Company Of Heroes: Opposing Fronts

by THQ

Product Features

• Play as the British 2nd Army or German Panzer Elite, each with devastating command trees options and unit upgrades.
• Command the British 2nd Army to liberate the key strategic position of Caen, France. Control the German Panzer Elite to repel the Allied airborne invasion in Operation Market Garden.
• Mission Persistence, Dynamic Weather Effects, Enhanced Vehicle Tactics and more deliver a new level of realism and all new battlefield tactics.
• Combine Company of Heroes™: Opposing Fronts™ with the original Company of Heroes for a total of four playable armies online. Join British artillery with American armor to dominate the 3rd Reich.
• The highest rated RTS franchise features enhanced lighting effects and terrain details setting new standards in visual realism.

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000U850P2
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: DVD-ROM
• Release Date: September 24, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,664 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #4 in Video Games > PC Games > Action > Military & Espionage
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PC

The next chapter in the #1 rated RTS franchise thrusts players into a hellish war torn landscape to command two battle-hardened armies in relentless campaigns for honor and country. Players lead the tenacious British 2nd Army during the heroic World War II liberation of Caen, France, and command the German Panzer Elite as they struggle to repel the largest airborne invasion in history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Game with the Worst Patching Scheme I've Seen, January 3, 2008

By 

J. Chen "weez" (Cali, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Company Of Heroes: Opposing Fronts (DVD-ROM)

First of all, there are a lot to like about the CoH series. The graphics, the physics and the unit strategy elements of the CoH series of games are by far among the best in the RTS games I have played, and I have played RTS games for almost 20 years starting from a very young age. This series of games present campaigns in managable segments and load them with tons of strategic elements to make them fun and refreshing. The opposing fronts game adds two more armies: Britsh 3rd Army and the German Panther Elite to which you can command (in addition to the original CoH's US Army's 101 air born able company and the German troops).
My interest in the WWII history made this game even more fascinating to me personally as I can engage my computer units in some historically signifcant WWII campaigns. The game does a good job of including bits of actual WWII history to further engage the players. The representation of the units and equipment is also quite authentic, true to the real life. However, this can be somewhat problematic as the Panther Elite troops tend to be very strong (true to real life). In a small skirmish setting, this in-balance leads to some game play problems, as in a multiplayer game, a player commanding Panther Elite units can quite easily over power other players due to the high fire power and the great mobility of the Panther Elite units.
Panther Elite units are heavily armored, fast moving, and the basic grenadier units are good in both fighting and vehicle repair. The Panther Elite also has the best troop carriers, best armor protection and incredible mobility and mobile fire support to provide fast recharge to mobile units. This make the Panther Elite a force that is very difficult to defend against in games against actual human players. The problem with balance is not significant in playing against the computer in campaigns as the balance is well tuned in those missions. But in playing against human opponents on an even play field, a player playing Panther Elite has significant advantage in the game play.
With British units, the mode of play is more concentrated in defense and longe range barrage, as the British tanks are slow, the engineering units are also slow and expensive. The British troops need more leadership guidance, and has relatively weak weaponry in comparison to the German and even the Americans. The artillery units of British is where the action is for this faction, so I guess depends on your prefence in gameplay, the British could be fun. But for me, I prefer a quick and efficient run of armored units, so Panther Elite units are far more entertaining, much to my dismay (as my historitical learning, and dispise of Nazis always tugs at me whenever I play the Panther Elite and lay waste to allied units).
The intallation process was a huge pain however, which is why the game gets 4 instead of 5 stars, the intall from the Opposing Fronts game DVD reverted my patched intallation of CoH to an earlier version, so upon login I had to download patches AGAIN!! What's so insane is that the patches are not cumulative. In order to get to version 2.2 let's say, one has to download and install version 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5... INDIVIDUALLY!! This is the most insane patching scheme I have ever seen. Every other game can handle patching any previous version to the latest patch with just one install, but not CoH series, this just drives you nuts. It tooks over 3 hours overall to install CoH: OF then having to download and install all the patches.
Stability is overall great on my system, with a Dual core proecssor with a Nvidia 8800GT video card on 2 GB of RAM. I did not experience crashing problem many others experienced, but I also didn't get the game until patch 2.2 is released which seemed to fixed a great deal of issues.
Overall, this game is lots of fun to play and a big pain to install and patch. But if you can stand the wait (give you self 3 hours on a fast internet connection) it takes to install, you will be rewarded with an execellent RTS experience as long as you have the right hardware to handle the game (fast video card and lots of RAM for all the eye candy). Make sure to patch the game to the latest version.

30 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a buggy POS this is...., December 11, 2007

By 

Jeff - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Company Of Heroes: Opposing Fronts (DVD-ROM)

I have never seen a more buggy game. Patch after patch after patch. On # 4 now and it won't launch. Finally had it working after extensive emails to customer suupport then, today, it decided it needed another 112MB patch. After downloading it, it supposedly patched but on relaunch still wants the patch. ARRRGGHHH! Who is writing this crappy code and who is checking it? I just want to come home from work and play a little game...instead its sheer frustration.
I understand their desire for copyright protection, but their requirements for you to jump through so many hoops is ridiculous. THQ you should be ashamed....

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A BLAND SEQUEL TO A GREAT GAME, October 10, 2007

By 

NeuroSplicer (Freeside, in geosynchronous orbit) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Company Of Heroes: Opposing Fronts (DVD-ROM)

Innovation, like intelligence, cannot be bought; or forced; or spread on a slice of bread. It is a fleeing ability that needs time and space to grow and bear fruit. Nowadays, there are no such conditions in the gaming industry. Hence, games like CoH: OPPOSING FRONTS. The cookie-cutter at work.

Whether one likes or not strategic-points RTS games (what are now called "WarGames") is a matter of preference (I do not, they reduce the immersion factor, as they remind me too much that I am playing a computer game). This is not the main problem with CoH:OF. After all, the original CoH was also a strategic-points game and it was a GREAT game!

RELIC, a company with a long RTS history, attempted to improve on the original. Running a game-mill produced mixed results.

PROS:
- Improved graphics and sounds
- Enemy AI. They will come after your dug-in troops from every possible angle.
- Did I mention the graphics? Yes, they have improved...

CONS:
- Slower gameplay (from unit production to movement - it can really get on your nerves when under pressure)
- Smaller maps (although strategically more diverse)
- Single Player practically...abandoned to fare for itself. Not very thought out and pretty predictable.
- Your own units AI: they will keep getting mowed down if caught exposed when moving - although there will be tons of buildings around. Nearby units do not come helping: if an enemy unit is outside its own detection range, they will not lift a finger. Now, I do realize this is the part the...player is supposed to fill; however, friendly units assisting in enemy detection would be much more realistic (even for a WWII game). Either C&C-TIBERIUM WARS spoiled us too much or RELIC relies too heavily on the pause-to-issue-orders game style.

Overall: if you liked the original CoH, I am sure you will like this one too. If new to the genre, start with the original CoH though.

2115|R1RGKAALSDXTI;2115|R1P4RLA8EB05H9;2115|R27CWS0LX0YALT;