Gaming Company of Heroes 2 Review

Company of Heroes returns to take on the ice cold Eastern front.
http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2013/06/25/company-of-heroes-2-review/1

 

I have lots of good memories of playing the first game, despite being pretty terrible

I picked up the complete collection on offer earlier in the year although I haven't got around to playing them again but even so this game does tempt me.
The idea of it being more of the same with a couple of improvements doesn't sound bad to me, but then again I'm one of those people who often doesn't touch the campaign of a strategy game, but just plays random maps (and sometimes multiplayer, although my memories of CoH multiplayer are even more brutal than most)

 

Well.. it's obviously a good, if not quite great, game. It's also a PC exclusive.

Yeah, I'll be buying it.

 

I am not surprised it seems to be only half a game after the issues with THQ. I can imagine many balls were dropped during this game's development. Sad to see though.

 

Pity they didn't follow this road with dawn of war 2 which to me departed too far from what I enjoyed in the original dawn of war. This is one I will probably wait to fall in price or more likely till all the expansions are out. I will only play it multiplayer with my bro so no rush to get online.

 

More of the same but with shinier graphics and a different backdrop, sounds good to me !

 

Played the open beta and found the top down view too restrictive, I wanted to zoom out further because it feels to close but that was as far as it would go. I may hold out for when it comes down in price, like Niftyrat I'll be playing mostly against my bro.

 

Looking at the shadows on that very last picture, I'd say the sun can't be more than 20 metres away...

 

Oooh, look, it's Call Of Company Battlefield 19.

Edit - yes, yes, I know, I'm just tired of absolutely all video games being about 20th century warfare.

 

I'm a long time COH player, and I simply don't get these reviews that are coming along and bashing the sequel for being more of the same and a lacklustre single player. Plus, do you really think you're in the best position to judge Soviet tactics/politics in WWII?

I'm about 7 missions through the single player right now, and I'm actually having more fun than with the original. Yes, the base mechanics are the same, but the missions themselves actually have some variety - hunting a Tiger in a deserted village with no supplies apart from what you can pick up and scavenge was pretty tense.

As for the conscripts shoring up squads...what's the problem? They're not a free unit, they cost resources to call in, and the ability to keep that three star squad alive is pretty damn useful. Yes, they arrive from off-map, but so does every other unit, which I think adds to the sense that you're a front commander calling in reinforcements from behind the lines. Tanks weren't built on the battlefield and soldiers don't appear from a tent in real life. So actually, I totally disagree - just because COH2 doesn't follow the convention doesn't mean it is wrong.

Graphically, I do agree however, that for the system punishment that the game hands out, you don't quite see it. Cut scenes are still macroblocking from compression, which is a real shame, and is arguably worse than the in-game graphics.

 

I'm not judging the soviet tactics, but rather the game is and it makes for quite an awkward experience because of it.

Agree somewhat that the missions do try for variety but ultimately they still feel a little flat, especially in the context of the story and cutscene presentation.

I actually kind of agree, on reflection, about the way troops are called up. However, it's when taken as a whole that the gameplay just feels clunky. The original got away with it because it was a new take on the idea but seeing the exact same camera height restrictions, halfway house emphasis on closeup combat, bizarre damage/toughness allocations, etc just becomes tiresome.

It feels like it needs to decide exactly what it wants to be - a close-quarters RTS that concentrates on a handful of units and does away with bases or something that has a bit more breadth and has an easier management system.

 

I think Relic are, somewhat clumsily, trying to put a human face on the sheer number of losses and callousness of the Soviet state. Whilst it doesn't necessarily work all the time, they do somehow have to marry the concept of the player feeling sympathy for the soldiers in the cut scenes whilst watching them get mowed down when they actually play (be it by Germans or Soviet commissars).

The camera closeness is a hallmark of COH. If it zoomed out further players would sit at that camera level, and never see the details, instead squads would become even more abstract (think more like Wargame: Airland Battle). As for the damage/toughness, where are you having problems? Tanks have become more realistic (try taking out a Tiger or Elepfant from the front...), whilst infantry still get absolutely demolished by explosives and close-quarter SMG fire. There's probably some balance tweaking to be done, but on the whole it sticks with the general COH feeling of borderline expendable units.

Your final suggestion, of doing away with bases, is Dawn of War. Different game, and a lot of people would be incredibly annoyed if that happened with COH. At its heart is is a game that does concentrate on a handful of units, squad play and abilities, with some minor elements of base building (Only 4 structures...).

 

Exactly the same for me, once you've gone strategic zoom, there is no going back.

 

But I think that's part of the design, the idea that you can only see so much at once, so you never truly have an overview of the whole thing, you're meant to be missing it

 

It is still my biggest problem with most RTS games since Supreme Commander showed me the light. Game design or not.

 

I had canned my pre-order after playing the beta for COH2, as personally I don't like how they have managed to negatively change the gameplay, while keeping it broadly similar (if that makes any sense!) . One of my mates was adamant that the full version is much better than the beta so I relented and picked up a steam key from kinguin, for a much more palatable £25.

While some of the additions are nice, and I confess I have not played very much of the full COH2 experience yet, I prefer the original COH to this, let alone the excellent mods like Europe at War or Back to Basics.

COH had a very fine tuned process of conflict escalation and a decent variety of tactical options within that, which made it fun. To me, COH2 seems to have broken that, feels a bit buggy and also performs quite a bit worse, while not looking much better.
I have already notice several instances of damage to and from units not being consistently applied and artillery and mortars are too early, too accurate and do way to much damage because of the two former issue. Don't get me wrong, arty could be a pain in the original COH but this is something else (even with the recent toning down via a day 1 patch).

I think relic will sort a lot of these issues out with patching, but it is disappointing and a bit jarring to see a game menu that is basically a social gaming and store front space, while suffering these issue and having £42 quids worth of day 1 DLC. Let alone that the steam price (and common DD price) was £40, for what feels like COH 1.5, rather than a full sequel.

To me, it also feel a bit rushed (despite having an additional 6 months of delay) and like it has not had a a lot of the refinement and optimisation it needs need even though it has been over 6 years since the first COH.

I think the game has a lot of potential but I do wish I had waited, picked it up after a decent amount of patching and in one of the sales it will likely be in.

The Relic of now are not the Relic who delivered us so many quality titles previously.

 

Nice touch at the end there. Dune 2, Warcraft, C&C. It wasn't multiplayer that made those games dammit, although in the case of C&C - it was multiplayer that killed it.

I wonder if the same thing has just happened with COH?

 

I never even played the single player campaigns in COH. Only ever played the multiplayer vs my housemates in 2v2 or 3v2 battles. Great fun.

I'll probably pick this up when it goes on sale.

 

One thing to say NHC Mod. Forget company2 i t s i s s h i t. The popcap is 100 but everything costs more upkeep, the worst thing I spotted was a Panther cost 16 popcap. I noticed this playing the free steam demo, after a couple of game we all got surveyed the biggest mistake was popcap and in later updates the Panther went down to 11.
Basically the panther in NHC can either cost 6 popcap or nothing with unlimited popcap on. This good against AI.P.S. 2.7 NHC Version is due for increased support on new steam version.