Final Glimpse: Don't call it an expansion pack.
Don't call it an expansion pack. The upcoming release from THQ and Relic Entertainment builds on last year's hit Company of Heroes, taking players to new WWII battlefields and adding two new playable armies, each with its own unique unit types and tactics. Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts will be packed with more content than the original, including two (yes, two) separate single-player campaigns. What's more, the upcoming game is a stand-alone release: it won't require players to buy the original game.
Just in case you missed it, the original Company of Heroes was released about a year ago to widespread critical and popular acclaim. Right here on Gaming Target, our review gave the game a near-perfect score of 9.8 out of ten possible points. The game had a cinematic feel not generally found in the RTS genre—it gave players plenty of the fast-paced action usually associated with FPS games, and it did it in a handsome package. Company of Heroes upped the ante on RTS graphics, sound and physics, making a game that really drew the player into the experience by including Havok physics and DX10 support. And of course it didn't hurt that the folks at Relic had games like Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Homeworld under their collective belt.
That would be an intimidating pedigree for any game to live up to, but Opposing Fronts seems to be on the right track so far. First, this isn't just another hastily thrown together expansion pack that rehashes the same ground as the original. As already mentioned, this game includes two separate single-player campaigns. That's 17 missions to run through before you even get to the multiplayer. One campaign gives the player control over the British 2nd Army during the liberation of Caen, France. These are troops specialized in defending terrain at all costs, and they'll get several new fortification options, including trenches, antitank emplacements, mortars, and antiaircraft emplacements. They'll also have the unique ability to pick up and move their headquarters as needed. It seems like these units will be great for repelling enemy assaults while slowly moving forward to gain ground and win objectives. They aren't limited only to their bases, though. The Royal Commandos are part of this group, and they're good for building forward bases, since they've got the ability to bring in troops and even tanks using gliders. British troops will also have a new veterancy system in which only their officers level up between battles. The officers will, however, give combat bonuses to all nearby units.
The other new playable faction is the “German Panzer Elite,” Relic's name for the highly mobile forces that defended the Netherlands against the massive Allied invasion known as Operation Market Garden. In contrast to the British 2nd Army, the Panzer Elite will be a mechanized force that depends on moving fast and hitting the enemy hard. They'll be the only troops in the game that don't build bases and headquarters. Instead they work out of their vehicles, using halftracks to set up command centers, hold terrain, and gather resources. They'll have the fast-moving scout vehicles they'll need to keep the assault moving, and they'll rely on a special tank-destroying vehicle called the Jagdpanther, the “Hunting Panther.” It's armed with a heavy 8.8 cm antitank gun and an MG-34 machine gun that will keep the ground troops pinned down. And all that's packed into 45 tons of seriously sloped armor on a low-profile chassis. In short, the JagdPanther—along with the King Tiger—will make the Panzer Elite a force to be reckoned with. These tough units will be expensive, though, and the German side will field smaller forces than other factions.
Both of these factions will appear in the multiplayer game, too. In fact, this game promises to beef up the multiplayer game of the original by allowing for cross-play on-line between the two versions: the U.S. and Wermacht factions of the original will be able to face off seamlessly against the armies of the new game. Opposing fronts also adds dynamic weather and light effects to the single and multiplayer games that will actually affect gameplay. For instance, if it starts to rain during a match, the excess wet will affect visibility. If the rain persists, it vehicles will bog down as the terrain gets muddied. In the multiplayer, moderators of on-line matches will probably have the ability to set day/night and weather conditions. Players of the original game will be able to add weather and dynamic light cycles via a forthcoming patch. Speaking of patches, Relic is improving the mechanics of the on-line play by improving matchmaking, adding an observer mode, and upgrading the game's stat tracking system, and it sounds like all of these features will become available to players of both versions of the game.
