Moves the battle away from the common Western Front focus of World War II and refocuses on some of history’s most brutal and devastating conflicts on the Eastern Front, challenging players to take command of the iconic Red Army and repel the Nazi invaders from the very gates of Moscow.
Company of Heroes 2 is a game that I really want to like more. The sound effects are truly atmospheric and the visuals are stunning, but that's about it.
The maps leave a lot to be desired. They're all fairly good maps, but all feel like the same scenario: fighting over farmland, occasionally with a tactically irrelevant river involved. Where, outside of the campaign, are the war torn streets of Stalingrad? Even the recent update that brought a beloved COH1 map into the game brought, langres, the one map that was like the others in COH2, when it could have introduced Vire River Valley (which would have been fun to play in the "winter" mode) or Lyon or Montereme (for some desperately needed variety).
The combat, aside from being visually pleasing, is frustrating. A squad of shock infantry, when placed at point blank range against a helpless artillery crew, has to fire continuously for something like 15 seconds before they kill their target, while a single grenade or mortar shell can wipe out that same squad in one blast. Tanks have to fire about five well placed rounds at enemy tanks before destroying them, but can fall through ice and be lost in a moment's notice.
I rate this game a 7 and not a 6 because I do think there is potential. Updates to the game that make infantry less useless and add maps with variety could make the game much better. Even just the release of a map editor would do so much to improve this game.
I'm rooting for Company of Heroes 2, but it has a ways to go