Company of Heroes

Company of Heroes, from the developers of Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War, is a real-time strategy game that drops you into the fray of World War II Europe. From the bloody beaches of Omaha to the deadly firefights of the Bocage, you attempt to lead your troops to victory one battle at a time. The game comes with three modes of play -- single-player campaign, single-player skirmish and online multiplayer. All the missions in the single-player campaign take place during the Battle of Normandy (codename Operation Overlord) and are played from the perspective of the American Able Company (part of the 29th Infantry Division) and Fox Company (101st Airborne Division). More varied maps are available in the skirmish and multiplayer modes, including many added through patches.

What really sets Company of Heroes apart from other real-time strategy games, much like Relic Entertainment's previous entry, is that you no longer train and control individual troops. Instead you deploy squads of soldiers. Players must train a balanced assortment of units in order to obtain victory over their adversaries. Most units can be upgraded and equipped with special accessories that are either more powerful or suited for specific tasks. For example, the M4 "Crocodile" Sherman can smash through hedgerows when equipped with the Bulldozer upgrade. This is normally impossible for tanks in the game. Allied units can also advance through a progression system that awards XP for killing enemies and destroying hostile structures, while Axis units gain veterancy at the Kampfkraft Center through research. In both cases they become more effective in combat.

There's also a progression system for the players themselves, called Company Commander. It rewards XP for successful attacks and controlling territory sectors, which can then be invested in a two-branched ability tree. Each faction has three ability trees. The Allied forces trees include Infantry Company, Airborne Company and Armor Company, while the Axis has the Defensive Doctrine, Blitzkrieg Doctrine and Terror Doctrine. The nature of the abilities are diverse. Some may be used to call airborne support, including bombardment, while others can call in special units such as paratroopers, the King Tiger or the Calliope Rocket Launcher. At the same time, there are others which can give temporary bonuses to existing troops or capabilities to units that normally can't perform them. This way, riflemen can be used to construct defensive structures (tank traps, sandbags etc.), for example.

Resource gathering has gone in a different direction from that of other RTS games. Players must attempt to capture and control strategic points which bring in the much needed resources of manpower, munitions and fuel to build and train new units. At the same time it's necessary to have the right base buildings to deploy units on the battlefield, such as a tank depot to create tanks, barracks for riflemen, and motor pools for light armored vehicles. Only the Allied engineers and the Axis pioneers can raise new buildings, but some missions may start with a full or partial base already up and running. The Allies and the Axis generally have different types of base structures and combat units.

The game's Essence engine brings a level of depth to RTS games with deformable terrain and completely destructible environments. Units will take cover in burnt out craters and tanks can decimate buildings suspected of containing snipers.