THQ and Relic announced today that the next installment of the much-loved RTS, Company of Heroes, will be a free-to-play online game. Company of Heroes Online, according to the developers, will feature many of the same mechanics as the previous game--scouting the map for strategic points, building squads, destroying buildings, and calling in battle-changing bombing runs and artillery barrages--only this time, instead of buying the game in a dumb ol' box, you'll download the game for free and support it with microtransactions (or, at least, that's what THQ and Relic hope you'll do). The game is currently in open beta in Korea, but that will extend to China and the US later this year.
The most drastic departure from the retail Company of Heroes is that now, when a match is over, your upgrades are coming with you. Company of Heroes Online will let you choose a commander path that will allow your army to specialize in various roles on the battlefield. There will be six of these different paths available, each with a unique set of units, upgrades, and commander abilities. As you play online, you'll earn "improvement points" that can be spent on a wide selection of upgrades that can improve a unit's statistics, provide them with new abilities, and unlock more powerful soldiers and equipment. A look at one of the game's upgrade paths. As you might have guessed, that persistent leveling system will be supplemented with a paid unlock system. While Relic hasn't revealed all of the specifics of the transaction system, the company says that you'll be able to purchase various infantry, vehicles, unit bonuses, and commander powers. The most substantial of the proposed paid unlocks are hero units. Just like in Warcraft III, these powered up soldiers are tougher and faster than the other troops in your army, and come into battle with an additional set of unique combat abilities.
Now before you start shouting at your computer screen, "But wait a minute! You have to pay to have access powerful hero units? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard! The only way I'll be able to stay competitive is to buy these unlocks! What is the point of playing that game for free? I'm going to toss my Company of Heroes disc out the window! And the Dawn of War/Homeworld discs are next!", don't worry. All of the paid upgrades can still be earned just by leveling and ranking up in the game. You're only allowed a finite number of paid unlocks in a multiplayer match, so players who fork out the cash aren't necessarily able to take every upgrade and lay low-level opponents to waste. Finally, Relic says that the game's matchmaking system will help to keep players away from games against players who have an unlock advantage. The game still looks pretty good. That's a plus. So, you'll still get those upgrades and hero units. You'll just get them... later. Or you could get them now! And it would make your battles so much easier. And you got the game for free, right? An unlock is only a few dollars. It's so cheap! You're still getting so much value from the game! You need to stay competitive, right? Go ahead... buy a hero. You're worth it.
And that, folks, is how free-to-play games happen.
Here's the debut trailer that accompanied the announcement:
And some screenshots of the game in action:
Gallery
What do you guys think? Company of Heroes Online sounds like it's borrowing the most interesting aspects of Command & Conquer 4 (its persistent online army). The game looks very similar to the 2006 release, but the changes to the multiplayer structure seem more substantial than what you might find in a re-release. The unlock system sounds like a good way to make multiplayer matches more meaningful as well. And it's free, and comes with the entire Company of Heroes single player campaign. That's pretty good too.
This whole F2P/Microtransaction model is still shaping itself in the West. This will be interesting to see if it works. But, I am more scared that this push for a multiplayer edge will remove the single player element. If I am playing the single player campaign, why do I need those extras to make it through. Well, unless the single player is purposely broken so as to require that expense. Of course, there might not even be a single player campaign.
And you're right, Homeworld fans are pissed off. Fucking pissed off. Hurry up and secure those rights you bitch-ass nancies. "
THQ has already purchased Homeworld IP from its previous owner... forgot who it was. Anyways, THQ has the right, which means Relic can once again make the glory that is Homeworld.
Sounds pretty interesting and as it's Free to play you have nothing to loose in giving it a download and trying it out, if it sucks just delete it you haven't wasted any money on it.
I played a lot of Company of Heroes, and it was a fantastic game. I could never max it out on my PC tho, which was a shame, but it still was fun. Hopefully they port this to mac, so i can play it for free on there too.
This just reminds me to actually finish Company of Heroes I bought on steam, pretty decent RTS. Surprised they are making this a f2p title with microtransactions, if it plays exactly the same as the original, I can see it being pretty successful.
" How's the single player campaign? Awesome, I presume? If I went after this, it'd be strictly for that. Not big into getting my ass handed to me in a game where I know I'm terrible. "
The game is reported as including the full original campaign yes. And yes it is awesome but kinda drags on in a couple missions near the end.
Huh giantbomb is the first place where I've heard the unlocks will be actual units and powers instead of "things that help you level up faster". I already have COH and will be there on day one but I want to know what's really up with that.
How's the single player campaign? Awesome, I presume? If I went after this, it'd be strictly for that. Not big into getting my ass handed to me in a game where I know I'm terrible.
COH is my favorite RTS. I think it's the best since Starcraft.
And so they turned it into Mafia Wars?
This sounds impossible to balance. And impossible to enjoy. I'll have to start asking the question "Do I suck at the game? Or do I need to spend more time/money? "
" Awesome stuff. At the time, Company of Heroes was one of the best RTS games I've ever played, though I don't know how well it holds up now. Nonetheless, you can't argue with free. "
I agree and this is great news, so I'm happy about it. :)
LOL the guys over at MMORPG would be all up in arms over a F2P game like this. Some of those guys just can't stand the idea of microtransactions.
For me, I'm not a RTS player, let alone a competative one so this is a pass. Good show though I hope Relic makes some money off of them and comes back to the only RTS I want from them (Even though I do like Dawn of War II), Homeworld. :)
You can see some footage of the game being played here: http://v.game.sohu.com/v/1/10721/60/NjAwNjMx
And if you use chrome, then you'll be able to translate the language on COH:O Korean home page and even download the open beta full game LOL http://coho.sdo.com/homepage/index.html
Have fun :)
For the most part, the game is identical to the original COH, it's just that you can bring in special stuff... I'm not sure it's enough to bring me back in...
If you have to compare it to anything, it would be Dawn of War 2 because of the commander unit, army items (loot), and so forth. Basically, it sounds like they are taking everything that is awesome about Dawn of War 2 and insert them into Company of Heroes, which is awesome!
I approve of free-to-play-but-with-microtransactions (that aren't 100% required to be competitive). Never played this before, will be sure to check it out :O)
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