Game review: Company of Heroes

It could be argued that the video games industry has a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the Second World War.

But just when you thought the conflict in question had been milked for all its worth by the legions of WWII-themed, first-person shooters, combat flight sims and squad-based games out there, developer Relic comes along and uses it as the backdrop for a remarkable real-time strategy (RTS) title.

From the traditional RTS viewpoint, players must fortify encampments, upgrade weaponry and command troops in battle. In the single-player campaigns you’re put in charge of a company of US troops during the D-Day invasion and preceding hostilities. Multiplayer allows up to eight players to split into teams and go head-to-head as either Axis or Allied forces.

Basic strategy involves getting your troops to secure various resource points that are dotted around the map. Taking command of these ensures a steady flow of the three vital resources ­– manpower, munitions and fuel ­ – that are required for a successful outcome.

Company of Heroes is very action-orientated, meaning you often have to think fast and act even faster.

Extremely impressive artificial intelligence, graphics and sound all help to generate a uniquely immersive, often unsettling, experience. The sight of fully destructible environments crumbling under fierce bombardment or individual soldiers in their final death throes can be genuinely disturbing.

Veteran real-time strategists will love Company of Heroes, but the game is accessible enough to appeal to those less familiar with the genre.

The game is definitely a challenge, but one that’s well worth taking on, despite its war-torn setting.