Recent reviews by -iwnl-

lmao

When I played the original Company of Heroes in 2006, I struggled to think of how a World War II real-time strategy game could look or play a whole lot better than it does. Apparently, so has its developer, Relic, because seven years later Company of Heroes 2 is strikingly similar. There are, of course, subtle visual improvements and numerous hit-or-miss gameplay tweaks as the series transitions from the Western Front to the Eastern, but this is very much a new spin on the same game. Of course, the original CoH has held up remarkably well (if you haven’t played it, you absolutely should) so I welcome something that looks and plays like it with open arms, even if it’s not necessarily a better version.

Because it’s so similar to the original, Company of Heroes 2 is great for all the same reasons. More than most real-time strategy games, CoH is all about using smart tactical positioning to take advantage of cover and exploit weak tank armor. And because armies are rarely more than a dozen units at a time, it has a relatively slower, more methodical pace than a traditional RTS, even though there’s almost always something going on. Its territory-based resource system, now revised to allow you to influence which of the three resources a held point generates, allows a style of play that’s focused almost entirely on tactics. I particularly appreciate the ability to win a battle by attacking an enemy where he’s not, rather than meeting him head-on. I don’t mean to imply that it requires a more tactical mind than a game like StarCraft II, but it’s weighted more toward planning than reflexes in a way that I find rewarding.

The detail in the units and world is extravagant. Watching an impressively modeled tank crash through a wall, turn its independently moving turret, and blast an armored car to bits in a spectacular explosion that sends its driver flying through the air and kicks up a huge cloud of smoke and debris with a deafening boom is really astonishing. Each infantry unit is animated and voiced in a lifelike way, and equipped with unique uniforms and weapons. Watching your soldiers set up and fire a heavy machine gun or mortar is a treat, and hearing their heavily accented chatter and convincing screams of pain in combat makes it easy to get attached to veteran squads, even though they’re nameless fodder.

The German force in CoH2 is a tweaked version of what we saw in CoH and works in mostly the same way, but the new Soviet Red Army has a fresh, unique style that reflects the manpower advantage they had in the war. Reinforcing units on the front lines by filling the ranks from conscript squads demands more hands-on management than the Germans’ traditional method of relying on Halftracks for a trickle of front-line reinforcements, but it comes with the interesting tradeoff of allowing elite squads to instantly return to full strength that makes that effort worthwhile. The Soviets get several other advantages, including two-man sniper teams that will always trump a single German sniper in a duel (because the Soviets can take a hit and still shoot back), and those can be a real benefit to players who like to harass.

A lengthy 14-mission single-player campaign (all from the Russian side) goes from the Soviets’ desperate defense against the Nazis’ advance on Stalingrad all the way to the fall of Berlin in 1945. If you know your history, you know it’s a grim ride. Relic makes an effort to soften the historical horror show by framing the Soviet campaign as the tale of good men fighting to defend their homeland rather than for the ideals of a mass-murdering dictator (the same trick employed in the Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts expansion). Nevertheless, it has a bad habit of rewarding my hard-fought victories with a harsh dose of depressing historical reality. Did someone do something selfless and noble? Comrade Stalin’s not going to like that. But Relic didn’t write history, and to sugarcoat the horrors of the Eastern Front would’ve been a much greater sin.

I’m also not overjoyed at the dramatic lethality of flamethrowers, particularly the ones affixed to the German halftrack trucks as an upgrade. They’re counterable by any anti-tank weapon, so I can’t call them unbalanced, but the speed with which they deep-fry multiple infantry units out of existence disrupts the slower, more tactical pacing I love about CoH. Generally you have time to recover from being caught off guard and recall your men to base before they’re completely wiped out to preserve their veterancy status, but flames can rob you of those prized troops in the blink of an eye. Oh, and flames ignore cover.

Some of the best stuff in Company of Heroes 2 is in the Theater of War modes, which have both single-player and co-op challenges where you can compete for high scores on leaderboards. Some are basic holdout missions, but others are more creative. In one, you use Soviet rocket trucks to obliterate as many German-held and neutral buildings as possible to scorch the earth behind a retreat; in another, you use a small squad of German armor to capture at least 10 points on a large map. What I want to know is: why weren’t these mission objectives included in the campaign? They feel like campaign missions and are much more interestingly designed. I do like that they’re broken out here for easy repeated play, though.

Every mission you complete in the campaign and Theater of War gives you a set of medals that appear on your profile page - part of a life-extending persistent metagame Relic’s built around leveling yourself up to unlock bonuses and vehicle skins. As a rule, I’m generally opposed to unlocks of any kind in an RTS, as a perfectly level playing field should be the goal of any competitive strategy game. Here, at least, the earned bonuses are small enough to be nearly imperceptible to most players - a 2% bonus to a given unit’s firepower isn’t going to make the difference for the non-hardcore. (The hardcore players are likely to level up quickly anyway.)

Competitive multiplayer maps are plentiful, and broken down into winter and summer varieties. Those infantry-hampering blizzards only happen on the former, so they’re available as a good, optional change of pace. The most divisive change to multiplayer, though, is the revised Commander Abilities system, which is now less of a tree and more a series of linear tracks that you pick between early in a match. It results in locking you into a set of abilities, such as the German Festung Support Doctrine that grants abilities like off-map artillery and auto-reinforcing infantry, or the Soviet Guard Motor Coordination Tactics, which is an armor specialization that can summon medium tanks and debuff enemy armor. The new system limits your ability to pivot your strategy mid-game if you’re caught off guard. But as one of my long-standing issues with Company of Heroes is having to make selections while my tanks are exploding behind the menu that fills the screen, this new system is not without its charms. I’m more concerned about its future use as an avenue for DLC - allowing players to purchase alternate tracks with new abilities seems like an invitation to introduce balance issues. But that’s a hypothetical.

