Boy, it’s been quite a while without any news on Kane’s Wrath - the expansion to last year’s blast-of-an-RTS that was Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. But with the game just around the corner, we’re starting to see a lot more assets designed specifically to make us play through Tiberium Wars all over again, including the 12 new screenshots you see right here. While you enjoy their goodness and dream about blasting enemies into oblivion with an Ion Cannon or a Nuke, we’ll just go and drool all over Natasha Henstridge as Alexa, who is all set to join Joe Kucan (Kane) and Carl Lumbly from Alias in the HD-cutscenes that made us drool all over Tricia Helfer (poor Kilian) and Jennifer Morrison in Tiberium Wars. And for the love of God, why the heck does Tiberium always remind me of Kryptonite?

Hit the jump for the screenshots.

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We had already brought you news and screenshots earlier about the upcoming expansion to this year’s hugely successful C&C3: Tiberium Wars,  which has been aptly named “Kane’s Wrath“. And now, we have an official trailer to go with the news as well, which can be found here.

Kane is an icon in a sense, and probably one of THE most enigmatic villains in all of gaming; one whom this expansion will teach us more about. The expansion is set both before and after Tiberium Wars, detailing everything from the beggining to Kane’s legacy and CABAL, to beyond the ‘ascension’ we see at the end of Tiberium Wars. The expansion will also add in several new units to both sides (it seems that the tick tank is returning in a fashion, as are the disruptor tanks of yore); while it’s most definitely confirmed that the Scrin will be involved in some way or the other.

Although in a way it’s not too good either. One of the qualities of Kane as a villain is the sheer amount of mystery that surrounds him; the fog that conceals not just his motivations, but the circumstances that led him to where he is now. To lift that fog is an anticipation that runs through the blood of many a C&C fan. Yet..yet there is that tiny bit of doubt…that tiny hint of fear that what one sees isn’t the grand masterplan that one would’ve imagined.

Such unveiling and disappointment has been seen in many other games before; where a previously cool, unique and somewhat strange villain is turned into nothing more than a tool or something incredibly shallow. But then, on the other hand there have been unveilings which have been awesome. Examples dont easily come to mind right now; but they are there, and the feeling still hangs over one’s self.

Either way, this one little gamer hopes that EA pulls it all off just right, and that the final legacy of the Messiah and Tiberium lives up to his expection - if not surpasses it. Until the game is released though, we’ll just have to wait and see.

No, this isn’t a spambot, nor is it an ad for that matter. You heard the topic right - there’s free stuff to be found on the internets, and now with 150% more legal awesome!

What I’m referring to, of course, is the announcements from both Ubisoft and EA, releasing some of their games to the public for FREE! That’s right, you heard it. FREE! (oh God was there ever a more glorious word?!)

To be more specific, EA has announced that the Windows XP version of Command & Conquer: Tiberium Dawn (the same one found in their C&C Pack, “The First Decade”) is now freeware, and is available for download in celebration of the 12th anniversary of the series. More details and download links can be found here.

This is a higly welcomed move - C&C Tiberium Dawn was pretty much what pushed the modern RTS era into what it is today. While older veterans may know that the system actually originated from the old Dune 2 games, C&C is pretty much what made it the standard. To see it free and legal - and most importantly working in xp - really brings about a tear to this old retro fool.

However, its not the only game that’s gone freeware. Ubisoft has also released three of their titles - albiet, ad-supported - on FilePlanet for subscribers. The ads are supposedly given only on loading and menu screens, but it may depend from game to game. The three games in this case are Far Cry, Raving Rabbids and Prince of Persia: The Sands of time. You can find the article on it here.

The direct download links to the files can be found here:

Raving Rabbids
Farcry
Prince of Persia

And to clarify: from the looks of it, you need just a basic account on FilePlanet to download PoP and Farcry, while Raving Rabbids doesn’t seem to have public servers (just yet anyway). With a little bit of searching, one may be able to find mirrors for the games as well. Or you could just them get them off the torrents at GameUpdates.org.

We’d already given you the heads up on the new expansion to the hit EA RTS Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Here’s a bit more official annoucement from EA, along with three awesome images from the upcoming game. Enjoy!

“The reaction to Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars has been tremendous. Fans and critics alike appreciated the combination of fast, fluid, and fun RTS game play with a deep story and the classic full-motion video sequences that are a hallmark of the Command & Conquer series,” said Mike Verdu, VP and Executive Producer at EA Los Angeles (EALA). “I’m excited that we’re able to return to the Tiberium universe with Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath. This expansion has an impressive new single player campaign, a new global strategic layer that adds depth to the familiar Command & Conquer style gameplay, and several fun, all-new toys that range from versatile combat soldiers to giant armoured walkers.”

The single player campaign will allow players to experience a new story that spans 20 years – from the rebirth of the Brotherhood of Nod after the Second Tiberium War through the dramatic events of the Third Tiberium War and beyond. The story is told through a new set of high-definition live action video sequences starring a celebrity cast. Joe Kucan, the original actor who portrayed the character Kane in Command & Conquer™ games over the last decade, will reprise his role as the megalomaniacal leader of the Brotherhood of Nod. Other details of the cast have yet to be announced.

So, nope, you won’t know if the lovely Tricia Helfer and the LOST superstar Josh Holloway will be reprising their roles until EA decides to open its mouth again, which should be pretty soon.

(Click images for higher resolution versions)

I usually scream at the money-hungry gold-eaters at EA and how they’re killing creativity and good gameplay with every iteration of their sports and racing games, but then, there are some great gems to come out of their studios as well, like this year’s RTS extraordinaire, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars.

For those of you that missed the first episode of the Command & Conquer 3 TV’s Battlecast premiere last night, EA has announced that not only is a new patch for the game on its way, but so was an expansion. Now, with EA, milking franchises by making one expansion after another is usual, but in this case, I welcome it, since the game is by far one of the best RTSes I’ve had the privilege of playing. Titled Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath, the expansion details the story of the NOD leader Kane’s rise to power from the previous game, all the way through Tiberium Wars and beyond. Talking about the new global domination mode that will find its way into the upcoming expansion, producer Jim Vessella called it “Risk on steroids”, and added that new units will be introduced for each faction, (Yes, the Scrin are back in the expansion) and on top of that, each faction will also be getting two sub-factions with unique units for each.

The expansion is scheduled to hit both the Xbox 360 and the PC sometime early 2008, and to sort out the control issues that plagued the Xbox 360 version, making it literally impossible to win later Acts on the console version, the developers have promised that a new “radial interface” will be made available for the Xbox 360, to make console RTSers lives a lot more easier. Now if they would only throw in a couple of more super weapons, just so I can use the Ion Cannon and the Rift Generator some more.

Command & Conquer TV: BattleCast Primetime Episode 01:
Watch / Download (Flash Video, requires player / 165 MB)