Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #243 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: THQ
• Released on: 2007-09-28
• Platform: Windows XP

Amazon.co.uk Review

Last year's Company Of Heroes was probably the best new real-time strategy game on the PC for ages but it didn't quite do as well as it deserved - probably because the whole World War II setting is starting to look a bit overdone nowadays. This standalone expansion provides a second chance to experience not only the best strategy game for ages but also one of the few games to do anything original with the WWII theme. For a start you don't actually control American troops in the game but either the British 2nd Army or the German Panzer Elite. (You can play though the missions as the U.S. Army and Wehrmacht if you have a copy of the first game to hand though.)

The Allied single player campaign revolves around the Battle for Caen, shortly after D-Day, and features the three primary regiments from the campaign: the Royal Canadian Artillery, the Royal Commandos and the Royal Scottish Engineers. The unique way the 2nd Army's technology tree works allows access to all manner of new weapons and tactics including creeping barrages, Horsa gliders and three variations of the Churchill tank.

Meanwhile, the Panzer Elite campaign centres around the German opposition to Operation Market Garden. Here you can control the 2nd SS Panzer Corps and Luftwaffe paratroops. Ironically while the British are focused on defence the Germans specialise in speed and mobility with many varieties of tanks of and halftracks. With the same stunning graphics as before it invigorates both the real-time strategy game and the WWII game all at once.

Customer Reviews

Sublime
A lot of people complaining about the download and patching, all I have to say is you can in fact skip this step by disconnecting from the internet, unless you're here for the multiplayer.

On the game itself.

Brilliant RTS, graphics are superb, audio is excellent, and gameplay is great.

good game when it works !
this is a really good game... when it works. installing the game takes forever then after that you have to sit and wait till the game downloads and installs patch after patch. then you might get to play on the game but the game will more than likely crash or you will suddenly be kicked out of a match for no reason

Flawed
This is quite a good game once you get playing. The graphics are good, the gameplay is OK and the portrayal of the Brits (and the language) is notable for not being the Lah-di-dah stereotype.

BUT it barely works.

Have a good book handy. You'll get through a couple of pages while it decides to load, then a few more when you have to down load a patch for online gaming even if that doesn't interest you at all - you're not asked!, quit the game and load the patch. Reload the game (a few more pages read), download another patch for reasons unspecifieed (3 more pages) then it'll say 'can't find the disc' - despite the fact that you launched the game from the disc! Eject the disc and re-insert (another page), then the 'media isn't recognised', eject the disc and try again (5 more pages).

When you get to play, don't stop as if you do and exit you have to reload patches when you try next time. I've only played the game 3 times and as I say it's not bad but I've managed 83 pages of my book while waiting.

Quite honestly they've got a cheek releasing this in this condition and Microsoft have got an even bigger cheek taking their dollars to allow them to put 'Games For Windows (logo)' on the cover.

Maybe it works on a Mac?