Company of Heros (PC), my opinion

[jediali]

Ok so its not a new game, but having bought it recently i think its the best game i have played over the last 12 months.

It combines the best attributes of a good strategy game such as command and conquer generals. The controls and visual interface is very similar and is easy to adapt to.

The storyline is pro-america as of cod,bia and moh - but the action and tone of the excellent cutscenes are well judged. Its not often i am not pressing esc to avoid cutscenes.

The graphics are supposedly cutting edge for the genre. I would love to max all the settings but my athlon 64/nvidea 7600GT doesnt cope. The best feature of the graphics i feel is the changing landscape. When you blow things up (eg a building) it deteriates gradually and blends with the other map features. The water and shaddows make an impressive difference too. The default isometric viewpoint can be panned rotated, elevated so any angle is possible

The campaign takes you throught the common keypoints of the western front. The parachute drops, omaha beach, eliminating field guns, carentan etc etc. The gameplay typically involes moving groups of troups form cover to cover and making attack moves. The game shows clearly when your troops are in good/bad cover. This aids the enjoyment of making tactical moves and succeeding in clever flanking maneuvers. This objective is also achieved well in brothers in arms.

This game requires you to use riflemen, snipers, engineers, machine gunners, tanks, scouts and defensive structures together to complete missions. It is often impossible without 1 or 2 of the unit types. One cool feature is that the higher the building that you put a sniper in the more effective they are. Mortar team accuracy depends on firing distance. riflemen/airborne troops are the bread and butter of the operation and become great with veterancy and upgrades. They are clever and seek cover and wall lines well. As you defeat the opposition you take their equipment (bazookas, mg, 88's).

Upon experience you get command points (like c&c) to buy technologies, you can choose diferent routes in infantry, armour and artilary.

Skirmnish mode is fun and allows you to try diffrenet tactics, the enemy shows good AA and retaliates quickly and defends with different units. It tends to probe your defense then snds tanks or heavy guns at the weakest points.

I run v1.2 and have had one bug issue - troops stuck in some rubble, but 1.4 patch is available now. I give it 9/10

[jorismo]

Nice review. When it was released I hesitated to buy it but at the end didn't. Reading this is making me regret my decision a bit

[Cotterik]

Ive never paid attention to this because I dont think that WWII is a sucessful topic for the genre of game, but ill have to check it out.

[jediali]

ww2 is simply the subject but the game is playable regardless. Its just like c&c generals except with some real story and less mechatronics. i just ignore the anti-nazi and pro-americanisms

[digitalcraft]

Unless it was played from the Nazi point of view, i'd find it wierd if it didn't have pro americanisms and anti nazisms :P

besides, isn't being anti nazi a.. good thing? >.>; (and I don't think many people thought america was in the wrong in WWII did they???)

[Roy Visser]

multiplayer is friggin awesome

[jediali]

Unless it was played from the Nazi point of view, i'd find it wierd if it didn't have pro americanisms and anti nazisms :P

besides, isn't being anti nazi a.. good thing? >.>; (and I don't think many people thought america was in the wrong in WWII did they???)

yeah, your right.

[jediali]

multiplayer is friggin awesome

i get wasted by they online pros everytime

[Cotterik]

ww2 is simply the subject but the game is playable regardless. Its just like c&c generals except with some real story and less mechatronics. i just ignore the anti-nazi and pro-americanisms

is it brought forward and as playable as the C+C series though? because im a big fan of the series therefore if it wasnt as good i'd instantly notice and itd make it worse to play

[jediali]

The gameplay of this game is very similar to command and conquer generals. Just imagine older technology and a different atmosphere. The game i believe builds upon c+c to includde cleverer AI and visual effects, plus a more exciting and involving campaign. If you like C+C you will like this as long as you dont mind WW2.

I have been playing more skirmishes on hard, i am still impressed by the AI. The oposition actually flank your progressing trrops. The tactics become so involving and even on the same map, a different approach is just as much fun. I really feel limited by the population cap without territory though, especially if you want a large tank which consumes more population on its own.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Is this the one where everything is destructible, including the units?

[jediali]

Is this the one where everything is destructible, including the units?

i suppose , yes. If you detstroy a world building gradualy becomes less useful. A tank will lose a gunner, lose control or its main gun before it actually explodes.troops are produced in units (usually 6 men) they all share a single health bar and become less effective towards dying, if one soldier dies the unit can be remanned if near base, therefore veterancy isnt lost.There are three men in a mortar team and they will all take turns to take over firing the mortar until theya re all killed, same with mg. I set up a barage of big german cannons as a defense once and because they continually shot at the same spot of ground they created huge black craters in the map.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Yeah, I was talking to a guy at work and he was saying he had an RTS and when you're guys got killed it was quite gory.

[Cotterik]

sounds pretty good! i just dont know whether to get this or wait for tiberium wars

[jediali]

get both? new C+C will be more advanced though.