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Company of Heroes - The RTS for Every Call of Duty Fan
30 November, 2007 - From: Chevrolet @ Anarchic-X.com
You might be saying, "I'm really not a strategy game fan and would rather spend my time playing a shooter, such as Call of Duty 4. With Company of Heroes (CoH), you have to take another look. Here's the scoop on the best real-time strategy game since Starcraft in 1998, including strategy, tactical cover systems, retreat systems, commander trees, and more! Click Discuss below for more.
Features of Company of Heroes and its expansion pack Opposing Fronts:
World War II real-time strategy game featuring 4 unique factions that have distinctive strengths and weaknesses which the commander must recognize to attain victory.
- American
- British
- Wermacht
- Panzer Elite
A focus on strategy:
Many gamers dislike strategy games because of all the building and resource management needed to get to the action. Unlike many strategy games currently on the market, Company of Heroes has very little base building. In the average match, each player will build 3-5 buildings in their base and that is about it. The "resources" of the game are man-power, munitions, and fuel. Each resource is very important. Man-power allows the commander to produce infantry, munitions allows the use of certain abilities, such as grenades & artillery strikes, and fuel allows the production of armor units, such as a Panther tank. With little building to do and easy resource management, CoH gets the player into the action right away every game.
Tactical cover system:
In CoH, every object on any map provides a certain degree of cover. Whether the infantry are firing from behind a fence or from within a building, the game calculates the level of cover the units are in and provides defensive bonuses and increased resistance to suppression (such as from a MG-42). The tactical cover system even takes in consideration player units that are destroyed on the field. For example, if I built a Sherman tank and then it was destroyed later in a match, my infantry squad could then begin using the ruined tank for cover.
Retreat system:
The ability to press one button and have any infantry unit return to headquarters and survive to fight later in the match is invaluable. The retreat system allows a commander to effectively adapt to one’s opponent. While retreating, the infantry unit receives an increased defense bonus and has greatly increased movement speed. If a squad of Volksgrenadiers runs into several British infantry sections supported by officers, the Wermacht player can retreat that unit out of combat. Once the unit returns to HQ, it can be reinforced to replace lost squad members and return to the field to fight again. In other strategy games, this unit would be lost.
The Units:
Each faction implements infantry, tanks, artillery pieces, and other abilities that are historically accurate. The Wermacht player can build a Tiger tank, which has superior armor, shell penetration, and damage. The Americans, on the other hand, do not field such strong armor, but have access to the Crocodile Sherman, which sacrifices its normal cannon for a flame thrower. The British, who focus on taking and holding territory, can field the 25-pounder artillery. This fixed emplacement can lob shells down onto enemy positions from afar and is especially devastating against infantry. The Panzer Elite, who focus on quick strikes, have a unit called the mortar halftrack. This halftrack can quickly move around the field and shell the enemy with indirect fire. These units, among many others seen in Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan, are represented in Company of Heroes.
Commander trees:
As each enemy unit is killed during the game, the commander receives command points. These command points can be used to call in special units, artillery, or other abilities throughout the match. Each faction has 3 command trees to choose from. For example, the British have access to Royal Canadian Artillery, Commandos, and Royal Engineers command trees. Each command tree allows the commander to fight the enemy in different ways. As the British, I could choose Commandos to counter veteran Axis infantry, Royal Canadian artillery to counter an entrenched Axis position or enemy artillery, such as Nebelwerfers, or Royal Engineers to call in Churchill tanks to fend off the strong armor units that the Wermacht and Panzer Elite can deploy to the battlefield. Choosing a commander tree presents a major strategy decision for the player.
Single Player Experience:
Not a fan of multiplayer games or ready to dive into strategy multiplayer? Company of Heroes and its expansion, Opposing Fronts, provide three campaigns that span different time periods of World War II. The American campaign begins with D-Day in June 1944 and follows Able Company through the following months. Opposing Fronts, the expansion pack, provides two campaigns. The first one, where the commander takes control of the Panzer Elite, occurs during Operation Market Garden where the Axis defenders struggle to stop the American and British advance into Germany. The player also gets to play from the British perspective, where the objective is to wrestle control of a tactically important French city of Caen from Axis forces.
In Conclusion:
Company of Heroes incorporates many innovative features that has yet to be seen in other strategy games. It is not surprising that this game has received numerous game of the year or strategy game of the year awards from many reputable magazines and websites. This game is definitely worth a look for any PC gamer.
