Games - Company of Heroes

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	Games - Company of Heroes

Company of Heroes (CoH for short) is a Real Time Strategy game for the PC, first announced on April 25 2005. It is being developed by the RTS veteran, Canadian based developer, Relic Entertainment, and published by THQ.

Gameplay

Company of Heroes is set during World War II where the player follows a fictional military unit, known as Able Company, as they fight their way through some of the greatest and bloodiest battles of World War II in the European theatre, including the D-Day landings at Normandy.

The game also allows for multiplayer matches of 2 - 8 players via LAN or the Internet. However further details on the multiplayer component are scarce with Relic designers merely stating that they are currently fine-tuning and polishing the multiplayer experience.

Company of Heroes also boasts a movie editor where you can save clips of the game in action then edit it to make your own World War II action movies.

Company of Heroes, in keeping with past Relic trends, attempts to revolutionize the RTS genre by introducing changes to the cliche resource model, getting rid of as much micro-management as possible, advancing AI, expanding on concepts from previous games and creating a more strategic and action oriented RTS experience.

As such, the resource model found in Company of Heroes is similar to that of another Relic game, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (2004). This design sees players taking control of certain points on the map. The more of these points the player controls, the more resources they generate. This forces players to constantly expand their territory instead of "turtling up". This helps keep the focus on battles in an attempt to win the game and collect resources, eliminating the need to micro-manage workers to harvest resources. The majority of other RTS games depend on this formula.

Taking another cue from Dawn of War, units in CoH will be able to seek out cover to give them an advantage over the enemy forces. Units hiding in cover gain a defense bonus, making them more effective in combat. Utilizing cover effectively in CoH is essential to victory. Luckily, once again cutting down on micro-management, the game sports advanced AI that is capable of expressing emotion and seeking suitable cover for any situation.

Because CoH features a physics engine (see further down) different types of cover will be more effective against certain units. A gravestone for example, will provide fairly good cover against riflemen, while the same gravestone can be easily crushed or "blown up" by a tank or grenadier.

Graphics

Company of Heroes is the first game to make use of Relic's next generation engine, known as the "Essence Engine". This engine was designed and coded from scratch by Relic in order to make use of all next-generation graphical effects, including High Dynamic Range lighting, dynamic lighting & shadows, advanced shader effects and normal mapping. As designer John Johnson puts it "we will have every advanced graphical effect you'd expect from a game like Half-Life 2, and more."

Using the Essence Engine allows CoH to be rendered in complete 3D with exceptional detail on the infantry, vehicles and structures while retaining a solid frame-rate without the need for a high end gaming PC. There are said to be nearly 2,000 different animations for a basic infantry unit alone.

Company of Heroes also makes us of the Havok 3 Physics Engine which allows CoH to accurately depict the physics of every in-game object. Certain parts of buildings can be blown up by grenades or mortars while tanks can simply plow though sections of walls. Because of the Havok Physics Engine the smoke from the explosion, dirt and building rubble will behave as realistically as possible. Smoke will billow as if it is being blown around by wind, muddy dirt will shower Allied and Enemy troops alike, and building rubble will bounce and roll with accurate weight.

Company of Heroes is expected to be released early in 2006, however no specific date has been given and the development team have stated that it will be released when it's done and no sooner.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Company of Heroes ]

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