Company of Heroes 2

A serious war sim with plenty to get your head around

This exploration of World War II pits the Red Army against the invading Wehrmacht in a variety of conflicts along the Eastern Front. The game’s foundational mechanics – lines of sight, specialised units, dramatic flanking manoeuvres – provide dynamic and adaptable gaming.

The campaign’s cutscenes and melodrama are workmanlike, but the missions are well paced and teach valuable lessons about the series’ new features: how grenades can crack open icy rivers, for example, or how to keep troops from freezing to death in the snow.

Manoeuvring dozens of discrete squads through the streets of Stalingrad can be tedious, but the chaos is largely made manageable by units’ ability to automatically choose targets, take cover, and attack, leaving more time for tactical positioning and strategic resource management. The user interface isn’t always intuitive, but the campaign is still a robust teaching tool.

The bulk of Company of Heroes lies in its competitive and co-op multiplayer modes. Unfortunately, neither the Steam nor App Store versions of the game offer crossplatform multiplayer, so participants in the game’s best modes are hard to come by. Joseph Leray A fine strategy game hampered by sparse multiplayer gaming. But for solitary play it’s rich, dense, and highly flexible.

It’s a watery grave for that tank crew after a well-placed explosion.