Meeting on the Elbe ("Behind Enemy Lines 2» vs. Company of Heroes)

Authors: Oleg Charzynski, Alexander Kanygin
Source: Country Games № 19 2006	18.11.2006

Inexorable law of attraction. Two ocean liner, two massive celestial body, the two strategic long-term construction - Ukrainian and American - after all met at one point in time and space. Publishers maneuvered until recently, trying to avoid a collision: both games are threatening to appear in the spring, a year ago, but projects of this scale refuse to bow to the generals of marketing. "Behind Enemy Lines 2 and Company of Heroes. Autumn will be hot. Tens if not hundreds of similar RTS in the decorations of the Second World Heavy parade march marched on our hard drives in the direction of waste baskets, making us forget about how it happens - the new wonder and joy unexpected discoveries. Two years ago, thanks to the team Severodonetsk Best Way and its debut project "Behind Enemy Lines", we again found hope. Developers spit on all the laws of the genre and created a new RTS, they built a giant playground, in which each chicken and the wheel of a motorcycle with a sidecar are subject to strict laws of physics, and naughty tank or sniper-dupe can take direct command, forgetting the "yes, sir, "and the rubber frame. In Russia, "Behind Enemy Lines" immediately gained cult status and has received enthusiastic support "modifiers" that race with the developers began to finish the game on the go. "Behind Enemy Lines 2" - that work on the bugs, and a demonstration of the muscles of the modified graphics engine, and move in new directions. What? Ourselves incredibly curious. An opening scene in Company of Heroes looks unconvincing: five frames per second and a couple dozen people swarmed to the mint foil. Both games use visual cues to the player in the heat of battle had done no nonsense: "Use the fence", "desantiruyut paratroopers here. Meanwhile, on another continent entirely different people (who once invented a three-dimensional space, and then taught the whole world screaming «Waagh!») Have demonstrated the public image of the Company of Heroes. What is happening in the scene more like a plot from some Call of Duty 3, and from a list of key features darkened eyes - realistic physics, fully destructible objects, witty tactical AI and original multiplayer mode. Skeptics doubted at once - take hold if the mechanics of Gothic Warhammer 40.000 on the battlefields of the Second World War? Really have to take roadside poles and produce new troopers click the "plus"? Do you abroad mushrooms grow? Good health, Johnny! Quite zapropal you have forgotten frontline companion or a letter from you, no news. How's your back, get better? Oh, forgive me, old man, the bayonet in the dark anything can prividitsya. Asking you, I remember about our Severodonetsk Best Way, is like that. Though the name basurmanskoe, the guys are working properly and, despite some slippage release, cut down on the same days of the continuation of its "Behind Enemy Lines." About us, then, about an awl in the feed the Wehrmacht. And already, by the way, with the collected works of some of GDC-medals. I know that you have there is something looming, "company of heroes, it seems? Again, I will speak about how you at one rasprekrasnoe his face had won the war? And Omaha is in fact show the truth, "as the Marines were killed defenseless lightly on the rounds Nazi artillery? Do you even though there is a Russian? We have something we can choose for whom the campaign - "our", "your" and Herod: the Soviet Union, then, the Allies and Germany, to her. All of their equipment, weapons, soldiery, and even voice acting. The same realism and authenticity, to which all now seek. Yes, in defiance of "Saboteur" with their tihushnikami, the actions are served in a big way. Our platoon, trimmed with green marker, goes into battle, shoulder to shoulder with his comrades. Mates a lot, and they cry and hide behind trees, and blow up tanks, and make every minute in an unnamed village in the height of the exploits of a nameless, going forward on recess. But no one can hear John, no one on the sly are not biting in the trenches of chocolate rations! While maximizing the COH looks impressive, but to play so long to come out - commander is more important to see the big picture than to admire the particulars. Enough only a direct hit to make your self illusion. Machine-gun nest has become a mass grave for six - and by the end of attack for twelve minutes! Never before had to compare two games in the RTS genre was not so interesting. Strong developers, expensive technology, bold design ideas, like the scenery - "Behind Enemy Lines 2 and Company of Heroes so close and yet absolutely