Q&A: Relic discusses Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

Combining cutting-edge graphics with intuitive gameplay and fully destructible maps, 2006's Company of Heroes earned itself the title of being one of the most memorable real-time strategy games of recent years. Skip ahead almost three years, and we're on the verge of the second Company of Heroes stand-alone expansion pack for this popular WWII strategy game. We caught up with Tim Holman, producer at Relic Entertainment, to talk us through what he hopes fans will get out of the game, rebalancing of the online component, and what the future holds for the Company of Heroes franchise.

GameSpot AU: Tales of Valor's release is just around the corner. What are you hoping longtime fans of the series will get out of it?

Tim Holman: For our longtime fans who thrive on multiplayer, we wanted to deliver new experiences to them. We had thought about a few new rulesets for normal multiplayer, but that just didn't seem to be enough, so we came up with the multiplayer modes we're calling Operations. We also decided that they needed some new toys to play with, so we added two units to each of the four armies in the game. These replace existing units and are optional to use so they won't fracture the multiplayer community. If you don't buy the expansion, you can still play with those that have and are using the alternate units.

For the single-player crowd, one of the things that makes Company of Heroes stand out amongst the crowd is the sense of drama created in our narratives. But with the previous versions, sometimes you had to rely on the cutscene to be reminded of who the characters are in the story. With Tales of Valor, having the player focus on a few units builds a connection to the narrative that we hadn't built before.

GS AU: This game is a stand-alone expansion. How accessible did you make it for newcomers? Considering you're focusing more on small-scale, intense battles, does that mean the difficulty is also ramped up?

TH: We made it a stand-alone expansion mainly because making a new user buy your previous game to play the latest game is a slap in the face. If someone’s been on the fence about trying the first one, forcing them to spend even more money isn't a friendly way to welcome newcomers.

As for playability, focusing on intense battles involving a handful of units did different things for different users. For users who found the original game too hardcore for their taste, they could now sit down and experience the dramatic scenarios without a steep learning curve. Those that were fans of the original narratives found that by switching from the common "build base, get army, go attack" with a loose story wrapped around it to a handful of units with a focused narrative, the dramatic moments created a more personal connection.

As for the difficulty, it's hard to make a direct comparison. The player has less to manage naturally, but the action is much more hectic. Take, for instance, one of the multiplayer Operations, Panzerkrieg--it's a multiplayer tank deathmatch. Our game balance team, who are by far the best players of the team in the normal multiplayer modes, have a tough time beating the Artists in Panzerkrieg.

GS AU: How much game time are we looking at in the single-player campaigns? Which of the three is the most time consuming?

TH: All in all with the single-player campaigns, you can expect roughly two to three hours with each. The last one, the Falaise Pocket, takes a bit longer than the others. I still have yet to complete that one and be able to hold the bonus objectives. But since there is persistency between each of the missions in the campaigns, skipping over too much on the first mission will make the second one that much harder.

The new multiplayer modes each last about an hour (depends on the settings the player chooses) but certainly play different each time through. That's the beauty of multiplayer--the same level is always a different game experience. Panzerkrieg features three tanks per side, each with a different role. Assault features 14 heroes with unique abilities, and the co-op mode of Stonewall has players changing their tactics based on what their fellows are doing and how the AI is attacking.

GS AU: You've talked previously about new multiplayer game modes in Tales of Valor: Invasion, Assault, and Panzerkrieg. Can you talk about some of the rebalancing you've done to multiplayer in general based on community feedback?

TH: The new multiplayer modes are completely separate from the regular multiplayer in terms of their balance--a Sherman in Panzerkrieg is much different from a Sherman in regular multiplayer (which we're starting to refer to as COH Classic--if anyone from Coca Cola is reading this, please don't sue). In Panzerkrieg, with each kill, the Sherman gains experience to unlock abilities on its commander tree specific to that game mode.

As for balance changes to COH Classic, the team has made many balance changes. We're updating these before the release of Tales of Valor (actually it goes live in a couple days), so the existing community can play with them right away. The list is too long to put in here as they are balance changes that we have been working on for months. The community feedback is where we draw most of the information to investigate changes and our new community manager has definitely been the voice of the fans--I know because he sits right across from me and sends me people’s comments completely unfiltered.

GS AU: This is the second stand-alone expansion for the game. Are there plans for any more?

TH: Can't talk about any such things at the moment.

GS AU: What about a brand-new Company of Heroes game? Now that Dawn of War II is out of the way...

TH: We'd love to and it's something we talk about quite a bit. But what to do? Keep it in World War 2 and do another theater like the Eastern Front or Africa, or move it into the modern age or near future? Right now we've got a lot on our plate with Company of Heroes Online and we won't make a decision on this for a bit. And there are so many other great IPs that Relic has--should our next project be another COH or should we look to another IP? We're going to keep mulling it over as we all have our preferences--fans are looking for another Homeworld, others are screaming for the Russian army in COH. At the end of the day, the problem of "which great game do we do next" is a pretty good problem to have.

GS AU: Tim Holman, thanks for your time.