Where's The Rest? -- Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

GamerNode - The Company of Heroes franchise is not the typical real-time strategy experience that many gamers are familiar with. Relic's latest standalone expansion, Tales of Valor, takes the gameplay standard set forth in the first two entries in the series and runs with it, though not exactly in the same direction as the originals, but still a unique one.

Tales of Valor adds three new single-player campaigns and three new multiplayer modes, along with new unit types and maps to do battle on. As expected, the content is all of standard CoH caliber, but compared to the two additional armies (each with full campaigns of their own) that the Opposing Fronts expansion introduced, ToV feels quite small, especially as a standalone product.

For those unfamiliar with the Company of Heroes style of RTS gameplay, a primer: Company of Heroes differs from the by-the-numbers RTS formula primarily in the way players acquire the resources necessary to fuel their war machine. Rather than setting up and relying on continuous, semi-passive background harvesting and generation, players must actively capture supply points scattered throughout the map to boost the three resources -- manpower, munitions, and fuel -- that are required for building new structures and producing additional units. This system makes players have to work to improve their army alongside their combat efforts, and feels like a more realistic match for the game's setting than in many other RTS games.

As a result of the less exploitable resource system, unit production is also toned down a bit; players won't be leading thousands of units across the battlefield in a tsunami of camouflage, but will have to be a bit more selective and strategic in their efforts to put together an effective force. HQs, barracks, motor pools, and other analogs to what one would expect to find in an RTS exist in CoH, but the speed at which the gears of war turn is less rapid than some may be used to.

Unlike earlier CoH games and multiplayer, however, the new single-player missions in Tales of Valor do not ask much of the player in terms of base-building and unit management at all, save for the final campaign, which only lightly dabbles in the more traditional type of RTS gameplay. The expansion instead chooses to focus on the exploits of small groups of units through the heavily -- and impressively -- narrated campaigns, mostly without the luxury of any sort of home base to fall back on. Players are given more direct and fine-tuned control over a wealth of specific squad actions, including the new, aptly-named direct fire ability, which is available for some unit types.

ToV's stories of a German Tiger tank's efforts to stop the British advance on a French village, the U.S. paratroopers' D-day attempt to take a German-controlled causeway, and the German defense of the Falaise Pocket are all woven seamlessly into the action via voice-overed radio communications, scripted battle sequences, and finely hand-painted cutscenes, which makes for a very intense experience that drives home the unpredictable and mostly uncontrollable nature of the war from the soldiers' perspectives. The game can, however, be a jarring departure from what fans of the series have grown accustomed to, as it takes on more of an action flavor than previous titles. And though they are quite engaging, players will find that the nine new missions are over very quickly, leaving multiplayer matches as the only remaining option for novel engagements.

Multiplayer, too, takes a detour from the norm in Tales of Valor. Like the first of the new single-player campaigns, Operation Panzerkrieg puts players in control of a single tank, but this time in a victory point match (capture and hold strategic points across the map) against other players. This may seem very bland, but with the variety of tanks and commander skills available, things still remain interesting.

Operation Assault, while the least involved, is arguably the most enjoyable of the new modes. It casts up to six players as individual hero units on either side of a large-scale battle over open ground, the goal being to have enough influence over the deeply entrenched AI forces to sway the outcome of the war. As a sniper, commando, medic, engineer, etc., players can affect the proceedings of the engagement in a variety of ways, leveling up abilities as they successfully defeat enemies and complete objectives. After falling at the hands of the enemy, players respawn as a new hero of any desired type. It's like a fast-paced RTS version of the Battlefield series, except that the majority of the soldiers involved are relatively weak and expendable, and the player characters are undeniably badass.

Lastly, Operation Stonewall is basically a co-op skirmish match against the CPU, in which players must work together to build their forces and manage resources as they defend a small town from the attacking German soldiers. Although these new operations offer a good change of pace from CoH's existing multiplayer, they suffer from the fact that each is limited to only one map, so get used to them.

Tales of Valor may not be what longtime Company of Heroes fans were expecting from Relic's expansion, but the game still delivers a great experience from start to finish. The problem with that, though, is that "start to finish" is not a very long time, because ToV is comparatively light on content, overall. It's a great game, but at $30, gamers should expect more.