Napalm Riot

I thought I would include both games in the same review now that they are released together in a gold edition. COH is a game with very high production values and that is apparent as soon as you start the game up, but is it worth buying?

Graphics

The graphics in this game are excellent. The core game was released 2 years ago, and its still one of the best looking RTS games out there. The physics is awesome with tanks turning wall into pieces and body parts flying everywhere, personally I think this is the best physics in a RTS game. Unit models are extraordinary as well, matching attire, weapons and vehicles from the WW2 era.

Sound

Sound is the best thing imo that COH has over the competition. It just feels intense as explosions and gunfire is frighteningly real for a RTS game. What is even better are unit dialog in the game. Units talk regularly when in a idle situation and when under fire they speak with more intensity. Making you feel that your with them, when their pinned by that pillbox. Whats better is since the game is rated mature, units are dropping the F bomb and so on enhancing the seriousness of the situation. Its quite unusual for an RTS game to use swear words but COH does a good job of integrating it. The narration for the campaigns is also excellent, that tell it more from a soldier's point rather than a documentary.

Story

While the story in COH is told well, it is WW2 and so that means its about battles we have heard about a million times, adding nothing new like other RTS games. However because of its mature style of storytelling and cutscenes it stands out from the other WW2 RTS games.

Gameplay

The gameplay in this game is rock solid, spins have been taken on the RTS genre after years of no innovation. For example to get access to important resources, you dont mine them like other RTS, but you have to capture strategic points on the map that has those resources. This gets rid of the turtling found in other RTS and action hits the fan a lot sooner. Also all 4 factions play very differently from one another, encouraging different strategies for them and not generic strategies. I would strongly recommend getting the gold editions so you can play as all 4 armies. Other than a few balance issues, this is the best RTS I have played in years.

Replay

Replay for the game is phenomenal in the gold edition you get 3 campaigns, that are very long and are some of the hardest RTS campaigns I have ever played. Once your done with the campaigns you can hit the skirmish and multiplayer scene. The multiplayer is awesome and can support up to 8 players, nothing beats outwitting your opponent and feeling their anguish as you ravage their units. Mutliplayer also has a ranking system, which is not just a stat pad fair like other games. The ranking system is much like chess where if you beat a very high level ranked player, your rank goes very high while his rank plummets from losing to a noob. This system matches players according to the their skill of the game and you will rarely get an unfair match. Also despite the core game being 2 years old, the game has a large multiplayer community and the game is still being supported by the devs (releasing patches and what not). Also those who have the expansion can still play people who have the core game, so compatibility is not a problem. So why are you reading this when you should be buying the game?