Hey there Escapists, me here again and for once I'm not here to rant about Fable 3 again! Instead I'm gonna rant a little about CoH2 because Sega have pulled a strange move and I feel obligated to tell you all about it.
Before that though, lets get one or two things cleared up. First of all, I have still yet to learn how to actually format my posts to make them look all nice and neat, so apologies in advance for that if this comes out looking messy. Secondly, if you at any point disagree with anything I have to say right here, feel free to post your opinion, you have the right to express it after all, but please keep it clean. Thirdly, I'm going to abbreviate Company of Heroes 2 down to CoH2 for speed purposes. You know the drill.
Okay so Company of Heroes 2 launched today on Steam, it's all across the main page if you care to take a look at it. Naturally I can imagine all the WW2 RTS enthusiasts are happy about this and fair play to em, it can be difficult to find a niche game that covers your interests like that. However, what struck me was the store page for the game. First of all, CoH2 is £40 here in the UK, which is a little over average for a new title; normally PC games are £30 - £35. £40 isn't unheard of but it isn't seen too often outside of the console market. Secondly, there was some DLC available. Oh yay, day one DLC, we all know how much the internet loves that *rolls eyes*. Naturally my first response was to see what it was and suddenly I was hit with a list that contained 26 items. 26 pieces of day one DLC. What the actual hell.
Okay whoah before we go any further, no, I'm not here to argue about the ramifications of day one DLC, it happens, we can't really stop it. Anyway, that debate is best left elsewhere.
So, I figured to myself "hey, let's at least see what it is", and sure enough the majority of it is simple reskins and stuff like that, we've seen it before in League of Legends and other similar games where you can spend a few pounds/dollars/euros/yougettheidea and you get a cosmetic upgrade. What is weird about these skins though is that you can buy them three times. Yes, you read that right. See, if you decide that you want the Three Colour Northwestern Front pattern for your Soviet Tanks, it comes in three sizes: Light, Medium and Heavy. That means that if you buy the Light version, you can only apply it to your Light tanks, if you want it for Medium and Heavy size tanks then you have to buy the additional sizes of the same pattern. That basically means if you want the complete set, you have to buy the same pattern three times to get the full set, and the pattern only applies to the faction that you bought it for. I guess that part kinda makes sense considering I imagine the two factions would use different variants of camouflage. Still, each size class pattern is £1.59, so you have to spend £4.77 for the full set.
The majority of the extra content was just simple patterns and retextures like that, nothing big really. After all, it makes your game look slightly more attractive but it doesn't do anything to impact the game. A shell from a green tank still hits as hard as a shell from a red tank (unless its an ork tank cuz da red ones go fasta! (sorry, my inner Warhammer geek was demanding that one)), but then I panned up and noticed there were four DLC packs that actually CAN impact the game, which are £1.99 each. These contain units, abilities and other things like that which can be used to impact the game. Open this spoiler box to see what one of these can do.
So cosmetic upgrades can be overlooked but game impacting content? Well, that could be bad. You know how this goes, player who buys it might have an advantage over the player that didn't. As this is a strategy game in question, there will be ways to get around a disadvantage like that but it still seem a little iffy to me. If you buy the game for £40, you need to spend a further £8 to unlock the rest of the units and things that are being made unavailable for no real reason other than Sega want to cash in on the players money.
However, things are not dire! See, if you spend £70 on the Collectors edition of the game, you get all this included! That means you save £10 and get access to the next 5 unit DLC's that get launched, as well as some other nondescript "post launch content bundle" and all the other Company of Heroes games that launched prior to CoH2. But that does require you fork out £70 outright...
From a business perspective, I can see this working. There will always be players who won't mind coughing up a few extra pounds to increase their game experience, that is the fundamental of DLC after all. However, SEGA did release it on Day One, I've observed that business decision to be as popular as a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a Vegan Restaurant. Those aren't the reasons why I'm posting though.
