System Requirements:

MINIMUM

• Windows® XP or Vista
• 2.0 Ghz Intel Pentium IV or equivalent or AMD Athlon XP or equivalent
• 512 MB RAM
• 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 64MB video card with Pixel Shader 1.1 support or equivalent and latest manufacturer drivers (see supported chipsets below)
• DirectX® 9.0c compatible 16-bit sound card
• 8x or faster CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive
• Keyboard, Mouse
• 6.5 GB of uncompressed free hard drive space (We recommend having 1 gigabyte of free space after installation)

RECOMMENDED

• 3.0 Ghz Intel Pentium IV or equivalent
• 1 GB RAM
• 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series or better

REQUIRED FOR MULTIPLAYER:

• 1 set of discs per computer
• For 6-8 player multiplayer or skirmish matches, the Recommended System Requirements are strongly suggested
• Internet (TCP/IP) and LAN (TCP/IP) play supported. Internet play requires broadband connection and latest drivers. LAN play requires network interface card and latest drivers.

Some of you may remember the preview I did of Company of Heroes last month (The article can be found here: http://exe.gotfrag.com/portal/story/33944). The game was in an open beta back then, and has now been released in retail form. What follows are my first impressions and review of the final game.

The install is one of the nicest I have ever seen. The game installs in the background while you are given a healthy dose of World War II history. The history tidbits are accompanied by screenshots rendered with the in game engine. The install took roughly 5 minutes on my machine.

After installing the game, launched it, eagerly anticipating another one of Relic’s wonderful CG intro sequences. When the game skipped from the nVidia logo to the loading screen, I died a little on the inside. This was short lived however, as when I started the single player campaign, I was greeted with one of the most amazing CG intro sequences I have ever had the privilege of seeing.

The intro starts off with the Relic “Underwater Floating Mine” logo, after which the camera pans up, and a boat can be seen driving over. The scene switches to a view of the top of the water, and no less than 30 boats can be seen heading to the shore. This, my friend, is the famed invasion of Omaha Beach. The view shows the soldiers inside the boat, waiting to hit the shore. When they finally hit the shore, they pour out of the boat, and half of them are mowed down by Machinegun Emplacements. The Captain of the squad leads his men bravely until he himself is gunned down.

Then the view changes to more soldiers in a boat, waiting to hit the shore, except now it’s being rendered by the in game engine.  The engine is so ridiculously detailed that it renders each individual unit’s face, allowing for in game cinema scenes to take place without switching to CG. The soldiers finally hit the beach, and now it’s up to you to command them.

The first level starts out with your squad on beach. Your first objective is to get 25 soldiers to the part of the beach known as the “Shingle”. You start out with one squad, but you can take control of any other squad you see by double-clicking on them. It is very likely that many of your men will be mowed down by MG42’s, but do not worry; there are a near limitless amount of reinforcements you can utilize. Once 25 soldiers have found their way to the Shingle, you must then take out a few Machinegun Emplacements.  After doing that, your goal is to make your way up the beachhead, destroying bunkers and Gun Emplacements along the way. After doing all of this, you’ll have completed the first mission, after which you’ll probably want to cool down or go out for a smoke, because it is intense.

The single player campaign is fantastic, but what would this review be if I didn’t talk about the multiplayer aspect of the game?

Let me tell you how the game is played in Skirmish and Multiplayer Mode. This is your typical RTS game. There are different armies to pick from, you need to gather resources to produce new units, and your goal is to destroy your enemy. There are only two armies in Company of Heroes: Allied and Axis. Both armies play differently, and have their own strengths and weaknesses. Allied players tend to be dependent on infantry, and Axis players tend to rely more on Tanks. There are of course resources to gather: Manpower, Munitions, and Fuel. You can obtain these resources by capturing areas in the game specific to that resource.

There are 3 Commander-types for each Army. This feature is very similar to Command and Conquer: Generals, you gain points depending on your actions, and you can spend them on various abilities or bonuses. The three Allied Commander-types are: Infantry, Armor, and Airborne. The three Axis Commander-types are: Defensive, Blitzkrieg, and Terror.