unique. Intrigue? Sure. However, we are not going to hold the magazine battle the Titans. These games are too valuable to lose one of them. Let the best "Behind Enemy Lines 2 and Company of Heroes will allies, allies in the war with a ruthless and mindless RTS-army of clones. Do you agree? Company of Heroes) "class =" center2 first png "/> The engine is not straining, and shows close-ups. In this case, note the system requirements for the game much more democratic than zabugornye tovarki. This is not a script and not video. The battle here will change the look of the street every time a new way. Say, a tree on the right may fall and block the road. Battle of Normandy, the double 215 Relic and THQ true to their strategy: their new game, like Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War - just a locomotive that will pull a string of commercial "addons". The game has only two sides - the Germans and Allies, more Germans and Americans, or more precisely - the Germans and the company of "Abel", which over a dozen-odd plot-related missions, smashing the fascists on the northern coast of France. Play for the Germans only in multiplayer battles or mode of struggle ", while as an enemy can only select the opposite direction. What is it? A belated tribute to the realism or care about the balance of power? Single player campaign starts very, GHM, original - the Normandy invasion. Deftly changing FMV-video on a 3D close-up, the developers leave us one on one with a hundred scattered along the coast of paratroopers and heavy thoughts about the need for a quick upgrade. The first impression is rather negative: 5 frames per second and a very primitive task - to smuggle 25 people close to the fortifications of the Nazis. However, we have already seen this level in the demo and were ecstatic on the second mission to the defense of the city and three bridges, which suddenly broke off all the rules of dramaturgy at the moment of highest emotional recovery ("Hurray, we is broken! Bend ... "). Want to quickly be on the beach and return to the same place to continue. Who to be, what to do? I can not pull myself together, comrade, I am torn. Where is the truth, tell me - in the management of one single person, or in a platoon guide? I think I have not progressed in the game, ironing the same mission at first so, then commercials, each time marveling at the new developments. This house stood tselehonkim, and now lies in ruins, the vanguard of Fritz struck a mine, although earlier mown by a machine gun. You forgot something important, Johnny, a victory forged the people first. These are the soldiers here, like you and me, and "Behind Enemy Lines 2" resolves to knock on the End button and start life at the front of a Fedor. To bend under heavy fire and collect the grenades from fallen enemies. Swim across the river and have time to undermine the tank before, screamed hysterically, the bullet end his and our lives. Or stand at the head of a platoon (you say squad, it seems?) And learn to think for a couple of steps ahead, because after you go people. Oh, they believe, will not want to die and not go behind his commander in hell with a knife at the ready. Each will do everything possible to postpone his own death - hiding, firing on the attackers, picking up new weapons. Tell me, do you remember their colleagues in the face? Company of Heroes) "class =" center2 first png "/> After such a blast playing on the second blind. "The effect of presence", not otherwise. Sometimes it comes and to blows. Learn materiel Training mission in Company of Heroes are made on a solid "five" - ​​in short, dull, only the most important. Playing intelligently inquiring not whether we want to miss the first training mission in which soldiers are taught to trace the frame and move the camera. Not advise to ignore this science - the camera is controlled with the mouse on the button ALT: unusual, but quickly get used to. Double-click on Backspace brings us back to the classic "pose from above: it would seem a trifle, but it is an indispensable piece in the heat of battle. Immediately it becomes clear that all the experiments with large plans have meaning only for its attractive screenshots or viewing particularly expressive of battle scenes in pause mode. In the real battle would be desirable to force the camera to the ceiling and even higher: the situation on the battlefield is changing every second, and very important to be aware of all the details. Of course, three short missions in COH learning does not end there. Designers are fed directly to the wisdom of our military during the game. We first show how to use elements of the landscape to hide, undermine the bunkers and anti-aircraft batteries, and then open their eyes