I regret to inform anyone reading this that yet again, a game-review finds yours truly having to comment on the product without having completed the whole thing, due to a bug. I apologize sincerely to anyone who follows my reviews(yes, both of you... oh? Well, just you, then, and I thank you for sticking it out), and I hope that this will be the last review that necessitates this notification. The bugs in this left me completing no more than a third of the levels(and, on that, do take into consideration that the mission selector that came with the installation of the pack that held the original Command & Conquer, as well as this add-on, let me choose each level individually, so I tried every single one of them, meaning, two thirds were bugged; be forewarned), but I did try each of them, so I would say that I am still able to review this. First off, I should make absolutely clear that this has nothing new to add apart from the missions. All the briefings are now text-based, no actors in fitting locations telling you what the situation is. I realize that Kane is listed as appearing in this, but I can't claim that I spotted him anywhere(though that may be due to the numerous game-freezing bugs, that I hope(but can't say for sure) are exclusive to my copy). Just about all of the cinematics are either ones we saw in the original game, a few are reused footage with minor alterations, such as setting, but hardly any new(if any at all). This is not a negative aspect I am pointing out, I am merely informing anyone interested that if they had hoped for any additions other than more levels, they are out of luck. Unlike some later installations, such as Tiberium Sun: Firestorm, no new units or features are added, just to bring this to the attention of anyone reading. There are 15 new missions... 7 GDI and 8 NOD. As this is the only new thing found within this game add-on, the quality of these levels are what I shall concentrate on within this review. The general idea seems to be that these take place around the same time as the main game, presumably simultaneously with it(as the first Tiberium War is over by the end of the main game, Command & Conquer... with whichever side you chose to play having emerged victorious, as is the case with the later games in the franchise), and, going by the title, I would further speculate that these are supposed to be the missions you didn't hear about during the game itself. The scenarios are quite good, some rather creative ideas in several of them. The objectives have about the same range as the main game... destroy the enemy's presence in the area, locate something, locate and destroy something, locate and retrieve/rescue something or someone. The level design is really good throughout the production. There wasn't a single mission that was not fulfilling to explore the operational area of, or where the logic in the construction and design of said area was lacking or faulty. As in the game itself, some of these levels take you past inhabitable areas, complete with civilians, who aren't always completely helpless, as well as buildings, some of which may contain bonuses. The difficulty follows the end of the original, meaning, the levels start out being about as hard as they were at the very end of the game, and go from there. Anyone who completed the game itself and are looking for more challenge, this is what you want. For just over half a dozen levels on either side, this gets more taxing as it goes along, starting right at where the last one left off at the end. This also means that the units, buildings and weapons that were available to you at the end of the first game are now with you from the start here, though of course you aren't just given a legion of Commandos, or the capacity to produce Mammoth Tanks right away; the difficulty goes in the same upward arc that the Tech Tree does, so for each new cool unit or super-weapon you are granted, the enemy gets or has(read: *has*) something of equal or greater efficiency and strength, the usual being greater. That's part of what creates the challenge, after all. Something that makes things interesting is the way some things that are seen in the game itself are played around with a little; in at least one level, the well-known NOD Flamethrower unit is modified to be a "Chem Warrior", with the first word being a very obvious abbrev. for "chemical"... especially evident once you see his form of attack: An acid-y looking green cloud of poisonous material, akin to the flame of the original unit, having a dramatically *nasty* effect on its human victims... this is the time to either make very good friends with The Brotherhood of NOD or find yourself a darned good hiding place. The Commando is also used well and plenty, without the game ever going to the well one too many times. In fact, it all seemed very nicely put together; all the production efforts were spent on the missions, and I'd definitely say that it shows, in that the levels are all really, really good, and they manage to make this an interesting add-on(considering it's only new missions it has to offer the player... and this is coming from someone who've been spoiled with new features and additions galore in many add-ons of the late 90's and a few of the early years of the new millennium). Not one mission is dull or feels as if we've done it before. This is a great add-on, one that I hope any fan of the regular game gets to play(and, by now, *has* gotten to play, as this is more than a decade old). I recommend this to RTS gamers. 7/10
