With Company of Heroes 2, Relic Entertainment is exploring fairly familiar territory. Certainly the Eastern Front was distinct as compared with other World War II theaters — especially those I would imagine most people, at least those in the United States, picture when thinking of WWII, due to this country’s involvement elsewhere during the war. CoH2’s focus on this aspect of the war affords Relic the opportunity to introduce features like a dynamic weather system that emphasizes the snowy conditions the Eastern Front was home to. It’s an addition that has the potential to impact gameplay in a significant way, and it could even cause two matches on the same map to play out much differently because of the way snow and cold weather changes things. This is all well and good, but it doesn’t change the fact that the game is not dramatically unlike its predecessor, part of which is due to it still being set in World War II. CoH2 is the series’ first numbered sequel, but it’s set during the same war as the first game and its two expansions. What does that say about the limitations on where Relic is willing to go with the series?
Not much, as it turns out. In an interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, game director Quinn Duffy expressed a willingness to expand beyond the deadliest war in human history. “We could look at setting this game anywhere,” Duffy said. “We know what we want to deliver in a Company of Heroes game. We know what we want it to feel like. So the setting becomes another piece of military history to tell — or another set of stories. But the game should feel like a Company of Heroes product.” He went on to reaffirm that CoH is not explicitly about World War II, but that, given the Eastern Front’s significance, it demanded to be covered before Relic moved on from WWII.