I made this thread with one purpose: to tell you guys and girls to be wary of this game. The Escapists own Greg Tito posted a review of CoH2 and gave it 4/5 Stars (link to the review can be found below), and I have no doubt that it's a fine gaming experience. I warn you on the grounds that content was withheld from the core game with the purpose of being sold externally for extra profit.
Stop it. Yes you, the one getting ready to go rushing to the publishers defense. We all know why business decisions like this are made, and we know that they work to an extent. I didn't make this thread to attack SEGA, I made it to give a heads up to prospective buyers.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that if you want to buy Coh2, fair play to you, its your decision and let no one else judge you for that. Just be careful though because from what it looks like right now, you might end up having to spend some extra money to balance the game. I can't know how this will all unfold right now, unfortunately my psychic visions stopped working about the same time I upgraded to digital tv, so for all I know the DLCs may be trash and do nothing to change the flow of gameplay, but they also might so be prepared for that situation. If you do buy CoH2, I hope you enjoy it. If you don't then well, erm, I hope you enjoy whatever you do instead? I don't know, its late here and im tired and rambling and stuff.
I'm clocking out now all, I bid you good evening and good game.
TL;DR? The game is probably good but SEGA could possibly launch balance shattering DLC, so be careful.
Link to The Escapists CoH2 Review:
Before that though, lets get one or two things cleared up. First of all, I have still yet to learn how to actually format my posts to make them look all nice and neat, so apologies in advance for that if this comes out looking messy. Secondly, if you at any point disagree with anything I have to say right here, feel free to post your opinion, you have the right to express it after all, but please keep it clean. Thirdly, I'm going to abbreviate Company of Heroes 2 down to CoH2 for speed purposes. You know the drill.
Okay so Company of Heroes 2 launched today on Steam, it's all across the main page if you care to take a look at it. Naturally I can imagine all the WW2 RTS enthusiasts are happy about this and fair play to em, it can be difficult to find a niche game that covers your interests like that. However, what struck me was the store page for the game. First of all, CoH2 is £40 here in the UK, which is a little over average for a new title; normally PC games are £30 - £35. £40 isn't unheard of but it isn't seen too often outside of the console market. Secondly, there was some DLC available. Oh yay, day one DLC, we all know how much the internet loves that *rolls eyes*. Naturally my first response was to see what it was and suddenly I was hit with a list that contained 26 items. 26 pieces of day one DLC. What the actual hell.
Okay whoah before we go any further, no, I'm not here to argue about the ramifications of day one DLC, it happens, we can't really stop it. Anyway, that debate is best left elsewhere.
So, I figured to myself "hey, let's at least see what it is", and sure enough the majority of it is simple reskins and stuff like that, we've seen it before in League of Legends and other similar games where you can spend a few pounds/dollars/euros/yougettheidea and you get a cosmetic upgrade. What is weird about these skins though is that you can buy them three times. Yes, you read that right. See, if you decide that you want the Three Colour Northwestern Front pattern for your Soviet Tanks, it comes in three sizes: Light, Medium and Heavy. That means that if you buy the Light version, you can only apply it to your Light tanks, if you want it for Medium and Heavy size tanks then you have to buy the additional sizes of the same pattern. That basically means if you want the complete set, you have to buy the same pattern three times to get the full set, and the pattern only applies to the faction that you bought it for. I guess that part kinda makes sense considering I imagine the two factions would use different variants of camouflage. Still, each size class pattern is £1.59, so you have to spend £4.77 for the full set.
The majority of the extra content was just simple patterns and retextures like that, nothing big really. After all, it makes your game look slightly more attractive but it doesn't do anything to impact the game. A shell from a green tank still hits as hard as a shell from a red tank (unless its an ork tank cuz da red ones go fasta! (sorry, my inner Warhammer geek was demanding that one)), but then I panned up and noticed there were four DLC packs that actually CAN impact the game, which are £1.99 each. These contain units, abilities and other things like that which can be used to impact the game. Open this spoiler box to see what one of these can do.
