Windows

Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

Ainda que ofereça uma campanha para um jogador bastante rasa e poucas novidades, "Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor" consegue honrar o nome da excelente franquia de estratégia da Relic. O foco agora voltado para unidades específicas funciona bem e traz um novo sabor à consagrada mecânica da série, com combates dinâmicos que aproveitam as diferentes características das tropas e veículos no multiplayer. Mesmo não tão completo quanto "Opposing Forces", ainda é um ótimo produto para os fãs do tema e da marca.

Als DLC was Tales of Valor een voltreffer geweest, maar 35 euro voor een standalone minigame? Dat neigt eerder naar een schampschot.

Gamers who spend the majority of their time in single-player modes should pass this one by. If you’re an online-focused player, though, Tales of Valor provides hours of amusement, especially if the community takes advantage of the excellent mod tools to flesh out the map selection.

So, is this a worthwhile advance for the Company Of Heroes franchise? Only if you are looking for multi-player gaming, since the meagre single player options of three missions per campaign (if you can call it that) is wholly inadequate and rather frustrating that you just get into the right frame of mind and it's over. That this is such a small game in length and the pricing of it has to be put down as a good online game, that isn't really worth the cost... as there are better games for only a bit more money.

Zelfs een ietwat korte Company of Heroes ervaring is beter dan wat de meeste real-time strategieconcurrenten te bieden hebben, maar deze Tales of Valor had toch iets meer mogen zijn. Zeker voor spelers die het liever offline houden.

Dla fanów serii pozycja obowiązkowa, dla tych którzy jeszcze jej nie znają - warta uwagi, choć na ich miejscu zastanowiłbym się czy nie lepiej zainwestować w pakiet CoH + Opposing Fronts, który jakiś czas temu został wydany w taniej serii za bardzo przystępną cenę.

Würde mein Fazit genauso umfangreich ausfallen wie CoH: Tales of Valor, es würden drei Worte genügen: Viel zu kurz!!! Rein vom spielerischen Standpunkt aus betrachtet kann man der Erweiterung aber nicht sehr viel ankreiden, denn immerhin verändert es das bewährte Company of Heroes-Gameplay nur marginal und das gehört selbst heute noch zum Besten was das Strategiegenre zu bieten hat. Deswegen bleibt einem bezahlten Nörgler wie mir eigentlich nur übrig, sich wiederholt über den sehr dürftigen Umfang zu beschweren und der ist gelinde gesagt eine kleine Frechheit. Der gebotene Spielinhalt würde vielleicht gerade einmal für einen kostenpflichtigen Download-Content reichen, aber auf keinen Fall für eine Stand-Alone Erweiterung. Wer über diesen Kritikpunkt hinwegsehen kann, der bekommt mit Tales of Valor ein kurzes, aber intensives und vor allem spannendes Spielerlebnis geboten.

Tales of Valor is a fun addition to the Company of Heroes series, but it's a bit overpriced at thirty dollars. The new campaigns are over before you know it, the new units have a limited impact, and direct fire is largely ineffective. The real attractions here are the three new multiplayer modes. They're undoubtedly fun and have a lot of satisfying cooperative elements, but the focus on a single map for each mode tends to undercut their replayability. If you're a Company of Heroes fan, wait for this one to hit twenty bucks. If you've never tried the games before, use that same twenty bucks to go buy the original or Opposing Fronts instead.

Notice the general theme? Tales of Valor plays and feels more like a mod, or a series of small DLC packs, than an expansion (THQ prices it at $30, which is pushing it a bit). One nice touch is that unlike the previous expansion, this does give you full access to the multiplayer. So if you never picked up COH, but always heard about how great its multiplayer is, this is an easy purchase. Diehard COH multiplayer fans will want this by virtue of being able to use the new units that all the other veteran players will be using with their copies. But the player who either wants a great offline experience, or simply another fantastic COH expansion, might feel a bit cheated and disappointed with how paltry this expansion feels.

So, what is the conclusion? CoH: Tales of Valor is as good as its predecessors when it comes to playing experience. However, it's more of the same and lacks some innovation. That it's so short is a major downer and also the copy protection system rears its ugly head too much. If you're a fan of CoH and can live with aforementioned downpoints then buying this title certainly won't be any issue. You have fun with it but it's best to find it at a light price as you get nothing more than a lightweight experience.

Though the action is solid while it lasts, Tales of Valor's short campaign and additional multiplayer modes don't justify the standalone price tag.

Tales of Valor seems nothing like a full-blown expansion and much more along the lines of one of these simpler content updates. There is absolutely no way that I can recommend purchasing Tales of Valor at the current $30 price point; $10 to $15 seems much more reasonable. I would assume that veterans of the series will also be very distraught with the two new invincible single-player modes and possibly some of the multiplayer balancing issues. Online play can be fun if you have experience, though it would be nice to see some more servers available and for the community to be more open to new players. While I’m kind of sick of WW II games in general, the Company of Heroes series seems to be a bit of an exception. However, I would really like to see Relic expand and bring in Soviet troops, create a Pacific front game, or even a game based on the Vietnam War. So in ending, you’d be able to skip this installment without missing much.

Tales of Valor — игра, скорее, для «нефанатов». Если в вашей коллекции уже есть Company of Heroes и Opposing Fronts, то второе дополнение с кучкой малополезных юнитов, микроскопическим «синглом» и урезанным многопользовательским режимом вам ни к чему.

Comment ne pas être interloqué devant ce Tales of Valor ? Certes, il repose sur des bases qui ont fait leurs preuves et une technique robuste. Mais avec un contenu aussi mince qu'un soldat passé sous la cinquantaine de tonnes d'un char Tigre, il est difficile d'en conseiller l'achat au prix fort, même pour un fan de la série. Cette seconde extension est aussi superflue qu'Opposing Fronts était indispensable. Et pour couronner le tout, les Soviétiques ne sont toujours pas jouables. Peut-être dans Company of Heroes 2 ?