Company of Heroes is a ridiculously awesome RTS and, even having been released in 2006, still has more replay value than the vast majority of games I've ever played. The graphics are a bit dated to be fair, but this pretty much means that any solid gaming rig can handle this puppy on the highest settings and still get a good frame rate. Gameplay wise, Company of Heroes is a VERY fun game to play. Watching soldiers dive into cover when being shot at and the level of tactical depth involved in every skirmish means that no battle is the same. I highly recommend this game to any hardcore or new RTS fan to test their skills or to just have an absolute blast.

I DONT THINK IVE PLAYED A BETTER WAR STRATAGEY GAME EVER

I.E WHEN A MORTAR TEAM LOSES A MAN THE RATE OF FIRE SLOWS DOWN AS IT WOULD DO IN REAL LIFE

AND ITS SO ADDICTIVE.

Who doesn't want a good old fashioned WW2 game? Even though the market was flooded with games for that era there are some that stand out. Even if they are a tad old. However if you are hoping for a good, new RTS in the WW2 setting you might as well pick up an old one in preparation for any possible announcements about the second installment.

There are a few gripes within the community about balance, but it's not all that bad. I guess the only issue you might have with it — it's old. Then again if a thing is old it doesn't mean it's bad. I mean my car was made in 1994 and I love it. Runs better than your new BMW I might add. So why not give some old game a shot? Just be prepared. Old people get cranky and some even deceitful. Same goes for old communities!

I'm a history buff so of course this a game for me.

Good things about this game:

- Gaming balance is good. Different factions have different advantages.

- Panzer-Elite is nice as second Axis, since other nations were few.

- Multi-player has proven to be fun and good also.

Bad things:

- Campaign is a string of scenarios where you either win or lose. After playing a few I gave up, it didn't get more interesting, just harder.

A good game, but grand strategy is usually my forté. So for me to give five stars for real-time means I had and still have a good time!

Possibly one of the strongest Real-time Strategy games released in the last decade. The player has the choice between several factions on the Western Front of World War II, all of which have different strengths and weaknesses which you can adapt to your style of play. For instance, the British favor artillery and trenches, and are generally stronger defensively than on the offense.

Also, like in the Dawn of War games, you need to go out and capture various points on the battlefield, that grant you various resources needed to fuel your army. This greatly stimulates offensive play, as everyone needs to capture and constantly defend those points if they are to have any chance of success.

What makes the game such a joy to play is not its great diversity and variety, but rather its superb balance between the factions, that makes each victory hard-fought

Company of Heroes is a very classy game, but I've come to expect no less from Relic. The gameplay is very polished and your units come alive in a way few other games, with the exception of Relic's equally impressive Dawn of War series, have attempted. Every soldier, truck, or construction team is a small squad of individuals who react as you would expect them to, completely unlike the strategy-game norm of treating units like so much fodder that you churn out of your factories.

They have personality, they take cover behind walls and shoot from behind them, inhabit defensive structures, man machine guns, run through enemy fire to hunker down in a bomb crater, and as a unit's health bar trickles away, single soldiers in a squad will fall to the ground dead, giving you a very visual indication that things aren't going very well for you. This game looks great, and it plays fantastically well. It's a game of resource control, where you set out to grab onto and hold as many resource-producing nodes on the map as you can, and each node provides a different supply that you or your enemy may need more than another. Players will fight over these nodes with great fervor, trying to get that leg up on their opponents, either by cornering the market on a certain resource, leading the battle in a war of attrition, or to cut off enemy positions from their supply lines.

About the only thing I can complain about is the World War II setting. That doesn't detract from the gameplay at all, but I feel the WWII atmosphere has been pretty well used up, and I think the game could have been far better if it took place in a more lively time period or place. That said, Company of Heroes is very true to its source material, and after hearing the copious amounts of unit banter and radio chatter, seeing the bombs dropping from above and the medics rushing across the landscape to fallen soldiers, you'd swear you were watching a lovingly-crafted reenactment of the war akin to Band of Brothers. It's really quite something to behold, even if the setting has been overused, and the strategic gameplay is second to none.

Great game! I had this game before but it got lost when i moved to another house. Downloaded it here and it will now forever be stored on GG.

Recommend this game to all WWII and strategy lovers!