on the efficiency of rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun crew deadly force, teach lay mines and antitank hedgehogs. Mission to the fourth give us steer the tanks and then we realize that the game is actually just the beginning - and these discoveries will be many more ... Fantasy Artists Relic knows no borders, and sometimes expressed in very bizarre way. "It was grape juice, Sgt. About a year ago. " Developers of "Behind Enemy Lines 2", fortunately, are not spared the forces on the explanatory "tutorial": it is absolutely necessary, given the rather complicated control interface. As before, we can control each soldier individually, both directly and in a classic RTS-style. However, in the thoughtless "units", local residents did not like: everyone has a name and photo in the passport, knapsack carrying ammunition and additional weapons. Rifles in the game require ammunition, tanks - solarium, and broken track - repair kit. With enemies killed flies helmets, which can be chosen, and in his pockets form, you can find many useful things in life, such as grenades or dynamite. Such detail is more suitable role-playing games, turn-based strategies such as Silent Storm, or tactical puzzles in the style of Commandos, but VTV 2 spit on the usual genre restrictions. Tired of hiding in bushes and crawl on their bellies? Help comes a new "command mode". One press of a button, and we manage the whole platoon commander giving orders only. Throw a grenade? Everyone who is in store at least one, will find its target and make a throw. Sniper bullet? Bazooka? Platoon commander with the support of the tactical AI will ensure compliance with the order. Dissatisfied with the commander? Feel free to click the End button and show developers that you can do better - in the mode of direct control. Bems! Tanks, children, composed of two main parts. Truckee, they break down, and that the tower - they are good people go. Imagine you arrive at the gas station, and there is now a friend! Raises a barrel of diesel fuel and sent to the tank. Battle of the telegraph pole In contrast to the "Behind Enemy Lines 2" with its emphasis on individual, Company of Heroes - only team game in which one person does not solve anything - if it's not a sniper, of course. "Unit" in the game - three to six soldiers, and their one-on-all "health level" - an ephemeral substance and depends on many little things: on which side of the stone fence you decide to stop your platoon, what kind of mood shooter German tank and how well time to zero in the calculation of the mortar at a nearby building. Developers, on the one hand, do not even try to pretend that concerned about "historical authenticity" of what is happening. A detachment of engineers can "grow" itself flamethrowers, Marines to acquire anti-tank weapons and request replenishment from the air, and the crew of the tank - weld front of the device for the destruction of mines directly in combat. For a couple of minutes, the player builds barracks and a factory for the production of armored vehicles, and has been out of the gate there is a brand new, shiny with grease "Sherman." "And at this time from the north all the ap-a-aa-is a German convoy of ammunition ..." Very soon you will stop paying attention to people flying through the air: in Company of Heroes is a common thing. Shoot the frontal armor of the tank - a tedious exercise and long, much more fun to get around it in the rear and drove the charge of a bazooka. As in Dawn of War, resources (human strength, ammunition and fuel) are flocking to the headquarters of the capture key points on the map, unpretentious set out in the game, something like telegraph poles. To protect a reference point, the engineers proposed to erect around it a kind of transformer station, surrounded by sandbags. Thank God, its enhanced version is not able to shoot the missile-armed surface-to-earth ", as it did in the previous game Relic. The same "hunt chickens. The spectacle is not for the faint of heart: old man with edged able to calm the whole platoon. Forever. On the other hand, COH is much closer to real, honest vargeymu than most other RTS. Proper use of landscape elements is critical.Under a furious fire of enemy soldiers rush to the ground and crawl to the side, almost no response to orders (remember the terrible word «pinned» in Combat Mission?). Apt falling bombs or conventional grenade can incapacitate, scatter in hand, to tear apart a dozen people instantly upsetting all of your brilliant strategic plans. The hunt for the key points (read - areas) fills the fighting special meaning: we start thinking in terms of "front line", learn to analyze the map to find the best places for the construction of fortifications, we remember the lessons of combat in dense urban (CQB), plan to attack from the flanks ... Stroke crowd frame and send the attack ... Well, it is likely that the tactical AI to cope with the job and the height will be repulsed by the enemy. But at what cost? Platoons are gaining experience and already at the tenth minute of the fight becoming mortally dangerous for neobstrelyannyh opponents. To lose a tank or a detachment from the "four stripes? I'd rather pass the mission again! Hit faustpatrona in frontal armor is not as bad as on fuel tanks. Machine gun is very convenient to take and carry on a level. There were customers? Discovery and plants. For the simplified rules of the game and limited membership units lie bottomless tactical depth. We are preparing for another attack with the same zeal with which the gardener to cultivate their beds. "Here" and "here" will supply anti-tank guns - they will beat at different angles. In neighboring buildings put Marines - let will be engaged by infantry and tanks attacked from the rear. In the well of the court dilapidated house in relative safety, arrange experienced detachment. In the dot abode two platoons of machine-gun - let the shred of fascists in the cabbage until they will cover another shelling ... There is no greater pleasure than to watch how lovingly built by the military machinery in motion and works without a single failure - building after building, block by block. However, the mission designers have made sure that the player is not bored in the crystal palace "great general": the enemy is always a couple of trump aces in the sleeves of his uniform ... No, this is not mechanized torture device for the members of the Catholic sects. This is, quote, "half-track conveyor M3, designed to clear roads of enemy mines. In VTV 2, incidentally, is exactly the same. The tactical map - an incredibly useful thing. It is here that another portion of the outstanding securities directions, as we can in peace and tranquility to assess the alignment of forces and to consider further care. For example, special talents. Gaining experience in the fighting, we earn points that spending in the future for all sorts of "super powers" in one of three "schools", sorry for ugly slang. We specialize in aviation, artillery or tank technology, and each of the areas open some very useful skills and capabilities, careful application which can turn the course of hostilities. For example, all the tanks begin to repair themselves within 15 seconds, or located somewhere far Howitzer suddenly makes complete Nazis in the ruins of a building, or from nowhere, from the sky drops attack and mowing rounds from the gun out of place emerged an armored car. All this is not news, but COH «supervozmozhnosti" are inexpensive and fairly quickly recovered, so they can be used often and without much remorse. In addition, in a very limited membership of combat forces three "school" brings an element of unpredictability in multiplayer battles. Action against the tactics You did not guess, Johnny, but the tactics and Arcade - two completely different things in our common cause. At the root of different. Spilbergovskoe chair with a recess for the cup in the arm and the word "director" on the back in the second case, and trembling at the knees in the first. Comrade Frolov (you must remember it for the dust-in Lublin, Poland), having shot a couple of CDs of his PCA toe of his boot turns the bodies, freeing them from the grenade (immediately fly towards the nearest tank), rifles and ammunition. Private Fritz manage to put into the bowels of pants with a pair of hand-guns-three tapes, Frolov not above using such trophies. Direct control in arcade mode turns the squad-based strategy in action with a third person. No, no «sneak-action» in the spirit of "subversives" - namely, that stupid rash. The Earth is burning, the houses cracked in half and bring down on the overhead rock avalanches, while saboteurs-supermen under our supervision smooth out towns and villages. Health heroes decreases lazy, even with reluctance. Tank shell, one more turn of the "Schmeisser", and Iron Frolov rises from the pavement and shake stripes. Nails to hammer out such people, chesslovo! Another thing - a tactic. Here, a great solo game interface. Podvedesh cursor to the interested object, and once you understand why you need it. Off the rails serve as an excellent tram shelter (engine helpfully Draw the ghosts of soldiers, demonstrating how and where they will sit and stand), sand bags will jump an orange snake, a tank or truck in and paint a green arrow, inviting steer. Yes, if hit by a vehicle, the cursor will turn the eye: Go and look, the commander of what can be done with a broken