Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor (Now with a Trailer!)

[Imperial Honour]

Interesting theory, possibly true as well considering some of the media stunts and such Relic has pulled in the past (anyone remember the Eldar from DoW, or the Necrons from DC?). Probably only a few ways to find out though...

If people want I could always try and get an interview with Thunder or some Relic staffers when they are at liberty to reveal more. I can keep my google searching specifically day after day for Company of Heroes: Tales of Valour Previews and Hands On articles. Then as the joke option, I'll order me up a Battle Barge and deepstrike into Relic Entertainment with Tactical Drednought (Terminator) armour and extract the information from them.

[Imperial Dane]

@Kosake: Well aren't you the jolly one
I doubt they are bullshitting us into anything and it might as well be something to draw in new people more than just satisfy old fans. There might be more, there might be not, we really don't know, all i have is what i know which indicated a project, yet this tales of valour seems composed of DLC, and doesn't really look like the project.. so who knows, something might come.. failing that.. i just hope they make some actual DLC with a proper Wehrmacht campaign at least.

As it is things can swing both ways, so why not at least try and have a positive outlook on things ?

@Imperial Honour: Why not just walk in with your inquisitorial badge and get things done that way :P

[ServerToni]

The "Game star", a German game magazine has played Tales of Valor.

I try to translate:

"Relics WW2-Strategy game is even after two Years since the release still part of the game-highlights. This expansion not.
Two Years ago, we wrote already in the Company of Heroes Test "if Valve can stretch a game with the aberration of a dry Physician to more and more Half Life Episodes, so it has to work with this nibbled even more.“
That's right! The second expansion will include three very-short campaigns. We meet relic and have not just started playing the "tiger Ace Campaign" - we played it through.
In the first mission we crush with a Tiger through countless enemy vehicles. For this we use the new "Direct Fire": We target with the Mouse cursor and fire via left click. Despite we are bored. Because the Mission is very undramatic and easy as ABC, also because we can repair the Tiger whenever we want. It's also nothing special that the tank-crew gains veterancy and improves their abilities. In the second mission we escape with the tank crew after the loose of the tiger - in the third we got another Tiger and strike back. But also this skirmish turns to be as too easy. And that's all; the episode takes maximum 45 minutes. The other campaigns should take also this time - let's hope they are more exciting and challenging.
Solo-players will still have fun with TOV during the lunch break. The strength of the add-on is the multiplayer, which allows you the development of your own Rule-sets. For example you can unlock the "Direct Fire" or put in new units from the single player. Who likes to go with others in the WW2 can still expect a nice COH-expansion."

they rate it with passable and 80% finished. Release: first quarter 2009

[Tseng_Fox]

Umm...thats a pretty depressing report.

45 minutes? They can't even give us a campain that lasts an hour? And this is for the one army that didnt get a real campain? Pathetic...

Did it mention anything about the amount of units added? Custom rulesets don't really sound all that good either.

Perhaps the pricing will be leniant. I'd pay a limit of £15.

That's right! The second expansion will include three very-short campaigns. We meet relic and have not just started playing the "tiger Ace Campaign" - we played it through.
In the first mission we crush with a Tiger through countless enemy vehicles. For this we use the new "Direct Fire": We target with the Mouse cursor and fire via left click. Despite we are bored. Because the Mission is very undramatic and easy as ABC, also because we can repair the Tiger whenever we want. It's also nothing special that the tank-crew gains veterancy and improves their abilities. In the second mission we escape with the tank crew after the loose of the tiger - in the third we got another Tiger and strike back. But also this skirmish turns to be as too easy. And that's all; the episode takes maximum 45 minutes. The other campaigns should take also this time - let's hope they are more exciting and challenging.

That says it all really.

I guess I was right so far.

[Deacon412]

no offense but that was rather bad....that didnt do tov any justice

[Imperial Honour]

Now that depresses myself if one mini-campaign is only 45 minutes, I would of thought one campaign would be something around one-three hours at least (considering a quality full campaign for a game is normally around ten hours on average), depending how fast you steamed through it. While it will allow modders new models to mess with, and other new code and features (such as doing RPG'ish campaigns) I would of liked longer mini-campaigns. Otherwise I will back up my claim that a dedicated modder could probably create longer, yet just as quality, campaigns as Relic are offering in the expansion, it would seem, at this moment.

