Company of Heroes
Preview
We see a bright future ahead for this one
by Kilocron
previewed on PC
Can Relic change the face of RTS again?
Company of Heroes is yet another WWII game. Stop, don't run away! This one isn't your Metal of Honor clone. No, this one is definitely something different. To start with, this is not a FPS shooter, what so ever. It is indeed, a RTS game. Has a RTS ever been made with WWII? The answer is "yes, it has" but so far most have not been done very well. To veteran RTS fans (such as myself) the name Relic may ring a bell. The developers over at Relic were the ones who made that brilliant RTS Homeworld some years ago. At the time of Homeworld's release, the RTS genre had seen better days. But Relic breathed life into the genre again with a game that was both surprising and refreshing.
Well, here we are again. RTS games are getting stale. And here comes Relic again too. This time, they dump the spaceships and throw in a bayonet or two. But will it have the impact that Homeworld had? Will it shake up the RTS scene? I think they just might pull it off. Indeed, Relic's latest title Company of Heroes is looking to be more and more fabulous as the days go by. Come September, Company of Heroes will let you take control of WWII soldiers to take down those, oh so evil, Nazi's.
Truth be told, I'm tired of WWII. After Saving Private Ryan came out to the theaters, we started seeing spin-off's and clones everywhere, both in television and movies. But it didn't stop there. It carried over to the video game industry. At first it was okay. But after oh, dunno... 100 WWII titles, it started getting old. Fantastic games like Call of Duty weren't interesting me just because I'm sick of WWII. So what's so different about Company of Heroes?
Three goals
From what I have seen so far, Company of Heroes is trying to accomplish three main goals. Goal number one is creating a top-notch graphics engine and this is the real hook. I use the term hook because graphics can only take you so far. In the end it comes down to gameplay but the graphics set the tone and when that is done wrong, the game will have a hard time convincing you of its worth. Company of Heroes delivers.
Relic wants you to be wowed, and thus far, they are doing a real fine job of it. Playing the game, you may find yourself distracted by a tree or a stone wondering "How did they make that look so nice?" and in the midst of war, that's saying something. The units look good, the backgrounds look good, and the vehicles look good. This game is not going to disappoint those that enjoy a nice, tasty treat of eye candy.