The Online Multiplayer mode in this game is fantastic. There are now 15 maps to choose from (my favorite of which is Montargis Region, simply because of the huge epic battles that it allows), a larger step up from the Beta. There are also two types of Online Games: Ranked and Unranked. Ranked allows you to be auto-matched to an opponent who is close to your rank, and the game will count towards your online score (just like Warcraft 3’s auto-matching system). Unranked is just how it sounds, the games are player-created (more like Starcraft’s system).

There are still only two game-modes: Annihilate and Victory Point Control. Annihilate plays exactly as it sounds, destroy your enemy’s HQ and you’re set. Victory Point Control plays similar to Battlefield 1942 and it’s sequels, you must hold special strategic points and deplete your enemies tickets.

I played a bunch of Online Matches, as both Allied and Axis, and I can safely say that my favorite army is Allied. I tend to be very Infantry-centric, and the Allied Army has the best Infantry. A friend of mine prefers the Axis army because his style is very Tank-centric. I suggest playing both sides equally until you can determine your play-style.

My strategy with the Allied Army is pretty simple. I start off by building a barracks, after which I send my Engineers off to capture points while I wait for my Infantry to be trained.  Once my Infantry is built, I send them out to capture Fuel and Munitions points. Once I have enough fuel, I upgrade my Infantry with BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle), which makes them a force to be reckoned with. Soon after that, I run into my enemy (or earlier if the map is small), and my units begin exchanging fire with them. If I can destroy their infantry early on and hold territories, then I can get a decent foothold until they bring out their tanks. Before they get tanks, I make sure to research Sticky Bombs (They can be thrown into tanks, and inflict massive damage, often damaging the tank’s engine), because they are the only chance my Infantry has against a tank. I usually try to get some tanks of my own, but sometimes I go 100% infantry (Infantry can be just as effective as tanks if you play them right). As for which Commander-type I choose, I always go for Airborne. The Para-drop ability can work wonders in a heated firefight, and the bombing runs can devastate your enemy’s vehicles and buildings.

Now let me talk about a few of my favorite units:

Allied Infantry: The Allied Infantry is probably the best infantry unit in the game. They start off with Semi-automatic Rifles, but can be upgraded to have automatic-rifles. They can also get Sticky Bombs and Grenades.

Allied Paratroopers: Paratroopers can change the tide of a battle in seconds. They can be dropped anywhere within your line of sight for a mere 375 manpower. If your units are losing a firefight, why not drop some paratroopers behind your enemy and flank them? Or maybe one of your strategic points is being captured. Just drop some paratroopers on the suckers, and you’ll have your point back in no time.

Sniper: Anyone who’s seen the Sniper-battle scene in Saving Private Ryan knows how awesome a Sniper can be. Snipers in game work best when you garrison them in a building. Their motto is “One shot, one kill”, and it rings true in this game. Most the time when I go up against a sniper with a full infantry squad, I lose half my men. If you leave a Sniper in a building somewhere, then any enemy units that pass by will be promptly sent to meet their maker.

For anyone wondering if the game will run on your machine, check the system specs above. The game runs flawlessly on my computer at 1024x768 with maximum settings (I have an Athlon 64 3800+, GeForce 6800XT, and 1Gb of RAM).

All in all, I absolutely love this game. I would not hesitate to call it one of the best (if not THE best) RTSs of all time. The game is about as polished as they come, and it is a fine example of Relic’s capability as a Game Developer. If you like RTS games, then you should definitely pick this one up.

Ratings:

Gameplay - 90
Unit Balance - 85
Maps - 80
Visuals and Performance - 95

See you on the battlefield, soldier
-Joe Leibowitz

Company of Heroes retails for $49.99 for the CD or DVD version (I recommend the DVD version, since the install tends to be faster, and there’s no CDs to switch), or $59.99 for the Collector’s Edition.