During the past several months, I read several articles about a soon-to-be-released Best Strategy Game of E3 and heir apparent to the Game of the Year Award, Company of Heroes.

Who among us have not read about and anticipated “soon-to-be-released” PC games, saved pre-release magazines articles and bookmarked Internet sites describing the PC game that you “must have” to be at peace with the universe (again), viewed pre-release screen shots of beautifully rendered action graphics and went to bed thinking about fulfilling the promise of the ultimate gaming experience.  Company of Heroes was marketed with just such hoopla.  I admit that I am among those impulsive gamers who buy PC games immediately upon release.  So when the Company of Heroes release date was announced, I rushed to the local electronics store with credit card in hand to buy my own personal copy of Company of Heroes.  Was I to become yet again a victim (sigh) of media hype or would Company of Heroes deliver as promised?  

With the game finally in my hands I performed the acid test that all gamers should, but frequently do not, perform before buying any PC game.  I am, of course, referring to checking system requirements.  If your system only meets the minimum system requirements, I recommend that you stay away from Company of Heroes.  This game is a graphically intense program and you must be reasonably close to or exceed the recommended specs to fully enjoy the experience.  There is a huge difference between recommended and minimum specs.

With that prerequisite filled, make no mistake about it:  Company of Heroes delivers on its promise of excellence.  But it’s not without its downsides that I hope to make you aware of before you buy this game.

OK, here goes.  As mentioned before, Company of Heroes is a graphically intense program so please assure yourself that your computer is a Pentium IV 3.0 GHz processor or equivalent, has 1GB of RAM and a 256MB NVIDIA/GeForce 6800 series or better graphics card.

While the game, which comes on 6 CDs, installs, you might as well start reading the manual.  You will only gain three significant tidbits of information: (1) a short description of the units that are in the game; (2) that the commander controls units, not individuals; and (3) a recommendation that the tutorial be played first.  I would also recommend the latter.  The tutorial covers only the most elementary of tactics but at least you’ll have the basics down pat and, as a bonus, you’ll have the time to enjoy the outstanding and detailed graphics of Company of Heroes.

The tutorial is divided into four parts – basic training, infantry combat training, base operations, and armor training.  The tutorial recommends that Company of Heroes is best played at the default camera setting – looking down at a slight angle.  I do not personally like this view, but I did find all other angles and views disorienting and not terribly useful.  Infantry training explains using cover, flanking, special abilities, and upgrading.   Base operations training discusses base construction, capturing territory, and building defenses.  The tutorial exposes that resource accumulation is an integral and crucial part of Company of Heroes.  It further instructs that building watch towers is important and accelerates the collection of necessary resource points.

Long story made short, the tutorial can easily be completed in about an hour.  Thereafter, if you feel ill-prepared for the game once you begin to play Company of Heroes, take consolation in the fact that you have plenty of company, hero or otherwise (lame pun intended).  Just imagine how a WW II era GI felt after completing boot camp and faced an uncertain future.  Believe me, you’ll need that tense feeling of uncertainty and nervous tension to be successful playing Company of Heroes.

The tutorial is very structured, i.e, guided, but therein lies my first criticism.  It would have been nice if a section either in the manual, tutorial, or the pre-battle briefings had been a bit more instructive.  This is not game for casual gamers.  For example, I’ve played a number of the scenarios in the Skirmish mode at the easiest setting and perhaps won only two skirmishes after months of constant play.  In both “victories,” I’m not at all sure why or how I did it.  More on this point when Skirmish mode is discussed below.

The second criticism relates to a lengthy load times in all modes.  However, given the wide scope of Company of Heroes and the highly detailed graphics, this is not so much as a criticism as a statement of fact.

Thinking that the Skirmish mode would be short and only a little more difficult than the basic training, I started playing one of the fifteen skirmishes.  I chose this mode because it seemed to be a logical starting point.  However, I soon noticed that this game’s definition of “skirmish” was not vaguely like my own.  To me, a skirmish is a brief, almost accidental battle or probing of one side against the other.  In Company of Heroes, the gamer could well play in this mode for months and still not exhaust possibilities.  This is made possible by gamer controlled variables – German or American units; victory conditions of varying declining points (1000, 500, or 250) or annihilation; variable or fixed location of resource base; difficulty level (easy to expert); and higher than normal resources at the start or normal resource level at the start.

I understand what “annihilation” means well enough.  Nevertheless, without an explanation the “why and how” of game rules and their meanings, victory becomes almost impossible except, as I have done, by accident.  Believe me, my many defeats weren’t due to a lack of trying.  Whether you play a defensive strategy with tank traps, barbed wire, land mines, sandbags, and concealed ambushes or aggressively or anywhere in between, in my opinion this mode of Company of Heroes is unfairly biased or not designed for the casual players or so-so tacticians.  Winning easily and all the time is no fun but neither is always losing.      

The screenshot to the right is from one of the Skirmishes with the camera angle that I prefer.  As you can see, from this angle the gamer cannot see the entire battlefield clearly, a fact that means disaster is at hand and unseen.    

If you are a casual gamer but well past the arcade stage of gaming development, may I suggest Campaign as place to totally enjoy the Company of Heroes experience and a good place to be as you begin playing this game.

The Campaign module consists of a story line that follows the fictitious Able Company, from D-Day to the crossing of the Rhine and into Germany.

The Campaign only allows one to play as an American, so “what if” scenarios are not an option.  The first mission – D-Day landing – is full of visual and audio cues and help in achieving mission objectives.  That, of course, changes to incomplete information and only generalized briefings as you progress through the Campaign even if you do not adjust the level of difficulty setting beyond Easy (highest level is Expert).  Unlimited saves are allowed, but I suggest playing each mission through without saving to get the full effect of a real battle.  Each of the fifteen battles in the Campaign will require constant adjustments to one’s battlefield strategy, but this is one of the big reasons I consider Company of Heroes an excellent game.

The screenshot to the left is of the D-Day Landing, Mission #1 of the Campaign.  Notice the various cues.  The map insert on the bottom right is available throughout game play and clicking on it brings up a detailed map of the battlefield.

The one quirk in the Campaign Mode resides in Mission #13 – “Mortain Counter Attack.”  For reasons known only to Relic, victory conditions change from simply meeting objectives to the infamous declining points system.  Perhaps I am alone in not understanding this system but as I previously pointed out, the program’s manual omits explanation beyond general terms of “kill the enemy,” “capture resource points,” “build up resources,” and “increase and defend territory.”  

Without an understanding of the game rules and with a progressive campaign scheme of increasing difficulty, by mission thirteen, total frustration suddenly sets in.  Not illogically, Mission #12 – Mortain must be well fought to be able to repel the German armor and artillery attacks.  For me, that meant I was not able to play the last two missions in the Campaign.  I only discovered this fact when I played Campaign Mode for a second time and actually did better in Mission 12 than previously.

Given all of the above, what does one need to know to make an intelligent decision on Company of Heroes?  Firstly, the graphics are outstanding and these visuals are supported by above average voice acting, appropriate background music, and sound work that differentiates between the sounds of different weapons.  No, the ground does not shake with the ominous sound of approaching heavy armor nor is the terror of incoming 88s shelling replicated here, but it’s close enough for government work.

In short, this is an excellent strategy game, but be forewarned:  Relic should have titledt his game Company of Heroes – Only for Those Who Take Their Gaming Very Seriously.