Short, but sweet.
I pre-ordered this game when a manager at what is now called EB games (Electronics Boutique, back then) and drooled over the preview article in the Australian owned PC Powerplay. It looked so advanced as compared with what was already available, with destructible environments, truly 3D maps and units in such detail as to believe it was all artificially rendered, as "Battle for Middle-Earth" screenies had been done (still a good game, despite it's rating of 6/10 back then).

But it wasn't hype, and it wasn't exaggerated. I played the campaign so many times that I still know how to beat each map, and which were so challenging even on Easy. The graphics blew every other RTS at that time away, with sound to match (hearing a tank explode and seeing pieces flying literally was an experience first seen, never forgotten. Played a lttle MP, but mostly all SP.

I bought the two expansions the moment they hit the store shelves, and regretted their content not all, unlike many who criticised "Tales of Valor" and rated it accordingly. I loved the change in gameplay, with direct control of a tank, etc. I must have played the whole gaming experience for hundreds of hours over the years, always playing to meet all primary and secondary objectives, even if it meant playing a campaign scenario again, after already playing it for almost two hours, as one secondary was not achieved. "CoH 2" came out, and quite frankly I felt it could never capture the lightning-in-a-bottle of this tile.

As i had all the games and codes (with the boxes and manuals included), I was able to get the Steam version for free from Relic by proving ownership of the original releases. Re-installed"CoH 2" the other day, and yet again, I was not overwhelmed by the changes, so yesterday re-installed this, playing through the tutorials to remind me of things I had forgotten.

Aside from the cut scenes showing their age (though not by much), the in-game look and feel is still streets ahead of many newer titles. Many say that graphics don't make a game, gameplay does, I have to disagree here. Aside from the original "Ground Control", that still play no matter the look and the original "B-17: Flying Fortress", if it looks bad I'm out. The immersion from the look and sound of this game is so fantastic, that lesser looking titles get left in the dust, no matter how well they play. Also helps that the gameplay does match the graphical beauty, if war can be called that, so that's that.

When I've finished (for the umpteenth time) all the campaigns, I will install the Crete mod, as it includes ANZAC forces vs. German. Shame we can't have a New Guinea mod, as that field of conflict went on from 1942 to 1945 (Japanese were still coming out of the jungle to surrender when I was born in Papua in the 1960's). A truly ferocious series of campaigns that saw prisoners taken only rarely by either side and both believing the other side to be close animals. Truly, a clash of cultures they has some Australians, Americans and Japanese still visiting New guinea to search for the remains of family members, or even to this day, friends they fought beside, assisted by relatives (more so the Japanese as most Aussie diggers from that time have long passed.

P.S.
Finally, do not install the Legacy edition of this (unless a mod asks for it). Install the original and you get the two expansion packs. They are not what we now know as DLC's, as they were stand-alone packages (A$ 60 each from memory) and were almost full-fledged games in themselves, except for their length.

Short, but sweet. I pre-ordered this game when a manager at what is now called EB games (Electronics Boutique, back then) and drooled over the preview article in the Australian owned PC Powerplay. It looked so advanced as compared with what was already available, with destructible environments, truly 3D maps and units in such detail as to believe it was all artificially rendered, as "Battle for Middle-Earth" screenies had been done (still a good game, despite it's rating of 6/10 back then). But it wasn't hype, and it wasn't exaggerated. I played the campaign so many times that I still know how to beat each map, and which were so challenging even on Easy. The graphics blew every other RTS at that time away, with sound to match (hearing a tank explode and seeing pieces flying literally was an experience first seen, never forgotten. Played a lttle MP, but mostly all SP. I bought the two expansions the moment they hit the store shelves, and regretted their content not all, unlike many who criticised "Tales of Valor" and rated it accordingly. I loved the change in gameplay, with direct control of a tank, etc. I must have played the whole gaming experience for hundreds of hours over the years, always playing to meet all primary and secondary objectives, even if it meant playing a campaign scenario again, after already playing it for almost two hours, as one secondary was not achieved. "CoH 2" came out, and quite frankly I felt it could never capture the lightning-in-a-bottle of this tile. As i had all the games and codes (with the boxes and manuals included), I was able to get the Steam version for free from Relic by proving ownership of the original releases. Re-installed"CoH 2" the other day, and yet again, I was not overwhelmed by the changes, so yesterday re-installed this, playing through the tutorials to remind me of things I had forgotten. Aside from the cut scenes showing their age (though not by much), the in-game look and feel is still streets ahead of many newer titles. Many say that graphics don't make a game, gameplay does, I have to disagree here. Aside from the original "Ground Control", that still play no matter the look and the original "B-17: Flying Fortress", if it looks bad I'm out. The immersion from the look and sound of this game is so fantastic, that lesser looking titles get left in the dust, no matter how well they play. Also helps that the gameplay does match the graphical beauty, if war can be called that, so that's that. When I've finished (for the umpteenth time) all the campaigns, I will install the Crete mod, as it includes ANZAC forces vs. German. Shame we can't have a New Guinea mod, as that field of conflict went on from 1942 to 1945 (Japanese were still coming out of the jungle to surrender when I was born in Papua in the 1960's). A truly ferocious series of campaigns that saw prisoners taken only rarely by either side and both believing the other side to be close animals. Truly, a clash of cultures they has some Australians, Americans and Japanese still visiting New guinea to search for the remains of family members, or even to this day, friends they fought beside, assisted by relatives (more so the Japanese as most Aussie diggers from that time have long passed. P.S. Finally, do not install the Legacy edition of this (unless a mod asks for it). Install the original and you get the two expansion packs. They are not what we now know as DLC's, as they were stand-alone packages (A$ 60 each from memory) and were almost full-fledged games in themselves, except for their length.