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Company of Heroes
Company of Heroes Windows Box cover
Developer(s)	Relic Entertainment
Publisher(s)	THQ
Designer(s)	Josh Mosqueira
Engine	Essence Engine
Platform(s)	Windows XP, Windows Vista.
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Company of Heroes (CoH) is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Relic Entertainment. It was released on September 14, 2006, and was the first title to make use of the Games for Windows label. A standalone expansion, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, was released on September 25, 2007.

Company of Heroes is set during World War II where the player commands two U.S. military units during the Battle of Normandy and the Allied capture of France. Depending on the mission, the player controls either the Able Company or Fox Company, the latter being from the 101st Airborne, and the former being part of the 29th Infantry Division.

Gameplay

Resources

The resource management in Company of Heroes retains micromanagement details such as reinforcing troops, which has the effect of creating a more tactical RTS experience.

Players must take control of certain points on the map. The more of these points a player controls, the more resources they acquire. This concept demands constant expansion of a player's territory. These points are connected like supply lines, and so, during the course of a battle a player can capture one point in the supply line, isolating the rest which had been connected to the base through it, therefore severely reducing the enemy's resource intake.

Players collect three resources: manpower, munitions, and fuel. Manpower is necessary to produce all units. Munitions allows players to upgrade individual squads or vehicles and use special abilities. Fuel allows players to purchase tanks and other vehicles, as well as global upgrades. The player can decide, at a manpower cost, to place observation posts on his resource points in order to increase his production and make them more durable against enemy takeovers, which means sacrificing resources in the short-term for a greater long-term intake. Resource points must also be connected. Any unconnected captured points can not produce resources.

Game units generally require a sizable amount of resources to produce. This separates Company of Heroes from other games in the RTS genre, where large amounts of massed units are a common sight.

Units

As the game takes place in World War II, the player can decide to fight as either the Allied or Axis forces, each of which require very different tactics to play. Allied units tend to be cheaper, more numerous, and more versatile, whereas Axis units tend to be more expensive and fewer in number, but often more powerful in their role than their Allied counterparts.

The main American army unit is the versatile riflemen squad, which can be upgraded to use grenades, sticky bombs and BARS as well as pick up certain weapons to give them the upper hand. Engineers can build defenses such as machine-gun nests, which are garrisonable by infantry units, and, in the case of the infantry company, 105mm artillery guns, which can hit targets halfway across the map. The Allies can also deploy M4 Sherman tanks, along with M10 tank destroyers, and Sherman Crocodiles, which use flamethrowers in lieu of a cannon. Allied tanks are more mobile than their Axis counterparts, but have weaker armor and firepower. With commander tree support, the Allies are capable of deploying the superior M26 Pershing heavy tank, call in airborne units, which can be equipped with recoiless rifles, and rangers, which come equipped with two Bazookas and can be upgraded with Thompson SMGs.

The Axis Wehrmacht forces include infantry, like the conscript Volksgrenadier militia, and mid-tier infantry like grenadiers, Waffen-SS stormtroopers, or elite squads of soldiers awarded the Knight's Cross. Axis field operations can be supplemented by specialized equipment like the Nebelwerfer rocket artillery. Axis armor is far less mobile, but in direct combat generally superior, fielding equipment like StuG IV, StuH 42 assault guns, Panzer IV and Panther tanks. With specialized commander focus, Axis forces can deploy superior units, like the Tiger I tank or a powerful King Tiger.

Expanding on the cover system implemented in Dawn of War, units in COH automatically seek out cover (such as sandbags, walls, and destroyed vehicles) without orders from the player, to give them an advantage over enemy forces. Units using cover gain a defensive bonus, making them more effective in combat. Green cover signifies heavy cover, while yellow signifies light cover. Units that are on roads will have red or negative cover and will typically take more damage while moving in those areas. Certain weapons, like flamethrowers work in reverse. They deal more damage to units in positive cover or buildings than they do to units with negative or zero cover. Utilizing cover effectively in CoH is essential to victory. The advanced AI is also aware of its surroundings and reacts realistically according to the situation.

Infantry units, such as an Allied rifleman squad, can pick up heavy weapons such as the Panzerschreck or M9 Bazooka, man heavy weapons like machine-guns, anti-tank artillery, or mortars, and pick up and use certain automatic weapons (examples are the Browning Automatic Rifle or for the Germans, the LMG variant of the MG42.)

Unlike Dawn of War, squads of units must be near a headquarters (HQ), forward barracks, or half-track vehicle to reinforce (replenish) lost units within the squad. American airborne troops are exempt from this limitation as reinforcements are parachuted to the field. Some units can be upgraded, for example, a .50 caliber machine gun can be equipped for a Sherman tank, or Panzerschrecks for Axis infantry units. Certain add-ons or upgrades affect unit abilities, like the Sherman's crab flail which can clear mines and destroy enemy infantry, but reduces the speed of the tank while in use.

The game utilizes a physics engine, so different types of cover are more effective against certain units. For example, some types of cover can be destroyed by tanks.

Buildings

Units can occupy a building and convert it into a field barracks, allowing certain units or squads to be created by that building.

Medic stations can also be built on the field that house medics, who can recover fallen soldiers from the battlefield and return them to the medic station. When enough soldiers are recovered by medics (4 for Germans and 6 for Americans), the medic station will provide a free squad at no expense of manpower.

Infantry units can also occupy buildings and use them as cover or a garrison to protect against attack, but this limits their firing range because the infantry are a stationary, immobile target, rendering them vulnerable to sniper fire and easy to surround. Also, while garrisoned, infantry units can only shoot out of windows or holes blown into a building. Certain weapons are immensely effective against units holed up in a building; satchel charges or infantry-carried rocket launchers can demolish a building, tank fire can blast the building, and infantry or tanks armed with flamethrowers can literally set the building on fire and burn out the occupants. However, there are advantages; infantry are well protected from small arms and most buildings are sturdy enough to stand up to limited tank fire before collapsing.

Occupied buildings can be destroyed after taking fire from enemy units or any other attack, like artillery fire or demolition charges. Civilian buildings cannot be repaired or rebuilt. However, both the Allied and German forces can construct garrisonable buildings (the Allies can build a .30 caliber machine gun nest, while the Germans can construct bunkers).

The Americans can build a barracks and weapons support center to deploy infantry (foot soldiers), a motor pool and tank depot for tanks, vehicles and anti-tank guns. The triage center can heal nearby units that have been wounded from enemy fire. A supply yard is also required to be built before building a motor pool or tank depot. The supply yard gives you upgrades to reduce costs of infantry and tanks.

The Germans can build a variety of structures. The Wehrmacht quarters, Krieg barracks and Sturm armory lets you create infantry. Krieg Barracks and Sturm Armory can build light vehicles and other infantry. While the Sturm Armory and the Panzer Command deploys German tanks at the player's disposal.

Multiplayer

For Company of Heroes, Relic began using a new online gaming system called Relic Online. Previous Relic games used GameSpy Arcade or World Opponent Network services. This new system includes many features that the previous systems did not have, including a built in automatch and ranking system.

This game allows multiplayer matches of 2-8 players via LAN or the Internet.

Company of Heroes allows you to fight as both the Allied and Axis forces when you play a multiplayer game.

Game modes

Victory Point Control

Victory Point Control games have several victory points around the middle of the map. These victory points can be captured similarly to strategic points. When one side has more victory points under their control than another, the other side's "points" start to decrease. When one side runs out of points, they lose. Alternatively, the player can simply destroy all enemy structures to win the game. Before the start of the game, the host can choose between 250, 500, or 1000 points. The point function in Company of Heroes works much like the ticket feature in the Battlefield (series).

Annihilation

Annihilation games lack the victory points of the Victory Point Control game mode. To win, the player needs to destroy all enemy buildings excluding Observation Posts.

Story

Single player campaign

The single player campaign puts the player directly in some of the major American operations during the Battle of Normandy.

D-Day

The game begins with Able Company's assault at Omaha Beach during D-Day of Operation Overlord - Able must first breach the seawall, then take out German bunkers overlooking the beach, and finally disable the Flak 88 anti air guns. The game also introduces two of the game’s major characters: Captain Mackay and Sergeant Conti.

Battle of Carentan

The next three missions are about Fox Company and their actions during the capture and defense of Carentan. Fox Company must first regroup after the chaotic airdrops at Vierville, which occurred several hours before H-Hour on D-Day, and also disrupt enemy operations in rear areas to open new drop zones and prevent the Germans from reinforcing the beaches. This mission includes destroying or capturing AA Guns and conducting an ambush to a German convoy.

Fox Company is then tasked to capture the city of Carentan to secure a link between Utah and Omaha beach and to defend it against ferocious German counterattack. Though constantly bombarded by artillery, Fox Company is eventually relieved when Able Company arrives at the city and the link between Utah and Omaha beach is finally secure.