So at least this system isn’t likely to do significant harm to the balance, and may give completionist players a reason to keep jumping into multiplayer for months. If it works as the similar system in League of Legends and its ilk has, the CoH2 multiplayer community could see a lively old age. Relic definitely seems to have built Company of Heroes 2 to last well after the campaign ends, and has even integrated Twitch.tv support for streaming and watching competitive games.

The Verdict

Viewed side by side, it might be tough to distinguish Company of Heroes 2 from its predecessor. When examined up close, the changes introduced to distinguish warfare on the Eastern Front of World War II from the Western are as problematic as they are inter

Death is a great teacher. Failure in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is, as it always has been for this series, the greatest way to learn where you should have gone, what you shouldn't have done, and how you could have done better. Counter-Strike players spend a lot of time learning -- consequently, they are always getting better.
Growth is an important factor in Global Offensive, especially if you're coming into Counter-Strike fresh or after a sabbatical. This is an extremely hardcore, skill-based first-person shooter, and it forces you to think differently than other modern shooters. If you’re a Call of Duty player, you’re going to need to change your play style to succeed here. Counter-Strike also tries developing into something new here as well, despite doing little to push itself beyond what it’s always done best. Global Offensive modifies old maps to keep veterans on their toes, and introduces official new modes that encourage different play styles for the first time in almost 15 years.

For the uninitiated, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a small-scale, team-based first-person shooter with permanent death. When a counter-terrorist kills a terrorist planting explosives in a classic Defusal match, or a CT escort swallows a sniper round in Hostage Rescue, the victim is dead for good and doesn't respawn until the next round. As such, players on both sides must exercise skill and care. The bomb objective, meanwhile, gives everyone a purpose. Of course matches end when everyone on a team is dead, but a clever and coordinated terrorist team will give the CTs the slip, plant their bomb, and protect the bomb site. Between rounds, everyone spends earned cash on better gear and guns, and the cycle continues.

Pieces of the Counter-Strike formula are dated at this point, but the superb heart and soul of Global Offensive is timeless. Teams are small, guns are lethal, and rounds are short. There's an addictive just-one-more-round quality to it, because there's a constant desire to do better than last time, to earn a satisfying kill, or to win in a new way. Call of Duty and Battlefield vets will wonder why they can't sprint to escape enemy fire or look down the iron sights to improve aim; Counter-Strike players will feel like they walked into their redecorated home. Certain map redesigns will catch hardcore fans off guard, but the changes are for the best -- the underpass choke point in de_dust, for instance, has a new escape route.

Even in the face of genre evolution, Global Offensive doesn’t care to adapt. CSGO is so dedicated to Counter-Strike's aging ideals despite market and trend changes that it brute-forces its way to success. Part of what makes it such an engaging competitive game is that killing in Global Offensive requires a wholly different skill set than other shooters. Everyone is limited to what they have and can see, with little room for character modification or on-the-fly advantages. Running and gunning is a useless play style, even if you've bought a helmet and kevlar that round, to the point that someone standing still is more likely to score the kill. Walking, crouching, or standing are your best bets to reduce the inaccurate spray of machine-gun fire.

Consequently, killing in Global Offensive feels good. There's a sickening sensation to dropping someone dead because you know they're not coming back. It's also satisfying knowing you used limited resources to play smarter than your victim. If players aren't watching corners, providing covering fire, or using smoke grenades and flashbangs, they're more likely to take a headshot from a more delicate and patient triggerman. The desire to experience that distinct feeling is a strong motivator to keep playing, even when you're getting steamrolled by an obviously better team.

If you've played Counter-Strike before, Global Offensive probably sounds a whole lot like Counter-Strike. Like Counter-Strike: Source before it, Global Offensive exists simply to modernize the look of the classic competitive shooter, while doing little to disrupt the core form and function. At the same time, it does enough to color outside the lines of tradition to justify your time and effort.

Fire is one of the most interesting new combat variables. Molotov cocktails and incendiary grenades either roast groups of guys or force them in another direction. Flames are a useful distraction or scare tactic, too. They're particularly useful during Demolition matches, which focus the fight at a single bomb site rather than giving terrorists two to pick between. The new and modified maps in this mode aren't as big as classic Counter-Strike arenas – entire sections have been cut off to direct teams toward a central location – but their thoughtful design is as intricate as ever. The Lake map is a standout -- there's a wide open yet densely populated yard around the bomb site, which is inside a sizable lakeside home with plenty of vantage points and hiding spots. To separate Demolition from Defusal, players can't buy between rounds. Instead, it takes a cue from the other new mode, Arms Race, in which each kill unlocks another weapon instantly. The better you do, the more you have to switch up the way you play, and because Demolition is so fast you'll need to be quick on your feet.

Unlike other game types, Arms Race allows for respawns. It's the most chaotic and care-free mode in Global Offensive, with players throwing caution to the wind for the sake of climbing the kill ladder as quickly as possible. It's a shame there are only two maps in Arms Race -- a problem that will more likely persist on consoles than PC.

If you have the option, playing the PC version is unquestionably the best way to experience Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Mods, mouse and keyboard, and the usual PC-only options are better than the ports. Plus, Valve is much better about long-term PC support -- it abandoned Team Fortress 2 on consoles, and Portal 2's level editor was PC exclusive. If you prefer to play on consoles, Global Offensive is the same great game, with the following special bits: