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Eighteen missions set in 1941 will be part of the game upon release with the missions from 1942 onwards available as downloadable content. The game introduces the Theater of War, a series of single-player and cooperative missions detailing various aspects of the Eastern Front campaign from both the German and Soviet sides. In regards to strategy mechanics, the game retains the traditional Company of Heroes formula. The game also utilizes Valve's Steamworks technology with matchmaking and achievements. However, players face the danger of being attacked from the other side as a result, the ice can buckle under the weight of the units in movement.Ĭompany of Heroes 2 takes advantage of DirectX 11 but also supports DirectX 9. Certain maps have frozen bodies of water, allowing for more movement options. Players moving through deep snow will move at a reduced speed.
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Bonfires protect soldiers from the cold at the expense of enemy detection. Since many battles in the Eastern Front occurred in winter weather, troops can die of frostbite if caught in the outside during blizzards. Weather conditions are a major factor in gameplay, with movement and action penalties applied to players' units. Essence 3.0 also incorporates an innovative weather-simulating technology known as ColdTech and destructible environments. In contrast to traditional unit visibility, TrueSight more accurately represents a unit's visibility range based on environmental conditions and type of unit. One such improvement is the new line-of-sight technology, TrueSight, which aims to better emulate troop visibility in real combat. The game is built on Relic's proprietary Essence 3.0 engine, which showcases new improvements compared to Relic's previous games.
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The campaign features the Soviet Red Army as a new faction and takes the player to various stages of the Eastern Front campaign, from Operation Barbarossa to the Battle of Berlin.
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