Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor Review

In the past year or so, Relic Entertainment worked on two projects; the priority being Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2. The team also delivered a brand new addition to the popular Company of Heroes franchise.

Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor is a standalone expansion pack, which features new content, additional features, new special abilities and more. Now, when it comes to new content, we didn't doubt the boys and girls at last, because they didn't disappoint with Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts. In addition to several new multiplayer features, this add-on allows players to dive into three mini single-player campaigns with a total of nine missions. In the 'Tiger Ace' campaign you are part of a German Panzer crew, tasked with capturing and securing a town in France. Playing the 'Causeway' means you'll be taking US troops in a tough battle just after D-Day, in an effort to take control of a key location. Last but not least, we have "Falaise Pocket," where you command a group of Wehrmacht, who are ordered to assist German forces surrounded by Allies.

The campaigns are represented through individual war stories, told by different characters. The focus of each mission is to put you in command of a single unit or multiple units, emphasizing the importance of their special abilities (most are new to the franchise, of course). They also come as a unique strategic benefit on the battlefield and the maps were designed to put these particular abilities into action.

We immediately started playing the single-player campaign and to our surprise it was all over very quickly. Just when we began enjoying ourselves, the end credits popped up. It was fun, though extremely short. This may come as a major letdown for gamers demanding fresh content and top-notch solo play. There's another bothersome issue. Although the missions retain the captivating atmosphere from the previous titles, they also seemed a bit too linear for our taste. Players just weren't given enough space to experiment with new unit abilities.

'Direct Fire' was one of the game's most touted features. It basically gives players a chance to assume a more arcade-like control. When activated, you cannot control the movement of the unit - just its weapons. From some angles, it sounds like a cool addition, albeit we couldn't honestly see the reason for including such an option. It doesn't make a lot of difference during gameplay. You can trigger Direct Fire whenever you want to, although it's hardly going to turn the tide of battle.

The thing we always enjoyed about CoH games is the emphasis on the skills of individual units. Unless players carefully utilize these skills in battle, the chances for victory are slim. Once again, we congratulate the developers for the impressive ambience, great visual effects and authentic surroundings. Overall, the graphics are great, which can also be said for the soundtrack and voiceovers. It's a shame the whole thing ends before you can say: "Jawohl mein, obergruppenführer!"

Most players are advised to stick to the game's multiplayer portion. For starters, there's the Assault mode, which offers a clash between two entrenched forces - this one was clearly inspired by the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III. You control a single hero-type unit, while coordinating an attack with other units to destroy specific targets. Next up, you can try out the co-op mode called Stonewall. Here 4 players are placed in the center of the map and must fight off 16 waves of rather tough enemies. The Panzerkreig mode is a classic tank battle. You control your own tank and, of course, you must destroy enemy tanks. This mode is actually a tribute to the video game oldie "Combat" (Atari 2600).

Considering the qualities of previous editions of Company of Heroes, this add-on marks a huge disappointment. The single-player mode of Tales of Valor is exceedingly linear and lacks the rich content and challenging spirit of its predecessors.

The game packs an engaging multiplayer mode, but seeing as you won't spend more than a couple of hours with the clearly meager single-player campaigns, it really doesn't deserve your attention; nor does it justify the slightly steep price tag ($30).

If you're eager to check out a good strategy game from the folks at Relic, give Dawn of War 2 a go if you haven't already.