Product description

Company of Heroes - Incl. Dawn of War: Game of the Year Edition (PC DVD)

Price: £9.75
RRP: £34.99
Average customer rating: 4.0

Binding : Video Game
EAN : 4005209082853
Label : THQ
Manufacturer : THQ
Publisher : THQ
Release date : 2006-09-29
Title : Company of Heroes - Incl. Dawn of War: Game of the Year Edition (PC DVD)
Audience rating : Suitable for 15 years and over
Studio : THQ
Brand : THQ
Manufacturer minimum age : 180
Platform : Windows XP

Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review:
World War II needs winning again but this time you’re not going it alone as you take command of Able Company in this innovative real-time strategy that sees you battling through the D-Day landings and the liberation of Europe.

The lowdown:
Real-time strategies have been stuck in a rut in recent years but this game doesn’t just offer a change in scenery. It goes out of its way to reduce the amount of micromanagement, with troops that can be trusted to act sensibly when under fire and don’t need you to tell them to duck when a shell comes their way. As you’d expect there’s no mining of resources, but instead you have to expand your territory via control points to get more men and resources. Stockpiling fuel, munitions and manpower allows you to bring in more specialised units but to keep a sense of realism everything needs a lot more time and effort to build than in the average real-time strategy. With a surprisingly subtle mix between the needs of realism and gameplay this is the freshest new strategy game for years.

Most exciting moment:
Graphically this is one of the most impressive real-time strategy games ever seen, but what really impresses is the artificial intelligence, both of your troops and the enemy. Soldiers on both sides will take cover without being asked and the enemy will constantly try to outflank and outgun you.

Since you ask:
Company of Heroes is the first game to use developer Relic’s "Essence Engine". It features many special effects usually only seen in first person shooters such as HDR (high dynamic range) lighting and the Havok 3 physic engine.

The bottom line:
Bored of WWII games and real-time strategies? This makes both seem exciting again. HARRISON DENT

PC Gamer:
"This is nothing short of genius" (October 2006)

Product Description
There's been a huge amount of excitement surround Relic's Company of Heroes ever since it was first revealed. Since then, it has gone on to win countless industry awards, all indicating that it would eventually become one of the finest strategy titles, PC games and WWII experiences, to-date.

A few short weeks ahead of its release and reviews have given further weight to these expectations. PC Gamer described it as 'the finest RTS we have ever played' and PC Zone remarked that it is 'nothing short of brilliant'. And the praise is continuing its relentless advance as the downloadable demo circulates internationally.

Aesthetically, the visuals, audio and overall presentation are quite astonishing. The emotional intensity of the deeply involving gameplay is also like nothing seen before, as players zoom in from their strategic overviews to witness the pained expressions on their own soldiers' faces. The remarkable AI ensures the chosen strategy is executed as intended, and with fully interactive, dynamic environments punctuating the cratered backdrops.

For RTS fans, PC gamers and WWII enthusiasts, Company of Heroes is essential. As, indeed, it is to anyone with even the most fleeting interest in video games.

Manufacturer's Description
Company of Heroes is a WWII Real Time Strategy game that brings to life the journey of the brave men of Able Company as they fight across Europe in the greatest war mankind has ever known. From the studio that brought you the blockbuster games of the year Homeworld, Impossible Creatures and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War comes the next revolution in action strategy.

From the opening shots of the D-Day invasion of Normandy players will find themselves immersed in a rich single player campaign. Experience the cinematic intensity, courage, and bravery of the heroes that defined a generation, set against the backdrop of the most dynamic battlefield ever seen in a game.

Customer reviews

review by: Dyaisura date: 2008-01-03 rating:

suckathon
Here's the deal. This game looks great, it's really new and shiny, and that's great for stoners, but not gamers.

I am an old school gamer, having gamed seriously for 17 years now. I'm a nerd i know, and that's exactly what makes me qualified to say this: this game is a bunch of hype, it sucks.

This game has nothing to do with war strategy, it's only redeeming quality is that there is some ok A.I. as far as troop management. Otherwise, this game is ridiculous, unclear, too fast paced, and poorly concieved.

I am good at war strategy games and have been playing classics like Starcraft and Command and Conquer forever. This game is not a war strategy game, it is simply a game of how fast you can either follow a formulaic strategy that the game demands, or how fast you can point and click in a desperate bid to outclass an impossibly constant enemy.

p.s. the tanks are retarded.

review by: Addict date: 2007-07-03 rating:

The best Real Time Strategy of all time?
These words can't make you buy the game, they can only reason to the hardcore gamer inside you. Did you ever like Dune 2? Command and Conquer the original? Starcraft? remember the feelings you had from playing those games of the golden era? This is one of those games, a defining benchmark for all future RTS games to aspire to. This is a game that can take you as deep into it as you want to go. Don't want to learn about the use of cover or combined arms for your troops? play the AI on easy: the game will look great (depending on your PC) and you`ll have fun destroying the map, infantry and vehicles or being destroyed yourself. If you are looking for something which equates to an ever-evolving version of battlefield chess then look no further. Mind pitted against mind, experience against experience and no situation ever the same. For the first time the intelligent commander succeeds not the commander who can click their mouse faster. You`ll be defeated by the AI to start with, then once you overcome the singleplayer and skirmish you`ll get defeated online but it will make those future hard fought victories against human opponents the sweetest of any RTS game you have ever played.
This is the best Real Time Strategy of all time. Are you ready for it?

review by: date: 2007-05-09 rating:

INcredible
this game has to be one of my best purchases ever. the single player campaign is brilliant, the quick action games are great and the online multiplayer is incredible. a beauty of a game. the graphics are amazing right down to the detail of explosions and even when you zoom, the graphics are brilliant! the only hiccup is the slow loading time, but thats well worth the wait, and its not even that long. maybe its just my computer anyway. an all round bloomin amazing purchase. i strongly suggest it to anyone who enjoys world war two games, or even startegy games, and i look forward to seeing you online soon.

review by: book, cd, dvd and video game fan date: 2007-04-11 rating:

Company Of Heroes - almost as good as call of duty
This game is amazing, I am about a third of the way through the campaign and each mission just gets even more difficult and challenging from the previous one. The game focuses on the American Rangers Able Company - which is the same company mentioned in many ww2 movies such as Saving Private Ryan etc. The game starts with the D-Day landings on Utah and Omaha beach and quickly progresses to the push inland to first take a town connecting those two beaches and then onto the capture of Cherbourg. Missions 1-4 are fairly easy but mission 5 (the securation of the road to cherbourg) is a bit of a pain in the neck. My only critism of the game is there is an awful lot of swearing in this game - about the amount of an 18 rating. Which is pretty unnecessary for the game content.
However, the game is a bargain at just under £[...].

review by: date: 2007-02-28 rating:

Fun... but a right old mare for your pc
Don't get me wrong, i love this game to bits, gameplay wise it is possibly the most satisfying and fulfilled rts i have ever played. My only grievance with this product is that you need a seriously beefy graphics card to run it at full settings. To put this into perspective i shall quote my own system. I have: an AMD Athlon 64X2. 1GB DDR2 RAM and a Nvida Geforce 7300 LE. Even on the medium settings my computer struggles to get anything above 20FPS. But to be honest effects aren't everything. If you play it on the low settings the scope and feel of this game will not lessen. The screams of fear your men utter when pinned down by MG42 fire on Omaha Beach is heart rending. Seeing a squad of brave GI's blown to bits by a German Mortar never gets any less hard to watch. You begin to feel for the little guys under your care because they act so realistically! They get scared, angry and elated just like the real soldiers of the time would have. If your a big fan of RTS Get this game.

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