This game is my favorite RTS game scenario ever. The global strategy is different than any RTS game I ever played. The ressources cames by controlling some strategics points, that's make construction building minimal and focuses on squads tactical strategy. It's a great realistic WWII environment; the graphics, sounds and action puts you in a great immersion. Multiplayer gameplay is excellent, and addictive. After a try of the gold edition, you will wants the expansion Tales of Valor for sure !

Company of Heroes Gold Edition includes the grandiose Company of Heroes + the great add-on Opposing Fronts letting you play the grand total of four different factions as they battle it out on Western European battlefields. You may command the American and British Army on the Allied side as you drive the Jerries all the way to the Rhine, or you may don your SS Uniform and join forces with the Axis as a Wehrmacht commander or as a Kampfgruppe Lehr (Panzer Elite) Oberst as you try to expel the allies from the Vaterland's soil.

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The factions:

-Allies:

*Americans: Highly versatile, they can adapt to almost any situation. Their tanks might not be the sturdiest around, and their infantry not the most experienced of the bunch, but they have resources aplenty and many tricks up their sleeve that if used well can kick plenty of Jerry *ss

Their doctrine trees allow them to focus on Infantry doctrines, Airborne support or Tank command.

*British: Adaptable defenses, that's what the Brits are all about, they can dig silt trenches for free almost everywhere, they can build pretty affordable defenses and they even have a mobile base.... but they lack quite a punch, having to overly rely on their defensive nature, lest they end up under a Panzer's caterpillar. But when you need to secure this or that position and make sure that no one gets through, the Brits are your guys.

Their doctrine trees are as follows: Royal Artillery, Royal Commandos and Royal Engineers.

-Axis:

*Wehrmacht: The bulk of the German War Machine, the Wehrmacht is pretty standard by general RTS standards... while the Americans have an OK start the germans must escalate their phases to unleash their greatest monsters... their focus is on power, much less versatile than the Allied army, but far more powerful on its own right, their tactics are simple: To overwhelm the enemy with sheer might: Panzer IVs, Panthers, Tigers and even the fearsome Königstiger are at your command... if there's something that makes it hard to play as the Wehrmacht is the slow buildup you must undergo... and the difficulties that may arise during it.

Their doctrines are as follows: Defensive Doctrine, Blitzkrieg Doctrine and Terror Doctrine.

*Panzer Elite - Kampfgruppe Lehr: They are the epithome of Blitzkrieg; their strength lies in maneuverability, being able to swiftly secure territories and specializing in hit & run tactics. They require a lot of micro-manage, but can be deadly in expert hands.

Their doctrines are as follows: Scorched Earth Tactics, Luftwaffe Tactics and Tank Hunter tactics.

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As for the game itself, it has amazing graphics, truly never seen before in any strategy game. Attention to detail is unprecedented: You may see a soldier raising his hand to cover his head when under fire, or some guy trying to peek from below a wall, or even reloading their weapons! Effects are top notch, being incredibly realistic; if your Panther shells a building with entrenched Americans, you'll see how that 88mm pounds through the building, taking huge chunks of that sorry house in the process. If you are otherwise bombing the hell outta those jerries, you'll be mighty impressed by the effect Howitzers may have on the terrain, leaving trench-like craters that may serve to shelter your infantry at a later opportunity.

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Music and sound-wise the game is superb; weapons sound realistic, explosions sound absolutely real, and the musical score will make you feel like in the inside of a Band of Brother's chapter...

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Gameplay: Superb! Easy to learn, difficult to master, make no mistake, this is the finest RTS outta there, with a most immersive gameplay, brilliant AI and intrincate strategies, it will surely leave quite a mark on you.

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All in all, this is a great game, and one you must surely not pass up, come on, grab your copy, believe me, you won't regret it. =)

This game is a must-have for all WWII fans, for all RTS fans, for all gaming-fans.

The Good? (What's not good about this game?)

Here some points I really like about this game.

- Historical missions you get to "PLAY" (Landing in normandy,...)

- Beautiful graphics of units even with settings at low quality.

- Beautiful animations (explosions,...)

- You can control the movement of a single unit in your army, this gives you very close contact to your troops... (almost like a fps)

- ...

The bad?

- Haven't figured it out quiet yet :)

A must have, for everybody.

Awesome game ! This WWII RTS is what all strategy games should strive to be. The AI is tough and intelligent, and will challenge again and again. The multiplayer is awesome and the destructible environments make for great gameplay. The Gold Edition is a steal at that price. Buy it. Need I say more ?