Battle of Cherbourg

Able and Dog Company form the spearhead of the Allied advance to secure Cherbourg and its deep water port. En route to Cherbourg, Allied supply route is threatened by elements of the Panzer Lehr division commanded by Hauptmann Schultz, and Dog Company is ambushed in the process. Able Company manages to drive the Germans back and defend the supply route for the "Red Ball Express" to pass through, but by doing so Able Company also becomes the nemesis of the Panzer Lehr division and Captain Schultz for the rest of the campaign.

With the flank secure, the Allies continue to advance onto Cherbourg. Able and Dog Company, supported by the 4th Cavalry and the USS Texas, are tasked with capture of the port facilities. Although Able Company successfully subdues the German defenders and captures thousands of prisoners, the port has been badly damaged and is unusable to the Allies.

However, after the battle, Able Company found documents from an Axis bunker which shows a V-2 Rocket launch site near Sottevast. Fox Company has been called in to conduct an airborne assault on the V2 facility, while elements of Able Company rush to the site with armor support.

Operation Cobra

American forces begin to approach the city of St. Lo and Able Company is arriving from the north. German defenders at St. Fromond hope to stop Able Company’s advance by blowing up the only bridge leading into the town. Able Company repaired the bridge under fire from across the river, and drove the Germans out of the town. German defenders regroup and organized several counterattacks with rocket battery support, but all assaults against Able Company are thrown back with heavy casualties.

Charlie Company is destroyed by the defending Panzer Lehr division under the command of Captain Shultz, while attempting to secure Hill 192 at the outskirt of St. Lo. Able Company is assigned to take the hill. Hedgerows around the hill and hidden flak 88 batteries provided formidable defensive position against the Allies, but Able Company managed to break through by employing bulldozer equipped Sherman tanks to plow through the hedgerows and flank the Germans.

German defenders at St. Lo decide to hold out against American forces by heavily fortifying the city center, but Able Company planned to surround and trap the German defenders at the city center rather than a head-on assault. Although the operation is successful, some German units, including the Panzer Lehr division, manage to escape destruction. Able Company call in the 8th Air Force in response and the escaping Germans units suffered heavily due to carpet bombing.

Badly reduced and under constant air attack, the shattered Panzer Lehr division is being chased by American forces, and Able Company managed to intercept what is left of the division at Hébécrevon. A raid is conducted with fast moving M10 tank destroyers against the Panzer Lehr division's positions, and almost all of Panzer Lehr division's armor strength, including the last 7 surviving Panther tanks, are completely wiped out. However, during the course of the mission, Captain MacKay is killed when he gets caught in the blast of a tank shell fired by a Tiger under the personal command of Captain Schultz.

Operation Lüttich

After losing their commander, newly promoted Lieutenant Conti is taking command of Able Company. Able Company is taking a break from the war, and has been reassigned to Mortain to relieve Dog Company at Hill 317. Unfortunately, on that night, Mortain becomes the focal point of a German counterattack against recent American successes. Surprised and outnumbered, Able Company is forced to hold the hill until reinforcements can arrive in the morning.

Dog Company arrives the following morning with armor support and Able Company begin to dig in and consolidate their positions. German forces renew the counterattack in force after their surprise night attack has failed to take the hill, but all attempts are beaten back. Able Company successfully force the Germans to retreat after inflicting heavy losses, including the destruction of a Flak 88 battery.

Falaise Pocket

The last section of the single player campaign deals with the destruction of German forces in France. After suffering a string of defeats, the German army is forced to retreat in order to avoid encirclement. Allied forces are racing to trap the German army before it can escape. Baker Company is assigned to shut down one of the escape routes at Autry, but Captain Schultz's Panzergruppe, which escaped the destruction of the Panzer Lehr division, annihilates them. Able Company rushes to the scene with M26 Pershing support and destroys Captain Schultz's Panzer Gruppe in return. Captain Schultz's Tiger is among those tanks destroyed in the battle, and Captain MacKay's death has been avenged.

Chambois becomes the German Seventh Army's last hope for escaping the Falaise Pocket. With heavy air cover, Canadian, Polish and American forces, led by Able Company, secure all bridges around Chambois and close the Falaise Pocket. The German Seventh Army attempts to break free, but they are met with heavy aerial bombardment and are forced to surrender.

The campaign ends with the caption that Able Company had suffered 80% casualties at the end of World War II.

