Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

Company of Heroes: Tales of Valoris areal-time strategyvideo gamestand-alone expansion packtoCompany of Heroes.It was released on April 9, 2009.

Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor
Developer(s)	Relic Entertainment
Publisher(s)	THQ(Initial) Sega(Online services: 2013-)
Designer(s)	Brian R. Wood Josh Mosqueira
Programmer(s)	Remy Saville Ryan Haksi
Artist(s)	Nicholas Carota Ian Guise
Engine	Essence Engine Havok(Physics engine)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows,OS X
Release	April 9, 2009
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player,multiplayer

Gameplay

Tales of Valorincludes new units, additional maps, and further multiplayer modes, such as 'Stonewall', where the player commands a small number of troops against waves of increasingly difficult enemies, and a feature called "direct-fire", where the player 'Points and shoots' (seen inSoldiers: Heroes of WWII,Faces of WarandMen of War).

Rewards

The game offers special units as rewards for completing a campaign and can be used to replace certain deployable units in multiplayer games. For the Allies, the US faction receives theM18 HellcatandT17 armored car,while players using the British faction get theKangaroo carrierand theStaghound (T17E1) armored car.Wehrmacht players can make use of theSchwimmwagenType 166, the H39 Geschützwagen (a conversion of capturedHotchkiss H39tanks into light self-propelled tank destroyers), and Voss' specialTiger I,while the Panzer Elite will receive the Schwimmwagen Type 139 and theHotchkiss H35.

Plot

Company of Heroes: Tales Of Valorhas three single-playerepisodes.

• Tiger Ace— This campaign is inspired by the historical exploits ofTiger AceSS-HauptsturmführerMichael Wittmannin Normandy. Set inVillers-Bocage,the narrative is a backstory ofKampfgruppe Lehrcommander Major-General Maximillian Voss and Hauptmann Josef Schultz from theoriginal.In the campaign, the two are members of a Tiger I tank crew as they penetrate the town. They are forced to abandon the tank when it is immobilized by an anti-tank gun and try to escape British forces in the area. The tank crew returns the following day in one of two new Tigers, spearheading aPanzergrenadierassault on the town. In the end, it is revealed that Voss was promoted to major-general and sent to Holland, setting the stage for theOpposing Frontscampaign. Schultz stayed in France and died during the defense of Autry.
• Causeway— Follows a company of paratroopers of the82nd Airborne Divisionas they try tosecure the La Fiere causewayfor other Allied forces to pass through the Normandy beaches. The campaign focuses on Sgt. Wilson and Sgt. Frank Craft. After the 82nd's airdrop goes badly, Wilson's Able Squad links up with Baker Squad and assembles paratroopers to send to the town ofCauqigny.After the two squads takeChef du Ponton the other side of the causeway, the paratroopers at Cauquigny fall back due to heavy German resistance. The airborne forces retake the town and Wilson is run down by a German tank. As the Army's tank units head south from the beaches, the airborne units, headed by Craft, engage the German forces. Able and Baker find and destroy the tank that killed Wilson as they assault a castle complex near the causeway. The ending cutscene reveals that Craft later participated inOperation Market Garden,where he dies in the successful defense of a bridge over theMeuse(Maas).
• Falaise Pocket— The campaign features a mixed unit ofWaffen-SSandWehrmachttroops stationed in the town ofTrun.Because of an artillery strike over nearbyChambois,the Germans figured that both towns must be held to allow the other units of theSeventh Armyto escape theFalaise Pocket,resulting in several intense battles along the riverfront of Trun. The ending cutscene states that about 10,000 Germans were killed and 40,000 captured.

Operations

The expansion pack introduces three new multiplayer game modes:

• Assault: Similar to theWarcraft 3modDefense of the Ancients,with 3 members per team. They choose 7 "Heroes" each different in their Offensive, Defensive, and Support abilities. Ranging from a Pioneer/Engineer to Paratroopers/Recon, the goal of the game is to destroy the enemy's base, which requires the player to fight through three separate lines of defense. Protected by mortar firing bunkers, these also act as the Player Respawn point. By destroying each bunker the player is able to progress closer towards the enemy headquarters. Once the gas tanks inside a base have been blown, the team that destroyed them wins and the game ends.
• Stonewall: 4 players are the defenders of a small town, defending against 16 waves of enemy attacks. Allies players face waves of Axis attacks progressing from a small band ofVolksgrenadierto the mightyTiger tanks;Axis players defend against waves ranging fromRiflementoM26 Pershingtanks. There are always four critical buildings in the town: the Church, that automatically heals units next to it; the Garage that repairs all allies' vehicles; the bank that gives a boost in manpower; and finally the Manor that gives an increase in population cap. The 4 players must work together in order to defend the town, as the team in Relic designed it.
• Panzerkrieg(tank war): Similar to Assault, with the "Hero" units being replaced by tanks. The Axis Team can procure 3 tanks: theHotchkiss,a small mobile tank hunter, thePanzer IV,the all-around tank, and thePanther tank,which specializes in head-on armor conflicts. The Allies have theM18 Hellcat,a mobile tank hunter, a Sherman tank that is meant to counter thePanzer IV,and theChurchill tank,which is the answer to the Panther.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	70/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Eurogamer	7/10
Game Informer	7.5/10
GameSpy

The reception ofCompany of Heroes: Tales of Valorwas mixed. Many reviewers were confused as to what the game had to offer.Most of the reviewers appeared to brand the game as average and gave it a rating of around 70%, citing that the game had some interesting features and gameplay modes, but only a short campaign and no new armies to command.

External links

• Official Site