A Night With Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor
Ah World War 2. The oft-trodden landscape of game developers. A genre that some say is tired and overdone, but to gamers out there it seems there is an insatiable need to reenact the battles of the Greatest Generation. Company of Heroes has been a bastion of the genre and recently marked its return with another standalone expansion pack in Tales of Valor. In a departure from previous games, Tales of Valor offers up three distinct mini-campaigns alongside a fairly robust multiplayer option.
Fans of the series are going to notice the lack of serious strategic challenges within the campaigns. This new expansion takes a different tact in the mini campaigns by making the game more situational. The mini campaigns have you taking control of a single Tiger tank as it makes its way through Villers-Bocage (French town), leading a small group of allied troops taking a causeway after D-Day and as a small group of Wermacht soldiers sent to aid troops escaping the Falaise Pocket. Each campaign is made up of three missions - I know what you are thinking - that’s not a campaign. While short, each one does have a unique feel that immerses you in the action. A good parallel of the action would be World in Conflict and its reliance on a small number of units in combat.
Tales of Valor does offer up new features including new units, a direct fire mode, and three multiplayer modes including stonewall, assault, and panzerkrieg. New units include the Tiger 205, M18 Hellcat, and the Hotchkiss H35. Direct fire is a new feature that allows you to take control of your men’s weapon and point and fire. Not sure how much this will actually be used by players, but it does add a certain arcade like feel to the game. Multiplayer is where Tales of Valor has its weight as a standalone game and the three modes offer plenty of replay value.
Stonewall is a cooperative game type and allows up to four players to defend against wave after wave of increasingly difficult German units. Easily the best of the three, stonewall offers up plenty of strategic opportunities for you and your friends. Assault is more of a castle-esque game type. Defenses are prepared and you take control of a hero unit - be it anything from a commando to a sniper - and lead your forces to take the opposing base. The goal here is to level up your hero enough and he is nearly unstoppable. Panzerkrieg lets you take control of a single tank and have tank duels and capture strategic points. The novelty of the game type quickly wears thin and you will probably be back on the other two types after a few games.
And that’s it. You are probably wondering at this point - where is the rest of the game? This is not to say that Tales of Valor is not a decent game - it is and fans of the series will be happy with their purchase. The game just simply does not work as a fully retail priced standalone expansion. It would be better served as DLC for Company of Heroes. Newcomers to the series should definitely try out the original and the first expansion before moving on to Tales of Valor. Even with the dubious pricing, the game is enjoyable and worth a look.
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