Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts (PC)

Relic recruits some new Tommies and Jerries for its World War II real-time strategy game.
1/31/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 2

The new German side is pretty much the exact opposite of the British. They're clearly modeled after the SS, but they can't be called this any more than they can have swastikas painted on their half-tracks: Nazi atrocities are still a sore subject, even in a war game (and especially in a war game that THQ hopes to sell in Germany). So the new infantry-heavy faction is called the Panzer Elite (indeed elite but not very "panzer" at all, given its lack of tanks), and it's equipped with an astonishing amount of flexibility, built for mobile and aggressive players.

The Panzer Elite is where Relic really cuts loose with some of Opposing Fronts' new tricks, such as leeching off enemy resources, booby-trapping buildings and capture points, crippling enemy units, and even "resurrecting" dead vehicles. This side's commander powers include powerful anti-tank abilities, insidious sabotage gimmicks, or air support (something the Germans almost never enjoyed once they were fighting the Brits and Americans, but never mind that historical detail). Furthermore, the Panzer Elite's chosen commander power gives their wily little scout cars -- motorcycle/half-track hybrids called Kettenkrads -- special powers to harass the other player.

The Panzer Elite is the hardest side to play, splintered across a half dozen buildings, each with upgrades and units that don't seem to fit into any coherent system. But after a bit of a learning curve, it'll be hard to go back to the original game's vanilla Germans. Part of how Relic balances its factions is by making some harder to play than others; this is particularly true in the Dawn of War games. In Opposing Fronts, the Panzer Elite is for the elite.

There are two new campaigns that do a great job of introducing and breathing life into the new sides. The missions use some spectacular tricks, like aircraft roaring overhead and gliders crashing to earth. The British campaign is mostly another Normandy romp, but the German campaign is memorable and well written. It follows two brothers observing the Allies' failed liberation of Holland in Operation Market Garden. Opposing Fronts offers a tasteful and thoughtful perspective from which to play the bad guys.

Diehard Company of Heroes fans have been playing the same handful of skirmish and multiplayer maps for so long that it's a welcome relief to get so many new battlegrounds. It even makes it worthwhile playing the old vanilla sides just to use old tricks in new places. Many of the new maps are player-made. But they're arguably as good as the ones Relic did in-house, which feature mostly Dutch locations and some atmospheric weather effects.

By introducing so many new twists to the core game mechanics, and by offering so much new content, Opposing Fronts is as good as you could hope for in that space between a simple expansion and a full-blown sequel. It's a shame the game's new copy protection burns so much of the goodwill THQ and Relic had earned, because otherwise, this is a rare instance of a developer improving a game that was already almost perfect.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.