would have costed EA little but regardless they pulled the support did they not?

[Dunenewt]

A game goes Gold before its release due to preorders.

[gunner154]

Nope. A game goes Gold when it is finalised and being prepared to be sent to CD-manufacturers for processing. It's different from the way the rest of the entertainment industry works.