tracks. All this is incredibly easy and intuitive, and most importantly allows you to implement the most unbelievable tactical plans in just a few movements of the robot arm. Squad hiding in the bushes beside the road, waiting for a German convoy. A pair of agonizing seconds of waiting, and here is one of our tossed under the wheels of self-propelled grenade, and friends reveal a dense barrage of burning Hans leaving appliances. We operate cohesively as a single organism, each may locally to forge their own piece of the victory. The sniper, for example, is able to accurately shoot some very important clients. Company of Heroes) "title =" Meeting on the Elbe ("Behind Enemy Lines 2» vs. Company of Heroes) "class =" center2 last png "/> Clear the yard. " Probably, the developers had in mind the screen? To do this, at least for a moment cease-fire. You see the tanks? And they are. Smokescreen - a very practical function. Bad-word «f» You will not believe it, but units in the Company of Heroes have learned to keep quiet. They do not respond to any mouse click laconic "Yes," the official "Yes, Commander" or patriotic "For the motherland, for Stalin!". Instead, they cry when they are scared and screaming when they are very painful. In the West, the game was rated "M" on the box - not only because of the blood and body parts in the air, but also thanks to robust mot (unhappy Americans is only one) who are in place and does not like to use the platoon. It is a pity, "Buka" unlikely to be able to offer a decent equivalent in Russian, despite all his wealth. Lack of sociability during combat soldiers offset between missions. Without a doubt, the Relic attracted Hollywood man who was involved in staging scenes between battles. Telling the story of Able Company, the authors use and stylized footage newsreel, and an epic scale painted canvases, and his gutta-percha 3D-engine: the place turns funny ("I think it's grape juice, soldier?" Of course, Sergeant. "It was grape juice. Approximately a year ago "), sometimes scary as before the Germans counter-attack or a column in the dead of the ruined city. The player who perhaps did not initially perceive these stunts seriously and trying to miss the next cartoon, "but gradually the magic of stories captures the whole thing. Largely due to giperrealistichnym graphics and sound, largely due to a very precise design of the aligned missions, we begin to relate to what is happening in earnest and ... Oh God, it happened again - or even shut down your computer, go back to that same street, not taken the defensive line, scroll to the head of possible tactical options and dreaming about how to get back "there". Not an enemy at the gates I really want to find fault schedule COH for shiny faces of the soldiers from the shaders and the collagen lips, but we should admit that your war, Johnny, it looks more authentic. The engine breathes VTV2 physics, he juggles technology, taking it on the cube - the gears, wheels, tank turret flies up to heaven and then remained lying on the damp ground, becoming quite a interactive objects, for which you can comfortably lie down and fire. But all this is not for a moment like a chronicle, or even a movie about "Enemy at the Gates", recalling rather the planning of operations with plastic figurines on extremely detalizovannye, but all the same plastic model. Front mud, sweat and blood, dented armor of tanks and explosions of luxury from which the window panes tremble and shiver pets, creatures got Relic Entertainment.Even a full night of dramatic raids saboteurs "Behind Enemy Lines 2" does not awaken in us the tremor, although the shadows on the ground, rustling leaves, the crater and solar fumes from marching self-propelled guns. Ideal naked essence of survival in enemy territory, devoid of visual naturalism. The paradox, but it works. By the way, should remind you that in the spirit of liberty Failed to find a supported hardware rendering device is allowed to your wayward protégé. And it's on my almost brand new Ti 4600, turned in a poster VTV2 1280 to 1024! In our country, yet appreciate the ability to optimize search engines, John, and the minimum requirements are perceived as COH mockery towards the average user. Three gigahertz? This is to show a handful of soldiers? Please let me know somehow that what it is - to play on minimum settings. It is waiting. Listening to the schedule Now the bad news. Note for the record - all those supposedly fake screenshots, which we fed to three years E3 ... real. Company of Heroes for RTS demonstrates incredible picture quality, but it's not the point. Yes, we can enlarge the image and consider the folds in the form of every infantryman, but what's the point? The game looks lifeless