Eyes on Company of Heroes: General Winter

World War II is a point in history that the gaming industry seems to never get tired of. Fortunately for Relic Entertainment and THQ, this means a sequel to their critically acclaimed "Company of Heroes" PC game that graced shelves in 2006. Argued to be the RTS strategy that changed the way the game was played, the forthcoming second game, "Company of Heroes 2," seems to be striving to nab that title yet again with some surprising new features.

Focusing on the eastern front of of the European Theater, namely Russia and the outlying areas of the Iron Curtain that Germany blitzkreiged to oblivion, the game introduces a whole new element to tactical decisions.

A flaming winter wonderland of warfare. Say that three times fast.

"Company of Heroes" utilized a cover system, real-time building destruction that was randomized every time, squad combat mechanics, resource gathering based off of strategic points and realistic weapons of warfare. Its success was easily witnessed as many called it one of the best RTS games of all time. It definitely built on several conventions that had been used over the years and capitalized off of their popularity.

I have a saying: don't reinvent the wheel, put rubber on it. "Company of Heroes" did just that. Taking some of the work that Relic did on the "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War" series concerning squad based tactics and strategic point capturing, they then utilized buildings, artillery and anything else they could get their hands on.

Now, "Company of Heroes 2" is pushing the envelope with "General Winter." No, there is no in-game character named General Winter, though a frosty old man that commands his forces while sounding like Ed Asner would be amazing, but that's just silly.

General Winter refers to the weather conditions actually playing a major role in the game itself. In a GameSpy interview, principle designer Quinn Duffy said that General Winter is almost like having a third, neutral player. The eastern front was bitterly cold, especially the winter of '41 and '42, with temperatures reaching minus 40 degrees Celsius. In those kinds of conditions, exposed flesh can freeze in just a couple of minutes - literally a couple of minutes - and you had tens of thousands of soldiers dying of exposure to the cold.

Even with the fire and the snow, the Russians still held out.

Player squads will actually have a temperature gauge above them, and if the squad's heat is too low they will freeze to death. Their heat can be raised by standing near campfires, or going into cover or transports. This adds another element of strategy when attacking the enemy. Going after sources of warmth for their troops will be instrumental to victory. Tanks rolling over iced over lakes and rivers will have to be wary as the surface beneath them can be targeted to send them to a chilly bath below.

"Company of Heroes 2" is throwing a whole new depth of strategy at the player now. Not only does the environment mean that unit management needs to be taken seriously and that units cannot be left someplace without them freezing to death, but it also can change the way that players fight. Instead of trying to overpower the enemy, it's now possible to outlast them. a kind of war of attrition over war of arms.

It seems that players will be battling the harsh elements of the eastern theater along with the Nazis when "Company of Heroes 2" hits shelves. Due to the innovative new gameplay that will be in it, the Vault will definitely be looking into it. 

Sniper Elite V2 Review

Sniper Elite V2 lets players get creative.

War is hell, and in Sniper Elite V2, you're Hell with a gun.

The story of Sniper Elite V2 isn't anything special. You're a sniper in Europe during World War II, and you're killing people to stop the Nazis from winning the war. Simple and uncomplicated. It's not crazy, it's not going to win any awards, and I appreciate that about the game. It doesn't try to be anything more than it is - a game where you shoot people from far away and sneak around trying to get to your objectives.

It's like Mortal Sniper Kombat Elite V2 or something.

That being said, you kind of have to laugh at how grizzled and badass sounding the main character is. He sounds like Solid Snake and it's a little silly. The graphics aren't anything impressive until you get to the X-Ray-zoom-in-shots of your bullet slicing through someone's trachea and, by God, that is gloriously morbid. It's the WWII shooter version of Mortal Kombat.

The real trial of the game is attempting to do it the way it wants you to. There's not a lot of room for fire-fights and standing your ground with the enemy being less than 50m from you. Your best bet is to keep them at 100m or more to still pick them off.

It's intensely satisfying to play mind-games with the AI though. You're able to booby-trap and confuse them to no end. My personal favorite is putting a landmine on a dead body and watching someone investigate it and then blow themselves to kingdom come.

In the demo you're able to set traps on the sidewalks of a bombed out street and stop an armored convoy as it rolls down the road. When they stop and begin to take cover from you, it's like a horrendous fireworks display watching the plumes of smoke and fire erupt as their safe positions become their graves.

Reading that entire paragraph back to myself right now makes me feel like some crazed sociopath, but honestly this entire game is just one big guilty pleasure. You're able to use rocks to throw the Nazis off with sound and they'll play right into your traps.

The power of this game is in the multiplayer. There's three different versions of it and each one is just as fun as the next. Overwatch has to be the most well made mode, however. You and a friend can take up positions in an area from the main campaign, and fend off wave after wave of enemies for as long as possible. You would think that would get boring, but it keeps you on your toes and if you have a good team, you and your friend will have a blast.

Set some traps and watch the show.

Co-oping the campaign is very satisfying too. I mean, it's just playing the game with a friend. Same story, same levels, just more enemies and no explanation as to why there are now two snipers instead of one. WHO CARES?! THIS GAME IS HILARIOUSLY FUN!!

Looking at the composition of the game and whether or not it is innovative or ground-breaking, the score for this is probably a  7 or so. But based purely on the fun factor, this game is probably a 9 or a 10. It's the oddest thing. The game isn't beautiful, it's nothing new, but it's executed spectacularly. It will most definitely stay under the radar, but if you ever pick it up you will likely never part with it. And if you get a friend and play this? Fuggetaboutit. You'll never stop. This is a prime game to represents the idea that some of the best games aren't blockbusters - some aren't even terribly innovative - they're fun.