Company of Heroes 2 closed Beta

[Monte Carlo]

You are Obyknyven and I claim my ten groats.

[Drowsy Emperor]

Nope, its a Swedish band. Oby would post a red army choir or something.

[Monte Carlo]

A look at the single-player campaign, which I know a few guys asked about...

 

http://www.coh2.org/news/3099/first-contact-company-of-heroes-2-single-player-campaign

[Monte Carlo]

500 of us were lucky enough to get into the pre-open beta server stress test.

 

The game has been polished a great deal. The graphics are crisper and there are lots of tweaks based on player feedback (especially maps). The GUI is still been hit by an ugly stick, but the tactical map is nice and clear.

 

Along with the Theatre of War mode and customization, I would say that this is a good package if you like WW2 RTS games. I still think the art direction of the original was better, but that's a personal thing. The battles still feel visceral and violent, it's agreeably sweary and you get to drive big tanks around crushing enemy infantry.

 

The SP campaign story, told in flashback from a Gulag in the fifties by a dissident veteran, also looks pretty neat.

 

I am Monte Carlo, and I approve of CoH2.

[Agiel]

The thing I'm most happy seeing return is Relic's tradition of putting great unit dialogue in the game. Just this last game playing as the Ostheer, I heard two golden ones I hadn't heard before:

 

"I'm worried that I won't be allowed to like Tchaikovsky anymore."

 

"WHAT THE F*** DOES 'URA' MEAN?!"

 

Though my favourite so far is:

 

"Can't wait to get back to the west. Those amies always complain about the might of our piospam."

[Monte Carlo]

Panzer Grenadier unit advancing past shattered, burning village, "Lebensraum? Who'd want to live here?"

 

"I've got snow in my pants" is making me laugh a lot too.

[Monte Carlo]

A bump because the open beta is up and running.

[Monte Carlo]

Bwahahahahahahahah CoH2 is such fun, even with only 6 maps in the open beta, that I'm pulling an all-nighter.

 

Give it a try, 'tis free, and see what you think.

[Humanoid]

Installed it, but apparently the tutorial function is locked out in the beta. As someone who hasn't played an RTS more recent than one from fourteen years ago, feeling rather lost...

[Agiel]

Watching replays and shoutcasts will go a long way to learning the game (and short of playing actual games, is the best way to learn). As was the case with Starcraft 2, 1v1s and 2v2s are where it's at for balanced, pure skill games (I nominally only do 3v3s and 4v4s for the sake that its faster to level up with them). And some tips I hand out to new players (of which now that the game is in open beta there are a whole lot of) include:

 

-Map control, map control, map control. There really is no point in turtling up in your base as its reasonably well defended for most of he game already. If you don't control more than half of the map at any given moment, as George Clooney said, "(you're) in a tight spot."

 

-It's generally a much better idea to dedicate your manpower at the start of the game to building a strong core force of infantry rather than building fuel OPs (the ones already on the map give you more fuel anyways). After all, assuming an equally, or more skilled opponent, the thought has probably crossed his or her mind as well. Speaking of which...

 

-The single most important component of your forces is infantry. Sure they're not as flashy as heavy Panzers or the "Gods of War", but the former by themselves will struggle against large mobs of conscripts supported by AT guns, and the latter counts for little without a strong core force to keep the enemy at arm's length (also the hole artillery can open up in an enemy's defenses amounts to jack if there's no one to capitalise on it). 

 

-Always be attacking. While augmenting your capabilities, you should also be trying to subtract from your opponent's as well. Keep in mind the sectors you can decap to cut off your opponent from crucial fuel and munitions take less time to de-cap than the resource sectors themselves.

 

-This one may come down to preference, but I abide by it all the same: "Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man." -General George S. Patton.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Agiel

[Monte Carlo]

Relic integrates Twitch TV support into CoH2.

 

I like replays and use Twitch a fair bit, this is a cool development.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130610-900815.html

[Drowsy Emperor]

I'm somewhat skeptical as to the multiplayer longevity of CoH 2 mainly because of its high system requirements. Games hoping to hit it big in this regard have to be a bit more... democratic (Starcraft 2, WoW, DotA2, Counter Strike etc. etc.)

 

My poor machine can run CoH on high, but can't manage CoH2 on minimum ... and yet it looks far worse on minimum than CoH on high. In fact, its so ugly on minimum as to be unplayable, even with a decent frame rate.

[Monte Carlo]

I don't think the system requirements are much heavier than those for, say, SC2.

[Drowsy Emperor]

I don't think the system requirements are much heavier than those for, say, SC2.

 

I don't think so, my PC blasts through SC2 on max settings.

