Live Action, back with a vengeance

C&C3 simply reeks of high production values. This is most obvious in the hallmark of the series, full-motion video cutscenes. FMV now appears in-game as well: you get advice in both GDI and Nod campaigns by your intelligence officer. You don't have to watch just any old face in the small video window, either. The most oft-displayed talking heads in the game belong to Jennifer Morrison and Josh Holloway, known to TV audiences around the world as Dr. Allison Cameron from House M.D. and James 'Sawyer' Ford from Lost. Other major names in C&C3's cast include Michael Ironside typecast as GDI General Jack Granger, and Billy Dee Williams (who interestingly did a short cameo on Lost just last week) as the new GDI Director.

General Granger is outraged by the Nod terror attack

Josh Holloway pulls off the role of a Nod field officer nicely, but why does he talk about castration all the time?

The actors are iconic of the design philosophy and creative influences behind C&C3: the game tips its hat to Starship Troopers and Star Wars, and displays the same high production quality as recent big-budget TV series. Joseph D. Kucan is the sole remaining actor with previous C&C experience. He makes a return as one of the favorite villains of computer gaming: Kane, the charismatic and insane leader of the Brotherhood of Nod. Even though the cast, set and props are a far cry from C&C's ultra-low budget bluescreen full motion video, C&C3 has managed to retain the original's campy style. This has to be a conscious choice on the director's part, because with the resources they had, C&C3's screenwriters could have attempted an ambitious sci-fi story a la Babylon 5 or the Battlestar Galactica remake. Speaking of Galactica, Tricia Helfer as the insurgent Nod commander, as well as Jennifer Morrison are both guilty of pretty stiff overacting here, while most of the male cast members get into their roles with poker-faced humor.