Opposing Fronts, COH, Company of Heroes add on pack
Opposing Fronts Review
Having downloaded from Steam and had a few technical frights with the horrid “game is currently unavailable”error, I was very excited about playing the follow up to the best game of 2006. Like Dawn of War (DOW - another Relic title), it seemed very hard to improve on a formula that worked so well. Company of Heroes (COH) had incredible involvement for an RTS, and very re-playable. Even some of the Skirmish maps warranted a second look. Most RTSs only require you to build a large force and march forward, even in the case of the squad based DOW. However, COH had incredible moments, like a fire fight between houses where your MG teams are dug in, or the sound of a tank approaching your horridly exposed AT gun. Even laying out barbed wire to keep pesky infantry at bay was fun.
So how could Relic follow up on their magnum opus? Well they could get DOW winter assault out and take a good look. Not a stand alone game, but featured a new army, patches and short campaign. It arrived with DOW at the peak of its online popularity so was bound to do well commercially. However as far as value of money is concerned, it was disappointing. Not only was did the army have the weakest units, in keeping with the culture of the table top game, but required incredible micro-management to make it all work. Unfortunately, if you’re not a 12 year old on your summer holidays, you just can’t invest enough time into an army like this, so it became an ultimately useless add on. Dark crusade was the same again, new races but just another skirmish gimmick.
Now why haven’t I mentioned Opposing Fronts (OP) yet? Well you have to take the Winter Assault experience onboard. OP is a stand alone game so you have to pay a lot more for it then your average add on pack. You get two new armies and two campaigns. Now Relic has added weather conditions and more varied terrain, but if you hadn’t played the original COH, then you would think the two games were released simultaneously, there just isn’t any game play or substantial graphical differences. There are also rumors of an insidious installation process….
Now to the armies, which were the greatest feature of the original, with varied units and doctrines to add to the chaos. It’s still Normandy/Western Front with the Wehrmacht having the advantage in armor and tactics but a horrendous reliance on fuel resource, while the British Army have excellent defensive options but poor armor.
However, the Wehrmact does not resemble the COH army at all, it is highly mobile, compact and fuel permitting and can unleash very powerful armored units. In the case of the Jahd-Panther, perhaps too powerful. I can foresee big changes when the patches come out, as the balance is just not right yet. Almost all the units have been overhauled and all the buildings are new. The Doctrines are very different from each other, but not necessary equal in their impact on the game. The scorched earth Doctrine is totally useless and the campaign levels which force you to use it are painful in the least.
Now to the British and anyone who has played winter assault will know what I mean by stodgy, boring and lame. Its one thing using gun emplacements and artillery to your advantage on a scripted campaign level, but in a skirmish game that does not giving you geographic advantages, your in trouble. In truth, they have an uncanny resemblance to the imperial guard. I just can’t see how this will be a popular army online; they require far too much planning and management to put up a fight. The doctrines don’t really make any difference to the game in the same way that doctrines from the original game did or the new wehrmacht options do. The commando units are good, but armor is the key to this game and infantry is too vulnerable to rocket and artillery attack to be the focus of an army. Plus, the wehrmacht are very mobile from the offset, so their armored cars just drive around your pill boxes! I don’t need to elaborate on what a King Tiger can do to them.
I wouldn’t be surprised if further armies and campaigns are released by Relic peace-meal over the next 18-24 months, to milk their (excellent) product. An opportunity was missed here though, as the focus should have moved to the Eastern or African theatres, to really add a new dimension. The Engine is probably strong enough to only need minor upgrades to hold its own for a while longer.
All the same, there are some very entertaining campaign levels for both armies. If you are familiar with the original, I would recommend playing on hard or expert difficulty to get the most out of the game. The problem if you have played the original, is the sense of déjà vu which might put some players off. I think relic is really trying to sell the same game twice. If you plan to play online then it is necessary to own OP to play the new army, even if you have bought COH already. Similarly, if you have OP but not COH, then you can’t play the old armies online. Truthfully, if you had to buy one, I would say get the original, as the armies are more balanced and the new maps in OP aren’t really that different. Overall, don’t expect to be overwhelmed by OP if you’re a seasoned COH player, but do expect to pay the say price for it.