 

SC2 has a very low recommended configuration.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Drowsy Emperor

[IndiraLightfoot]

I just caved in and bought COH2 on Greenman Gaming with a 25 % voucher on top. Monte Carlo's overwhelming enthusiasm rubbed off on me in the end. Funny thing is, I have almost never played a RTS strategy game. I almost always pick turnbased ones. Now I get to try it for the first time (and soon I'll have Larian Studios' Dragon Commander too). Beware Heinz Wobbleknees, that would be me in COH2!  

[Calax]

I just caved in and bought COH2 on Greenman Gaming with a 25 % voucher on top. Monte Carlo's overwhelming enthusiasm rubbed off on me in the end. Funny thing is, I have almost never played a RTS strategy game. I almost always pick turnbased ones. Now I get to try it for the first time (and soon I'll have Larian Studios' Dragon Commander too). Beware Heinz Wobbleknees, that would be me in COH2!

Expect to be doing a LOT of micromanagement.

 

I played a bit of the beta. I feel like I'll never be able to play the Soviets because their AT gun and MG are very one direction.

[Monte Carlo]

Calax, the consensus at the moment is that the soviets are OP. Those big six-man weapon teams and the fast turning time of the Sov HMGs heavily mitigates the cone of fire. Plus, those ZiS field guns get direct and indirect fire ability.

 

@Indira - enjoy the campaign before you step into multiplayer. MP is brutal! I think the campaign mode will be awesome, though. Enjoy!

[IndiraLightfoot]

Thanks for the tips, Calax and Monte Carlo!

 

Well, here's a brief report of me, a total noob, playing COH2 beta multiplayer (as the campaign is only part 7 atm).

The first few hours were mayhem, and half the controls I didn't even know, not even the chat key!

A few told me outright that I sucked big time, and I merrily agreed. The turning point was a kind player who took the time explaining some of the micromanagement for me. For instance, I didn't even know you have to update your HQ for me first seven games, haha!

A turning point was a game of 3 on 3 where I had rigged three mortars on a strategic hill. And when those red army tanks rolled in, I slowly turned them into scrap metal, including all the infantry. One mortar soon rose to veterancy 3, and then the real fun began. The number of kills were dozens and dozens. It was a very close game, where we finally won after 50 minutes. I had no idea it was this intense and fun. I have really missed out on something. In a day or two, I get to try the campaign, but I got the feeling I will play multiplayer for the most part, because of that brutal intensity.

[Monte Carlo]

^ Hey, I'm really happy you enjoyed it. Another convert!

[Calax]

Game comes out tonight yes?

 

At some point we should try to do at least one game together, even if I'll fail harder than a mormon at a strip joint.

[mrmud]

The review by Tom on Quarter2Three is... interesting.

Selling command trees and having to grind endlessly to unlock flat bonuses for multiplayer seems disgusting to me.

 

I will be holding off on this one for some time.

[Monte Carlo]

^ Doesn't really feel like that.

 

I just played my first 1 v 1 versus Calax. It's fair to say that the Red Horde was crushed under the boot-heel of the Kampfgruppe Monte Carlo.

[Agiel]

Strictly speaking the abilities for the DLC doctrines are available to other doctrines that come with the stock game, it's just that they don't come necessarily in the same combination. As for the styles of play they facilitate I feel the stock ones in fact have those covered (and in most cases superior to the paid ones; had I not pre-ordered and gotten them automatically on release I would only have paid for one of those new doctrines).

 

Now, if Relic were to release DLC doctrines that included Fallschirmjaeger and Soviet Naval infantry call-in units...

Edited June 25, 2013 by Agiel

[Calax]

^ Doesn't really feel like that.

 

I just played my first 1 v 1 versus Calax. It's fair to say that the Red Horde was crushed under the boot-heel of the Kampfgruppe Monte Carlo.

Red Horde would imply I had more than 6 units on the field at any given time.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Here's my second COH2-noob report:

 

Well, I'm absolutely hooked now! The campaign is exciting and varied, at least for someone who's never played this kind of game before. Mission 4, with a harsh blizzard and a few troops making their way in the dark to blow up enemy tanks has been the highlight so far, along with the hectic Mission 5 - Stalingrad - nicely portrayed city warfare there! The thing that really draws me in is of course multiplayer, and I've started to team up with one other player to do skirmishes against the Ai just to get a feel for what tactics I prefer. Mortars and machine guns in bunkers are an addictive set-up, and I'm still learning the ropes of how to make the most of tanks. It seems I just send them away, as opposed to half-tracks with flamethrowers that I have a blast with. The way I feel right now is I'll be playing this a lot from now on. Each game is very varied and you have to think on the fly so many times and adapt. One gripe I have is that I still can't get the double left click and select several nearby units at the same time to work. Wonder what I'm doing wrong?

Edited June 26, 2013 by IndiraLightfoot