Reviews
PC Gamer - 96%
IGN - 9.4
Gamespot - 9.0
GameSpy - 5/5
Game Informer - 9/10
1UP 10/10
Eurogamer- 10/10
Features
"The Essence Engine" - Takes technology (the havok engine) usually limited to FPS's and beautifully integrates into the RTS genre.
"Enviromental Strategy" - Don't like that cute little french cottage? Drive a Tiger Tank through it! Despise that factory that the enemy is using to piss machine gun fire done on your infantry from? Level it with a howitzer barrage! By the end of a good multiplayer game the primary area of contention should look like the dark side of the moon... on fire.
"Living Soldiers" - Your soldiers just don't hold a static position. When under fire in the open your brave little men will seek shelter where ever they can, failing cover they will just hit the dirt. The effect is a much more real looking fight then ever presented by any RTS (yes even Dawn of War).
"Multiplayer" - The standard fair, ranked play and open play. Options are limited to either point based games (capture key positions to lower your enemies tickets) or annihilation. Hopefully this will change in the future.
"The Gimmick" - CoH's primary gimmick is it's experience points system. Kill someone, get some XP. Build something, get some XP. Capture Something, get some XP. You then use this XP to buy abilities for your company. Both sides start with 3 company choices that affect the way you play your game. The Americans :patriot: Have the Infantry Company (defense), Airborne (raiding), and Armor (smashy, smashy). The Nazis :nazi: get Defensive (hurr), Blitzkrieg (Woo Woo), and Terror (Big Rocket of Doom).
The Secondary gimmick lies in CoH's ground control system. Points are scattered about the map. Capturing a point gives you a certain kind of resource. Capturing points also gives you control of the ground around it. In the Victory Point mode, certain points, usually lined up in the middle of the map, will deplete your enemies tickets if you hold a greater number then your enemy. The more you hold, the faster they decrease.
Why should I play CoH?
That's a good question... Why should one play just another RTS? The best way I know how to explain the appeal of CoH is by using two totally unrelated games for comparasion. Remember when Medal of Honor: Allied Assault came out? Before everyone was tired of World War 2 games? Good times. Anyway. Remember the graphics and the game play? They were pretty good right, but still standard first person shooter fair. Then remember when Call of Duty came out? It was the same fundamental psuedo-realistic gameplay but the atmospherics and effects were so superior it felt like a brand new game. It was exciting and gritty and down right kick ass. CoH does the same thing to RTS's. It the same familiar experience, but it feels completely different.
The strategy is pretty generic. See a tank, get a anti-tank gun, see a group of infantry, bring up your mortars. The strategic appeal comes from using these generic units with a degree of finesse. Proper placement of units can determine the out come of a successful attack or defense, much more so then any other RTS I have ever played. A well timed flank attack can do some serious damage!
As I said before, where the game shines is truely it's presentation and detail. The violence, the explosions and the units are truely spectacular, especially up close.
Pictures
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YES THERE IS A MAP EDITOR ON THE WAY
Replay Sites
Game Replays.org
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