Company of Heroes

Company of Heroes is the second game that I got to try out while I was over in Singapore. Like F.E.A.R., the game is highly critically acclaimed and has won numerous awards.

CoH is a Real Time Strategy game set during WWII - more specifically, the Allied invasion of German occupied territory. It tells the tale of Able Company and starts with their D-Day landing on Omaha Beach. Only managed to get halfway through the second mission so not really sure how far the story goes. I'm guessing it doesn't encompass the whole of the invasion but you never know!

RTS is a genre which I used to enjoy very much (back in the days of Dune 2 and Command & Conquer). However, these days, its a genre which generally doesn't interest me much. The main reason for this is that I kinda feel overwhelmed playing recent RTSs. In the newer RTSs, it just feels like there is so much going on that its hard to keep track (I know, I know - I'm getting old!). As a result, these so called strategy games end up feeling more like tactical battles.

However, when I played CoH, I had a great time. So what was the difference?

The main difference between CoH and some other RTS games I tried is that CoH allows you to issue commands while the game is paused. This lets you survey the battlefield before issuing commands to your soldiers. The end result is that, rather than running around randomly, you can really take time to plan your strategy.

The AI in this game is also done extremely well. Even if you don't micromanage your troops, they do a pretty good job of looking after themselves. More importantly, they act like they have intelligence. Example - I play FPSs quite a lot. One of the first things you learn in playing FPSs is that you never walk down the middle of the road ala Hollywood - you just get shot down. In CoH, the AI does a fantastic job of simulating this. I ordered my troops to head to a crossroads. Rather than just walking up to the crossroads, my squad of 5 soldiers split into two groups - each group hugging the hedges on either side of the road as they walked. Little touches like this really impress me and help bring you into the game.

Definitely a game which I will have to check out when I have time. Arrghh! So many games, so little time!