If the title for most charismatic video game villain who just absolutely refuses to die were up for grabs, Kane would definitely be in the running. This smarmy jerk has been defeated by the GDI a gajillion times in Sarajevo, and he keeps on coming back, all the smarmier. Some people really like Kane’s endless assault against the planet; he’s definitely the definitive character from Command & Conquer. So, it’s no surprise that the first expansion to the revitalized C&C franchise would center around our immortal prophet and his shiny, shiny dome.

The expansion has been out for a while, to various fanfare, but it’s now shlumped onto the Xbox 360. It’s a free-standing sequel, which delivers on expanded multiplayer-friendly gameplay and improvements to the already impressive interface, but feels a bit short in the knees when it comes to story and accessibility.

Let’s see what else they have to offer, after the jump.

The game’s story revolves around LEGION, an offspring of the CABAL system who sprang into existence at the end of the second tiberium war. Kane commands his new AI (who you control) to get Nod back on his side, then perform some behind-the-scene tasks and eventually reclaim the Holy McGuffin. The plot wanders here and there, eventually drunkenly stumbling to a conclusion, all the while narrated in Kane’s usual brooding machismo. Being an expansion, it assumes you know what’s going on, pretty much jumping in and hoping you hold on. It reads a little like a fanfic, with a brand-new Mary Sue computer seemingly at work backstage keeping the Brotherhood alive. That compounded with the usual bad acting in the charming but now officially overdone live-action cutscenes makes the story a little blah.

No, the true work went into retooling the armies and creating some awesome units. The game features the usual three factions from before, then broke those down into two subfactions each, for a total of nine different armies, all with different powers, units, etc., all tailored to specific playstyles. Hate the fact that your infantry can’t waltz over tiberium? Try the ZOCOM, they fixed that. Like stealing your opponent’s units? Well, Traveler-59 has your back.

They also added epic units, three gigantic and ridiculously powerful vehicles that make life extremely difficult for your opponent. The sense of power while controlling a Redeemer is palpable, and merely getting to that tech level makes the game at once fun and pointless. Still, carnage is great, and the introduction of godlike units shows they understand the appeal.

Too bad they don’t both to ever tell you about it. The boot camp is the same exact boot camp from the first game, and the campaign throws you right in like you’ve played the game before. There is very little indication what each of the new units do, how each faction is different, how to active certain powers. There’s one mission that requires you fly some ground troops across a river to blow up some buildings. Oh, don’t know that particular unit can fly? Well, that sucks, but the game won’t tell you about it except in easily missed tooltips.

So there’s a bit of grokking involved. Still, the options available make the possibilities impressive, and with some tooling around, you can learn the proper way to control the flame-friendly Black Hand or tiburium-rich Reaper 17. What gameplay awaits you after you learn how to play? Well, you can play online, I guess. Xbox Live is supported for up to four players. Or, you can take on Kane’s Challenge, a gauntlet of skirmish maps against specific factions that will make a perfectionist swoon and curse. With ten battles to run through with each faction, there’s hours of gameplay to be handed out in the single-player, a fair trade-off to the short campaign. However, it’s the same ten battles each time, so frustration may begin to set in on the seventh time around.

The main seller, however, is the improvement to the already intuitive interface. The sidebar from C&C3 has been replaced with a pop-up radial menu, making it even easier to quickly build and control units. The team has met the challenge and proved that RTS is feasible on console, and while there is a bit of stickiness and mismanagement, another year in the tank will make playing C&C on Xbox as easy as playing on PC.

In terms of graphic and general presentation, we’re not seeing anything we haven’t seen before. The game looks crisp and the presentation is cool, and the newer units look nifty, but it’s obviously the same graphics put into the original release, and so it’s really more retaining the status quo then improving things.

Is the game good? Kinda. If you like real-time strategy, especially the Command and Conquer series, if you like the lore and charm of the series, if you like trying to crack the tough shells of gameplay walnuts, this is a good choice. It’s probably the best and easiest tactical game on Xbox right now. You’ve gotta want it though...the learning curve and difficulty are steep, the story impenetrable without a large primer, and the single-player campaign fails to deliver.

All told, it is an expansion, sure, but for a stand-alone expansion, it’s worthwhile if you have the first one, and may even be good on its own if you prefer skirmish play. Just be prepared for Joseph D. Kucan and his bald head constantly monologueing at you.

Final Score: B+

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