Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath

Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath is a standalone-purchasable expansion to the 2007 real-time strategy game Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. It adds a fourth playable faction, Nod Reborn, new units for all sides of the conflict, and a continuation of the story around Kane's return, as he once again sets out to seize control of a Tiberium-infested Earth. The campaign is again told through live-action cutscenes with actors and is told from the perspective of the Brotherhood of Nod, adding a fourth viewpoint on the same conflict to the trio of campaigns from the base game, and it also offers a campaign map on which the player chooses the order of the missions themselves.

The Xbox 360 version arrived a few months later than the PC version and adapted the real-time strategy controls to the gamepad – quickly issuing orders and selecting units is more cumbersome than with a mouse, yet the game plays surprisingly well on console thanks to a well-designed radial command menu that replaces the classic clicking on unit icons. It also brings an exclusive bonus mode, Kane's Challenge, a set of short standalone missions playing as various commanders and factions focused on quick battles with a predetermined army, which the PC version lacks and which was created specifically with how people play RTS games on console in mind – in shorter play sessions without needing to tackle the entire campaign. The rest of the content, including the campaign, sub-factions, and multiplayer, matches the PC release, including online play via Xbox Live and the ability to track statistics and leaderboards. For players who played the base Tiberium Wars on console, Kane's Wrath on Xbox 360 is a natural continuation without needing to switch to another platform just for a single expansion.

Why play it: Kane's Wrath will appeal to players who finished Tiberium Wars and want deeper, more tactical multiplayer with a larger number of factions and units, and the Xbox 360 version additionally offers the bonus Kane's Challenge mode for quick, standalone battles you won't find on PC.