Pros: Stunning visuals, great overall experience, easy to learn, addictive
Cons: Needs high-end computer hardware
The bottom line: Company of Heroes raises the bar for RTS games. It feels like you are part of a WWII movie.
Let's be honest here: there are more military real-time-strategy (RTS) games out there than we'd like to think about. RTS games themselves are not for everyone, nor are military games. Prior to purchasing Company of Heroes, I wasn't exactly big on either one. RTS games require extensive multitasking abilities, and you often get bogged down in little details. Military games have a way of being repetitive and only marginally better than the previous version. Company of Heroes changes all that though; it is perhaps the best hybrid of World War II and real-time-strategy I have ever seen.

Company of Heroes is easy to learn. There are several tutorials that familiarize you with all the basics of the game, from troop movement to resource management and every inbetween. The tutorials move at a good pace, and you'll find it very easy to jump in and take charge. Even if you are familiar with RTS games, I'd still suggest using the tutorial so that you get the most out of your experience.

After running through the tutorial, you're immediately thrown into an intense situation: Omaha Beach on D-Day. The game immediately grabs your attention with excellent cutscenes. The cutscenes really make this game feel like a movie; you immediately transition from the cutscene/movie into the gameplay. The level of detail is ridiculous -- each soldier is rendered with realistic high-quality textures, as is each and every vehicle, building, and landmark.

Sounds are authentic and help keep you engrossed in the game. Rather than the generic acknowledgment words from soldiers, they make relevant comments, often dropping hints at where to position them or how they're feeling. Gunfire, explosions, and vehicle sounds are all very realistic and are nothing short of movie-quality.

When you combine these high-quality visuals and sound effects, the game puts you right in the middle of things. No longer are you controlling ants, but rather, you're there with the soldiers. This is what separates Company of Heroes from the competition: the immersion factor.

The controls and interface are intuitive and easy to use. The tutorials will guide you through their functionality, and I've rarely been overwhelmed with an excess of buttons or on-screen information. There's no guess-work with this game -- everything feels well put-together.

There's a decent variety of missions to play through as well: support, invasion, defense, and exploration. Although your battles will technically not be in chronological order, they are all based on real World War II events. Some missions have you defending a city, whereas others have you scouting for enemy patrols. Often, missions change right in the middle of things, keeping you on your toes.

If I had to criticize one thing, it's that the game requires beefy hardware to run on. A high-end video card is an absolute must for this game, or else you miss out on the great visuals. Good speakers help too since the game relies so heavily on sound effects and dialogue. I recommend a video card with 256MB of memory or more, and definitely 1GB of system memory or higher. You'll also need to devote about 6-8GB for the game install, which is pretty big. Fortunately the game is on a single DVD to make installation easier.

For anyone wanting an incredible gaming experience, don't pass up Company of Heroes. Movie-quality visuals and sound make you part of the action rather than an observer, and the variety of realistic missions will please anyone.