SOVIET COMMANDER: ANTI-INFANTRY TACTICS
Kill or drive off your enemy?s infantry forces with short-range shock troops, artillery and flamethrower tanks.
FEAR PROPAGANDA ARTILLERY
Airburst propaganda leaflets make targeted soldiers question the morality of their actions.
INCENDIARY ARTILLERY BARRAGE
Areas of the map can be bombarded with incendiary rounds to burn infantry and deny access.
KV-8 FLAMETHROWER TANK
A KV-8 Flamethrower Tank can be ordered in to the battlefield.
RECON OVERFLIGHT
Available planes will fly a high speed loiter of the targeted area.
SHOCK TROOPS
Special Command Troops can be deployed to the battlefield. Click and select location to deploy.
Kill or drive off your enemy?s infantry forces with short-range shock troops, artillery and flamethrower tanks.
FEAR PROPAGANDA ARTILLERY
Airburst propaganda leaflets make targeted soldiers question the morality of their actions.
INCENDIARY ARTILLERY BARRAGE
Areas of the map can be bombarded with incendiary rounds to burn infantry and deny access.
KV-8 FLAMETHROWER TANK
A KV-8 Flamethrower Tank can be ordered in to the battlefield.
RECON OVERFLIGHT
Available planes will fly a high speed loiter of the targeted area.
SHOCK TROOPS
Special Command Troops can be deployed to the battlefield. Click and select location to deploy.
So cosmetic upgrades can be overlooked but game impacting content? Well, that could be bad. You know how this goes, player who buys it might have an advantage over the player that didn't. As this is a strategy game in question, there will be ways to get around a disadvantage like that but it still seem a little iffy to me. If you buy the game for £40, you need to spend a further £8 to unlock the rest of the units and things that are being made unavailable for no real reason other than Sega want to cash in on the players money.
However, things are not dire! See, if you spend £70 on the Collectors edition of the game, you get all this included! That means you save £10 and get access to the next 5 unit DLC's that get launched, as well as some other nondescript "post launch content bundle" and all the other Company of Heroes games that launched prior to CoH2. But that does require you fork out £70 outright...
From a business perspective, I can see this working. There will always be players who won't mind coughing up a few extra pounds to increase their game experience, that is the fundamental of DLC after all. However, SEGA did release it on Day One, I've observed that business decision to be as popular as a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a Vegan Restaurant. Those aren't the reasons why I'm posting though.
I made this thread with one purpose: to tell you guys and girls to be wary of this game. The Escapists own Greg Tito posted a review of CoH2 and gave it 4/5 Stars (link to the review can be found below), and I have no doubt that it's a fine gaming experience. I warn you on the grounds that content was withheld from the core game with the purpose of being sold externally for extra profit.
Stop it. Yes you, the one getting ready to go rushing to the publishers defense. We all know why business decisions like this are made, and we know that they work to an extent. I didn't make this thread to attack SEGA, I made it to give a heads up to prospective buyers.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that if you want to buy Coh2, fair play to you, its your decision and let no one else judge you for that. Just be careful though because from what it looks like right now, you might end up having to spend some extra money to balance the game. I can't know how this will all unfold right now, unfortunately my psychic visions stopped working about the same time I upgraded to digital tv, so for all I know the DLCs may be trash and do nothing to change the flow of gameplay, but they also might so be prepared for that situation. If you do buy CoH2, I hope you enjoy it. If you don't then well, erm, I hope you enjoy whatever you do instead? I don't know, its late here and im tired and rambling and stuff.
I'm clocking out now all, I bid you good evening and good game.
TL;DR? The game is probably good but SEGA could possibly launch balance shattering DLC, so be careful.
Link to The Escapists CoH2 Review:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/10447-Company-of-Heroes-2-Review-Its-Very-Cold-in-Russia?utm_source=latest&utm_medium=index_carousel&utm_campaign=all
