Company of Heroes 2 runs on Relic Entertainment's proprietary Essence 3.0 game engine. As with the original Company of Heroes, the game is set in World War II but with the focus on the Eastern Front, with players primarily controlling the side of the Soviet Red Army during various stages of the Eastern Front, from Operation Barbarossa to the Battle of Berlin. It is the sequel to the 2006 game Company of Heroes. Though it’s pitched as a standalone expansion pack, and one that retains the Company of Heroes 2 branding, Ardennes Assault is full of new ideas that means it can quite happily stand on its own two feet.Company of Heroes 2 is a real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sega for Windows, Linux, and OS X. The meta-map and the elements of persistence between missions make every decision you make count to a much greater degree, whether picking which mission to tackle next to knowing when to break off an assault and retreat. Meanwhile, Ardennes Assault mixed things up by putting the overarching counteroffensive from the Battle of the Bulge in your hands, letting you choose where to defend and where to assault. Throughout the story, Isakovich and Colonel Churkin argue the morality and realities of how they feel the war should have been fought, and this is a balance echoed by the two very different armies which face one another. I wrote in our review:Ĭompany of Heroes 2 breathes a new life into the World War 2 setting, as the more desperate and brutal conflict on the Eastern Front is depicted with a particular feeling of authenticity. I rather enjoyed Company of Heroes 2 when it released in 2013. That’s an awful lot of Company of Heroes for free or at bargain basement pricing!