The gets some natty futuristic stuff to play with. From the EMP Patriots which will disable the bad guys' buggies, to the Laser Tower and the Advanced control rods, the Yanks are going to be coming at their rivals with some serious firepower. The Spectre gunship can be called upon to rain gun and mortar fire on a target while troops can be upgraded with chemical suits to stick one at those nasty GLA types, who you can guarantee will employ their WMDs when given the chance. The Chinook can become a combat Chinook, less likely to fall out of the sky when spat at due to the addition of gunports for the occupants. There's a Microwave Tank to disable structures and cook nearby infantry and a Laser Tank which needs power to be maintained at the base for its highly damaging beam of light. The concept of the drones has been expanded, with some now carrying missiles and others being camouflaged. Planes can now carry bunker busting bombs which annihilate anything lurking in a tunnel network and pleasingly make the ground swell as they incinerate the terrorists inside. A supply line option will allow the to collect money faster while the Firebase will keep out the nasties with its howitzer and four infantry emplacements.

There will also be three new neutral structures for the taking. The Repair Pad will provide a place to fix up the battle weary, the Howitzer will blast away like any big gun should, and re-enforcements will be the reward for whoever captures the associated building. These should increase the actual of the game rather than the tactical differences the other changes will make. Why these games aren't called RTTs is anyone's guess.

The single player campaign will have five missions for each side. The GLA is trying to make a comeback from its defeat in the first war and Dr Thrax, this game's own Chemical Ali, plans to rid the world of the USA with his toxic arsenal. The Chinese have decided that is the best place to head for some good old territorial expansion, and the US is getting ready to hold back the hordes of the undemocratic for the free world once more, hopefully picking up some nasty WMDs along the way. The developers promise us an even more cinematic experience this time, with more cutscenes and emotional involvement in the proceedings. For example, the missions will be preceded by new reports for 'embedded reporters' covering the developments. Whatever, I'm sure we all just want blow stuff up anyway.

Which is something we will have plenty of opportunity to do in the all new Generals Mode. The player gets to play as one of nine different Generals, all with their own unique units, upgrades, taunts and army load-outs. Each one will give the player differing war strategies to try out, the idea being to push the player into playing out the many differing styles that can be used in the game. Fancy just bombing the crap out of everything, sitting and defending your base with nukes or rushing the enemy with waves of hardcore infantry. How about playing as GLA General Prince Kasaad, master of camouflage, or US General Townes, tooled up with 21st century laser technology. The trick will be to decide how to play off against the inherent strengths and weaknesses of each General as the player works their way through the in a fashion similar to "Vs" modes in fighting games. These Generals can also be used in the skirmish and games, and once a General has been defeated it can be used online.

There's also the option to use a right-click interface for the first time in C&C history, and a Battle School which will record your efforts for later analysis. The world builder has been tidied up and optimized a bit, and fansites will be able to have their own ladder systems backed-up by EA. There are some more battle honours to collect; including one for winning the General's Challenge mode, for defeating all the General types and a few others.

All in all this looks like setting a new benchmark for expansion packs. The amount of content is fantastic and my only personal worry is that the perfect balancing of units in the first game may be messed up by the new arrivals. Oh, and that I will finally actually wet myself while battling against my flatmates on the old LAN. With the game being slated in for a September release which it looks like achieving (having recently gone gold), the future of politically incorrect warfare is looking fine indeed.

By Sam Gibson