Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

Developer: Relic
Publisher: THQ
Rating: M (Mature)
Price: $29.99

I have to start off by saying the Companyof Heroes series is a remarkably well made set of games that are extremely entertaining. They’ve kept me interested for almost three years now and would rather be playing than writing about it. This stand alone expansion mostly updates and the multiplayer experience as gamers looking for a long string of single player campaign missions will likely be disappointed with a short nine. There was also a new patch released simultaneously that doesn’t require Tales of Valor offering a lot in the way of game play and unit balance as well as net code optimization.

The major addition in this expansion is the new set of multiplayer modes. On top of the standard skirmish using annihilation and victory point modes, there are three new “operations” modes available to online players that focus even more on small scale tactical battles. One of these modes, “Panzerkreig”, takes advantage of the new direct fire control system implemented that allows players to manually aim tank cannons in a death match style arena. There is also “Assault” where players control a single infantry unit assaulting a row of enemy defensive lines attempting to reach a target at the end of the map. Lastly there is “Stonewall” which should appeal to players that enjoy the commonly called comp stomp games against CPU players. This operation mode places human players defending a central location against increasingly difficult waves of computer controlled enemies. Overall, these new multiplayer modes seem foreign from the rest of Company of Heroes but are entertaining in their own right.

As a fan of the series I see this small expansion as a nice refresher. New comers should take note of the $30 price as an easy way to get into the Company Heroes experience. The very short single player missions and quickly feel to the new multiplayer modes force me to give the expansion a great but not excellent rating.