COH OPPOSING FRONTS THEME PLUS

For experienced players, though, Tales of Valor offers enough distractions to fill your need for something new.

COH OPPOSING FRONTS THEME PLUS

Considering that the original COH plus Opposing Fronts can be bought around the same price these days, I'd definitely point new recruits to those excellent titles before they look at the new expansion as a stand-alone product. Overall it's the game's $30 price tag at the time of this writing that stops me from fully recommending Tales of Valor.

Luckily there are also some new maps included for those modes as well, and Company of Heroes continues to be a very popular RTS online. These multiplayer modes are nice as additions to the main multiplayer component of the game, but likely will be short distractions from the more traditional multiplayer modes from the original game. On the multiplayer front, Tales of Valor adds three new modes of play: Panzerkrieg, Stonewall and Assault. Tales uses the same painted cut-scenes of the original. Compounded with the short play-time, it's a move that veteran COH players will likely be disappointed in. In fact, the heightened focus on small tactics feels more similar to the gameplay found in Dawn of War II, Relic's last game, than the original Company of Heroes. While narrowing the sight makes for a fast ride, these missions are definitely a radical departure for the series. No base, no paratroopers, just that one bad-ass tank with its massively powerful two-second reload time. For example, in the the three missions of the first campaign, you'll play as a single German tank crew. While that kind of combat became a hallmark for the original, it seems overly pronounced in this offering.

The gameplay in these mini-campaigns also differs from the source material in that you're focusing on small amounts of units in a more scripted game world. The three campaigns took me about six hours to complete, which was extended due to several crashes on the final mission. Still, the action here is excellent and the more scripted sequences, especially those involving the defense of the game's many bridges, are very fun. Although there's the same use of stylized moving-painting productions in the cut-scenes it doesn't do much for those wanting a continuation of the epic story-arcs from the main campaign. Each mini-campaign is comprised of three missions each giving you very little time to get attached to the history and story behind the action. Tales of Valor comes packaged with three mini-campaigns that, while fun, are extremely brief and play radically differently from the lar ge mega-campaigns found in the original game and its first expansion Opposing Fronts. Tank combat is the focus of the first mini-campaign. What's there, though, is thrilling stuff and up to the quality standards of the original game, if presented in a slightly different format. While these additions are nice, they likely won't do much for those looking for robust single-player action. The game also includes a bevy of new multiplayer maps and the ability to have direct fire control over your units. Tales of Valor instead chooses to focus on small game-refinement changes and 3 new multiplayer modes. The 1st, Opposing Fronts, offered new factions and and two fairly meaty campaigns. Tales of Valor is the second expansion for Company of Heroes. New-to-the-series multiplayer maps are based on actual World War II events, and three new multiplayer modes have players assaulting enemy lines, defending against strengthening waves of attackers, and taking command of a tank squad. Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor also supports competitive and cooperative multiplayer battle, for as many as eight, over a LAN or the Internet.

In 'Falaise Pocket,' solo players guide a group of German engineers during the surprise invasion. The 'Causeway' campaign follows a squad of American paratroopers who land behind Utah beach and face heavy fire as they move to unite with other Allied squads. 'Tiger Ace' has players in charge of an Axis King Tiger tank team, capturing and holding a small French village. The title's tales are told in three separate, single-player campaigns. The new 'Direct Fire' controls give players the option of free-hand aiming, using the cursor to click and shoot. As in the 2006 original and its first expansion pack, 2007's Opposing Fronts, players command of squads of soldiers and vehicles in ballistic-heavy battles that focus on tactics and timing.

Tales of Valor is the second stand-alone expansion of the critically acclaimed World War II real-time strategy game, Company of Heroes.

Coh opposing fronts theme