Hopefully further previews, teaser videos and such prove us wrong (or shall I deepstrike into Relic Entertainment and hand out some "Add more to the expansion" ).

[Tseng_Fox]

I'm holding onto Imperial_Danes theory as the reason for possibly why this is so short.

I can't think they'd do this in purpose.

[Deacon412]

i doubt they did the whole thing, and besides that it was prolly on easy

[Imperial Honour]

The section we played during a recent visit to the studio was the first three (presumably easiest) missions of the campaign.

(Source: Gamespy Preview)

To illustrate this, Relic let me play through several of the Tiger Ace missions in the game.

(Source: IGN Preview)

"The number of multiplayer missions? I'm not at liberty to say, but there's definitely more than a couple," says Degnan

(Source Eurogamer Preview)

Hopefully we can cling to these words of hope that the mini-campaigns are indeed longer then the German Magazine preview says they are. The English language might be full of contradictions and such sometimes but I hardly see how there can only be three missions in the Tiger Ace campaign when reading the Gamespy preview

[Tseng_Fox]

Hmm...hopefully so.

They better buff up the difficulty on the missions if not.

[Deacon412]

id say that magazine was obviously putting the smash on TOV any way >_>

[Imperial Dane]

Well considering that most others have said they only played a part of it with those 3 missions.. i would hope for more than just 45 minutes ! I mean that would have been okay if it was a DLC mini campaign, again as it seems it was in the first place.

And if those extra units can't be used beyond just custom games.. well.. Then it seems rather lame as well, at least to me as i mostly play automatches. Hopefully something more substantial will come soon, otherwise this might actually look to be a weak expansion

[ServerToni]

It was just a preview. Gamestar just rates what they get.
I hope the best for the Ad-On.

[theluser39]

I think the direct thing will be awesome!

And am i the only one seeing the tiger tank story look like Michael Wittmans story, cause in hes story he also attacks a convoy in france and destroys them and then gets killed. But im not sure in the game we will die, well i cant wait for this game!

[Pyros]

Take the GameStar preview with a grain of salt. The information they give is the exact same as the information the other sites give, so it is clear that they didn't see any MP or the other two campaigns. And since every other site is reporting the campaigns are about an hour and a half each, I'm guessing the 45 minutes bit is an error on Gamestar's part. It sounds like they took the bare facts and added a lot of speculation.

[Tom 1561]

Just want to say this but isn't this about the tank ace Michael Wittman? And the direct control is already from Soldiers Heroes of World War 2where you also play Michael Wittman in Villers-bocage and everything what stands in the previeuw from ign about tales of valor is just the same as SHOWW2.

I think the direct thing will be awesome!

And am i the only one seeing the tiger tank story look like Michael Wittmans story, cause in hes story he also attacks a convoy in france and destroys them and then gets killed. But im not sure in the game we will die, well i cant wait for this game!

Nah i know to about it too check my previous threat.

[Kosake]

"Well, arent you the jolly one?"

....

You know guys, sometimes I really hate it to be right but my method of "assuming the worst, getting only nice surprises" is really great when it comes to such disappointing things.
So there, all ouf you, who were shouting for 3 great campaigns and stuff.
You get two hours of bored compstomp. Anyone else left with optimistic views?

[Deacon412]

well when the comp stomp is with an amazing story and allies that support you in the Tiger I, and your not a mega force but a tank crew with an amazing tank, i think its kewl
me n my friends plan on getting it, doing co-op invasion and sitting in chat while we play through the campaign for fun =/

[JustinFillion]

Ok heres my 2 cents if it is stand alone they have to add new faction if not what can they do just give u a tiger lol>>>??? because that would be unblanced against the regular coh imagin start a game as brits and usa and boom tiger with direct control rolling in on ur base so obvsly there must be new factions

Lets hope the other 2 campiangs are about the 2 new factions xD thats my hope every one lets pray together in this dark hour. lol

[Kosake]

And what have you planned for the rest of the week?