in static images, and to assess the full extent of the offense Relic, you need to see and hear her live. Close your eyes and listen: the dry chatter of automatic rifles, antitank guns hoot, loud metallic voice of the main guns of Sherman's "shamanic whispers of falling out of the invisible clouds of bombs ... Open your eyes: How many man-years it took to these blasts look like this? No better than this, namely, as real? You see, as machine gun fire rips the earth under the feet of running the blind platoon? See how the truck lost control on two wheels writes complex curve and drowning in a sea of ​​fire, crashing into the house at full speed: a feeling of the game is made up of thousands of microscopic detail, the existence of which you and I can not even be aware. The result? The desire to split the earth-pig piggy bank, and immediately, right now go to the store for Core 2 Duo and the new accelerator. Alas, a low-resolution charm game completely dies. The carriage turns into a pumpkin ... Blurry textures, clumsy soldiers, cast shadows, no effects. Gloomy, depressing spectacle. Better way than this price. Company of Heroes Behind Enemy Lines 2 Watch as the developers in their own way dig in Proceedings of the Second World War, - employment is extremely exciting. Pay attention to the Relic - scalded to "revolutionary» Impossible Creatures, where units had to be collected from different parts of animals, these guys are now moving in small steps, making changes in homeopathic doses: Dawn of War and all its add-on'y now - Company of Heroes and required a series of additions. But most importantly - they move forward and reach for a rest. Their next project, forgive the banality, sets a new benchmark of quality in the RTS, which until today, few can reach. In addition, the game sets the bar for another, and it is not so much fun: a new benchmark in system requirements. In Blizzard will never allow himself such aggressive tactics: their games, by contrast, were essentially undemanding to iron. But where is Blizzard? Says millions of users World of Warcraft? .. Best Way, it seems, in principle refuses to copy someone else's decision. Their graphics engine is strong enough to pull the game in any of the strategic genres, from Commandos-clone to the classic RTS, but the guys continue to make their game, which does not force players to model the behavior of laughs in the face of the conventions and often confronts us with a difficult choice. Proprietary physics engine, according to experts, is not inferior to the capabilities of the world famous Havok, and some problems with the scripts in the missions and the balance between the complexity of tactical and arcade mode you can correct a patch. "Behind Enemy Lines 2" taking into account the "right" multiplayer mode and a friendly attitude towards the "modifiers", has a long and happy life. And what will happen in two years? Is a new meeting on the Elbe? We learn about this in due course. PS Perhaps we should definitely come back to the couple after the official release of Company of Heroes in Russia: the multiplayer part of the game holds many surprises, which you definitely need to know. Watch for announcements! OUR EXPERTS Oleg Charzynski - If your computer is not able to CoH a dignified existence - do not spoil your impressions. Prior to the upgrade put the game on the shelf: in the next year nothing of the sort still does not appear. VTV 2 is almost as good and with the support of the community of modifiers can be a place to live for the next couple of years. Hopefully, Best Way will not delay the patch. Company of Heroes) "class =" left1 first png "/> Alexander Kanygin - One of the few games lately that made the computer to start the weekend. Blot is, but pluses in comparison with the first part, huge. Undoubtedly, one of the most competitive projects from domestic developers. ("Behind Enemy Lines 2") Alexander Trifonov - Who would have believed a year ago that such a comparison, and such a theme room at all possible? Games with incomparable budgets and experience of developers of the blockbuster the studio, not released until now no one failed RTS, and a bold experiment Severodonetsk Kulibin. Hopefully, local companies would give more reason for such materials. Semen Chirikov - I participated in the beta test, and it seemed to me that the developers listen to the opinions of players, tweak the balance and add AI brains, but nothing changed. Artificial intelligence issues such that it sometimes seems, he sold his opponent. It's funny to watch as soldiers shoot with two steps for half an hour. Technique, which moves with destroyed engines "magic" special-abilities ", the tanks on radio control - no realism. (Sompany of Heroes)