Company Of Heroes 2 - The Russian Front Preview ~ Alex The Informer

The Bloody Eastern Front

The Russian Winter along with the endless supply of men and machine has brought the final demise of Nazi Germany. Every battle in the Russian front is so fierce that millions of soldiers on both sides have died during this bloody conflict. All the carnage and mayhem are accurately depicted in one of the best RTS (Real-Time Strategy) games of all time – COH 2 (Company of Heroes 2). The hype has never been so intense among strategy game fanatics as COH 2 is destined to debut on March, 2013. This sequel will cover the entire scope of the conflict – starting from Operation: Barbarossa up to the final assault on Berlin.

The campaign will exclusively cover the soviet side, but the focus of the game is on the lives of soldiers who fought and died on that conflict. According to Relic, the developer and publisher of the game, “We focus more on the soldiers during that time rather than the ideology or the politics of that era.” With the first impressions of the game, I noticed the sheer authenticity of the battlefield. As every weapon the Germans and Soviets used was accurately rendered along with their unique sounds. For instance, the Katyusha Multiple Rocket Launcher is so devastating and the screams of the rocket can really capture the horrors those German soldiers experienced during that time.

Company of Heroes has brought authenticity to the RTS genre, because it’s not all about efficient resource management or the perfect build order. You will not win battles by hoarding your troops then commanding them to attack your opponent’s base in one single sweep. It’s all about holding your ground and acquiring victory points, you will need to strategically place your troops into these important sectors and let your soldier defend them to the last man.

In Company of Heroes 2, the maps are more complex than its predecessor. Relic also added a new element to the game – True Sight Fog of War System. This particular system restricts the line of sight of your forces and reveals the parts of the map where you have an active scout. So, it is important to have forward troops or scouts to effectively see your enemies on the battlefield. The environment now can directly affect your soldiers – the freezing Russian Winter can slow your soldiers, they can even be stricken with hypothermia. This is also the case with your vehicles, because the extreme snow can slow them down or even reduced their visibility.

There are a lot of surprises we can expect about this game and I can’t wait to buy a collector’s edition of COH 2. I know it’s all worth the money, just like the first Company of Heroes. The multiplayer section of this game is also cool and competitive – as you can level your commander according to his abilities. You can also unlock vehicle skins like camouflage patterns or acquire better commanders if you reached a certain level in the multiplayer game. We can safely say that COH 2 is also a great online multiplayer game.