I mean, I knew, they would cut the missions down, but I could not imagine that you get only 3 missions for the ace and not much longer for the other ones. I love SP campaigns but I want fun for at least half a month, when I get a new game or expansion.
Some think, that an expansions does not have to be as big as the prime game. Guys, this is a mistake! An expansion has to offer the same amount of content the basic game does. The developers save time on making the engine and preparing map editors and stuff. But they surely should not cut down the content as well. Thats a no-go for me.

[Deacon412]

kosake theirs more than three missions, the german magazine tried to say the three missions they played took 45 mins

[Anonymous_Gamer]

@ JustinFillion

Its already been confirmed by Thunder that there are NOT any new factions

[JustinFillion]

so how is it standalone??

[Anonymous_Gamer]

No idea...lol...

[say1988]

Either: You get access to 2 or 4 old factions (most likely)
or
There is no skirmish/multiplayer in it without CoH or OF

[JustinFillion]

i dont think they would do that

[Lethal Dosage]

Justin, the way i see it is as stated previously, it'll basically just be CoH Gold (read CoH and OF all unlocked with 1 CD Key) with some extra stuff added, a fancy box, and if we're lucky not too much of a price increase. That means that it'll probably have all 4 factions unlocked, the US, Brit and PE campaigns unlocked, and full multiplayer. This would mean ToV would essentially replace CoH and OF on the store shelves (it's been months since i saw a copy of CoH), and people new to the game wouln't need to buy the older content to unlock other campaigns/factions. After all we all know the crap people who started playing CoH by getting OF had to go through, and not understanding why they couldn't play 1 campaign or half the factions, and all the crap people went through trying to unlock OF (or CoH) when they owned one and bought the other. At the very least, since boxes of the original CoH seem to be getting scarce, with most i'm seeing are either OF or a CoH/OF double pack, i'd say if ToV doesn't replace both CoH and OF, then it's likely it'll replace CoH, and new people will only need to by OF to unlock the OF content.

I'm kinda dreading though the mega patch that'll come out at ths same time as ToV to make CoH and OF online-compatible with ToV, so the patch'll include any new "alterations", units, game modes, etc. that could be used/played online. At though it won't be a 1.8gb patch like OF brought.

[Deacon412]

I bet they will make it so you get Americans and PE , so you still want the original and OF

[Sykotik]

Looks like just an arcade style version of what we play.

IMO, They are trying to simplify the game to attract the "casual" gamer.

I won't be buying it.

[akn102991]

I COMPLETELY disagree with all of you. I think that the multiplayer modes are what this is going to be about. The defend/invasion mode (whatever its called) will be THE SHIT for me and my friends. We just finished a lan party where we played rise of nations, and 'barbarians at the gates.' that was the most fun game mode there. Holding off against continuous waves of attacks is incredibly fun.

[Ambient]

meh......really thats all i have to say..

[mrmertz]

Working two jobs I don't get a lot of time to play, but with what time I do get CoH/OF has taken the vast lion's share of gaming time. I think Relic has a bunch of stuff yet to be revealed with ToV and so I'm going to take a "wait and see" approach. I am in agreement with some with that the vast amount of gameplay for me has taken place in skirmish/multiplayer - not campaigns. I like the human element of never really knowing what to expect against another player. It would have been nice though to add rather than replace units thus giving a wider choice i.e. Hellcat AND Wolverine and not Hellcat for Wolverine. But oh well.

[Imperial Dane]

@Sykotik: Simplifying ? Do explain, because i don't see much of that, sure they are are doing some interesting things with the campaign to possibly attract more people, but that doesn't mean simplify, and we still don't know about the other two campaigns except that they will be US and PE apparently, and the same with multiplayer as well, so i can't see what they are doing that is simplifying things.

And what is wrong with trying to get new people into the game ? That can only be good, and if it is as i suspect something before the big final expansion, getting more people interested before doing that is a clever move

[Swooping Hawk]

If they don't add new Armies, people whine because theres 'not enough content'.