Distinguished characters

• Captain John MacKay

The commander of Able Company. He appears to be an Army Ranger by his character model, although he commands a regular infantry company. He is killed by Hauptmann Schultz as revenge, when Able Company successfully obliterated his unit after the battle of St. Lo. He seems to be based on the Tom Hanks character in the film Saving Private Ryan, Captain Miller.

• Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Joe Conti

Served as the First Sergeant of Able Company under Captain MacKay, and is a close friend to MacKay ever since boot camp. He is revealed to be the game's narrator. He is almost killed alongside Captain MacKay, and soon afterwards promoted to Lieutenant. Lieutenant Conti commands Able Company for the rest of the game.

• Joseph Gunter "Ace" Schultz

A German tank captain commanding the Tiger Ace from the Panzer Lehr division. He serves as the personal antagonist of Able company. He commands the Panzer-Gruppen (tank groups) that attack the Red Ball Express, where his unit first met Able Company and are badly beaten. Suffering from heavy losses, he watches Captain MacKay from afar while his unit is busy retreating. He later crosses path with Able Company while commanding the forces defending St. Lo, but managed to escape encirclement by Able Company. He kills Captain MacKay when his unit is destroyed while retreating from Hèbècrevon, and Able Company later conducts their revenge on Schultz while his 152nd Tigergruppe (a group of German Tiger tanks) is being destroyed at Autry.

Development

Graphics

An M10 Wolverine and American troops in the Essence Engine.

Company of Heroes is Relic's first title to make use of the "Essence Engine". This engine was designed and coded from scratch by Relic in order to make use of special graphical effects, including high dynamic range lighting, dynamic lighting & shadows, advanced shader effects and normal mapping.

COH is rendered in 3D with intricate detailing on the infantry, vehicles and structures while still retaining a solid frame-rate, without, Relic claims, the need for a high-end gaming system. It claims that there are nearly 2,000 different animations for a basic infantry unit alone.

Company of Heroes also utilizes the Havok physics engine, giving it a more realistic physics system than previous RTS games. Parts of buildings can be destroyed by grenades, satchels or mortars, and tanks can drive through sections of walls or other barriers. Smoke created from explosions is programmed to behave as realistically as possible and can even be influenced by wind. Debris is also influenced by explosions; a blast can send barrels flying and shower troops in dirt, whilst leaving behind a large crater. When infantry are bombarded by artillery, body parts sometimes detach and are dispersed over, and some units are thrown about in the immediate area. Bridges and buildings can be destroyed by engineers using demolitions.

On May 29, 2007 Relic released a patch for Company of Heroes that included a new DirectX 10 rendering mode with enhanced terrain, additional world objects, and improved shadows and lighting. This patch made Company of Heroes the first commercial video game to support Direct3D 10.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	94%
Metacritic	93%

Review scores

Publication	Score
1Up.com	A+
Eurogamer	10/10
GameSpot	9.0/10
GameSpy
GamesRadar+	10/10
IGN	9.4/10

Awards

Publication	Award
IGN	(2006) Game of the Year
GameSpy	(2006) Game of the Year

Reviews

The game received highly positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator Game Rankings, the game had an average score of 94% based on 61 reviews — making it the third highest rated game of 2006 and highest rated PC game of 2006. On Metacritic, the game had an average score of 93 out of 100, based on 55 reviews — considered "universal acclaim" by the site. Currently, it is one of the highest-rated real-time strategy games.

Awards

• PC Gamer: Game of the Year 2006
• Computer Games Magazine: Game of the Year 2006
• GameSpy: PC Game of 2006, Best Sound, Best PC Strategy Game, Best PC Multiplayer
• GameSpot: Best PC Game 2006, Best Strategy Game
• IGN: PC Game of 2006, Best PC Strategy Game, Best Use of Sound on PC, Best Online PC game
• Game Critics Awards: Best Strategy Game
• GameSpot: 2005 Best PC Game of Show; Best Strategy Game of Show; Best Overall Game of Show
• IGN: Runner-up, Best Strategy Game (PC), Runner-up, Technological Excellence (PC)
• GameSpy: Best of E3
• Interactive Achievement Awards: Strategy Game of the Year

Expansions

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts

Main article: Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is a standalone expansion pack. It contains two factions; the British and the German Panzer Elite. Owners of Opposing Fronts will be able to play against owners of Company of Heroes and vice verca, although only using the armies from the game they own. Owners of both games will be able to play all four armies in multiplayer. Opposing Fronts was officially announced on April 5, 2007 and was released on September 24, 2007.

External links

• Company of Heroes Official Site