Company of Heroes Switch Review
Company of Heroes originally debuted back in 2006 and set the bar for the Real Time Strategy Genre, and subsequently, has been permanently installed on every PC I have owned ever since. While I have played all the entries in the series, including the recently released third installment, the first Company of Heroes game still stands out as an epic strategy game with incredible depth and gameplay. So for this series veteran, the bar has been set rather high for how Feral Interactive has handled this port to the Nintendo Switch. So does it secure its objective? Or does this iteration sink to the bottom of the channel? Let’s take a look.
Company of Heroes (and both its expansions) offers a robust story-driven campaign that follows the actual events of World War 2 Operations such as the infamous D-Day invasion, and Operation Market Garden. The gameplay focuses on securing strategic points, destroying enemy emplacements, and pushing the enemy back. The base campaign follows Able Company during the Normandy campaign, Opposing Fronts follows both British and German forces, and Tales of Valour mixes it up with 3 mini-campaigns that follow the 101st Airborne and also tells a unique story for the German forces. Playing through these campaigns will unlock units for skirmish mode which is a nice touch, and the campaigns are fast-paced and action-packed.
While the campaigns are incredible in their own right, I personally find the most enjoyment out of the Skirmish mode, which has a stronger focus on territory and resource management, as well as base building. No two games are the same and as you earn XP via combat of capturing resources, you can branch into different commander abilities such as an artillery-focused, long-range fighter, an armoured expert, or a reconnaissance specialist who can use aircraft to spot and strafe enemy. These decisions will change how you approach the battlefield, along with which army you choose to play out of British, American, and German, as each army has its own strengths and weaknesses (which you will find when you face your first Panzer Tank.
Troop units can have upgrades that benefit all unit types, like equipping infantry with BAR Rifles, or singular units like adding flamethrowers to engineer units. You can also equip them with explosives to rig bridges and cut off vital paths, or time it well and sink some tanks when they cross. Strategic thinking and planning are essential, especially in the early stages of a battle. Do you secure capture points for easy resources, or do you strategically and slowly creep forward, defending your flanks but risking being overrun? At the end of the day, your play style will depend on the movements of battle, and some skirmishes can go well over the 2-hour mark, making a hard-fought victory even more satisfying.
The only thing missing from this package at launch is a lack of matchmaking multiplayer, but this is planned post-launch and will give players time to hone their commanding skills.
While the game engine may be older, the graphics and environments still look incredible, and a large part of this boils down to all the smaller effects delivering the wow factor. Pinned units have tufts of dirt flying about, shells ricochet and spark off armoured units, and animations like loading anti-tank rounds into the cannons all add to an atmospheric experience. Terrain and obstructions allow units to take cover, reducing damage, and scattered weapons of defeated enemies can be picked up out of the dirt and used against the enemy. Units are well detailed and depending on where hit, can create different outcomes such as damaging track, immobilising the unit, or destroying the main gun leaving the crew to fight off advancing units with a machine gun. Performance is consistent and locked into 30 frames per second in both handheld and docked. Some of the cutscenes can be a little shaky, but that’s most likely due to cinematic choices rather than performance.
The immersion of this game is what makes it so incredible. In a skirmish match, I created a bottleneck that was overrun by armoured units. While I was rushing to get as much anti armour built at my base, I could hear the battle in the distance, with my engineers screaming for backup. By the time I had my units ready to advance, my checkpoint had fallen and so began an intense game of cat and mouse while I tried to re-establish my checkpoint while fending off the enemy that made it through. This isn’t a rare moment in Company of Heroes, as the tides of war can easily shift in either direction. You will lose… a lot. But you will also learn to establish tank traps, sandbag, and mount machine guns, and strategically place anti-armour cannons next time.
Being a real-time strategy with such frantic action would need some tight controls to compete with the experience of keyboard and mouse on its PC counterpart and thankfully, Feral Interactive has done a great job adapting the controls to the Switch, including some quality-of-life improvements like being able to issue commands while pausing the action. None of it break immersion, as I found myself able to use infantry to target a tank with a sticky bomb, while moving an anti tank gun into position. It felt great to watch the plan play out when the action resumed. Navigation is also tied to the D-pad, allowing you to immediately focus on the home base to build reinforcements by pressing down on the D-pad, then pressing up to focus back on the action and command troops. Grouping and selecting units can also be done simply, allowing you to move groups back and forth where needed.
The stellar sound design is a standout in the Company of Heroes Collection, with the sounds of shells exploding, small arms fire bouncing off armoured units, and exceptionally acted combat chatter. Units will sound panicked when under attack, and more casual when securing territory. This sound design carries itself well beyond what you can see on the screen, as the distant rumblings of combat add to the intense atmosphere should you be at your base, hurrying to put together a counter-offensive.
For my vision-impaired commanders, I’m pleased to report that there are colorblind modes that can be set, and terrain and cover are distinguishable by coloured markers when selecting units. The UI is clear, and essential resources are in larger text, allowing you to keep track of your inventory.
Company of Heroes strategically captures your attention with its epic scope of the campaign, near-unlimited skirmish mode, and quality-of-life improvements that make commanding a battalion on the go a breeze. Couple this with the inclusion of 2 huge and varied expansions, pixel-perfect performance, and a very reasonable price point, it’s safe to say that Company of Heroes is a victory for the team that ported it at Feral Interactive. This is not a hurried port for some quick cash, but a carefully designed and well-thought-out opportunity to introduce a new generation of commanders to this revered game.
So What’s it Like?
Company of Heroes is like Command and Conquer, mixed with Saving Private Ryan.