If they do add new Armies, people whine because 'It's not balanced with 4 armies, 1-2 more will make it worse!11!'.

Looks alright though, anyone notice that adding very little in expansions is all the rage with RTS games now? CoH, Starcraft 2, World in Conflict.

[sturmtruppe]

they might add an option in multiplayer for the host to enable the 'direct-fire' mode thing, which would be awesome.

looks cool.

[JustinFillion]

mabey they willl mix Pe and Wher to make a new army and throw some new doctrens and units in there ???

[Imperial Dane]

@Swooping Hawk: Well that is blizzard Besides, we still don't have a full overview of the expansion yet.. and they still might be working on something else in the background

But you do have a point there, people will NEVER be satisfied.. I mean i am not :P .. didn't get a proper wehrmacht campaign, not to say i am not looking forward to this one though.

@Justinfillion: That sounds more like something for a possible campaign against the russians.

Though i wonder what the other two campaigns will be about, and what will be so special about them.. Well that and what the units for the german forces are.

[Ballist1x]

I'm thinking they might be hiding something special in this addon that they aren't going to announce till near the end. Its has to be something like that, something that'll make it worth its price.

But thing is, what could it be?

the price tag:/

2 or even 3 x 45min skirmish battles dont sound great to me for the money, im sorry.

[Mills022]

Well, Honestly, I will buy anything that adds to the COH experience (THat's not to say I'm not dissapointed thus far). In fact, I don't really care about TOV as long as the expansions keep coming.

[Imperial Dane]

@ballist1x: What where do you get that from ? As i assume you are talking about the campaign, all we know is that there are three campaigns, one with wehrmacht, one american and one PE, we really don't know anything about the length, except that they are more than 3 missions.

So how about taking it easy before calling it skirmishes when we don't know much really ?

[JustinFillion]

i still think there might be sum new army eaither mixed our an original army with new doctrines

[Adullam]

I'm looking forward to this because I only play with friends and we are almost always on the same team. The co-op games sound very promising for that.

I also like the campaign games but whenever I get on to play one of those, a friend shows up and we play a comp stomp instead.

Maybe if there is something new with MP then I'll try that, but for the most part, I can't stand automatch or team automatch. I don't mean to start an argument about which is better (it is all a matter of personal preference), I just prefer playing WITH friends rather than AGAINST them.

[Deacon412]

whhoa i just had a thought....the maps from the beta wont be the same as the ones in ToV right?

[Bobik]

Relic would have to be insanely lazy to put user-created maps from a beta as the new ones in ToV.

Also insanely lame.

[Deacon412]

my bad i didnt know those were user created =[
they probly wont be any of the *new* maps that ToV will offer
that would be lame since their community maps = /

[Pyros]

Remember, Relic recently polled the community about what maps we'd like to see (2v2, 1v1, etc), so my guess is the reason they haven't shown much of the MP stuff is because they simply haven't made it yet. If that map poll was about ToV, it'd imply that the SP stuff was being finished before the MP stuff, so there is nothing to really show at this date.

[JustinFillion]

are all the new units in the beta??

mabey tov is the new downloadable contant but instead of Dling it u can buy it in store 2

[Pyros]

The Tiger Ace campaign was previously intended to be DLC, so it makes sense that the other two campaigns were too, especially considering their length. So yes, as it has been speculated before, Tales of Valor most likely a bunch of DLC before THQ/Relic decided to make it a single retail title. At this point though, I don't think we'll see it as anything other than a retail title, so you won't be able to download individual campaigns as DLC.

[say1988]

are all the new units in the beta??

We know of the hellcat, now, and i bet there are others. Also, just because the units had those stats in the Beta, doesn't they aren't different in TOV.

[Imperial Dane]

Well i do believe the staghound as well, but otherwise, don't really know, and things might still change considering we don't have much information beyond the Tiger Ace campaign, which i imagine was largely done already considering it was intended as DLC on it's own.

Question is of course then, could we ever expect DLC then ? Otherwise i imagine they might have one more expansion in mind before going for a sequel, said expansion might contain russians