Back to Basics is a free Company of Heroes mod, developed by a community fan group. It is far more challenging than the original and offers an enhanced real-time strategy battle experience with 8 difficulties, new units, new features, reworked tweaks and more balancing.
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What is "Company of Heroes"?
Company of Heroes is a RTS (Real-Time Strategy) game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. SEGA bought the rights of the game later on.
It is based on the second world war and its main focus is the landing in Normandy. The goal is to secure the landing zone and push the Axis forces back in order to save distance from the beach and ensure a safe and successful landing of the allied forces.
With additional DLCs we have, besides the American campaign, also the British campaign, the Panzer Elite campaign taking place in the Netherlands, and 3 smaller campaigns featuring feared Veterans and divisions of the war.
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Key Features of Back to Basics:
- Over 30 new units
- Reworked AI capable of challenging anyone
- Rebalanced units
- New gameplay mechanics
- Campaign compatibility with the mod
Overview:
The new units, the enhanced mechanics, a rebalancing and fix of the already existing units, and a new responsive AI are definitely a true game-changer.
The reworked tech trees are much more balanced for each faction offering more versatility and more solutions to the battlefield compared to the high focus of a single subject. We can now easily, e.g., take the terror doctrine for the Wehrmacht and are still able to use units in different ways than only spamming artillery and V1 Rockets on the enemies.
Thanks to this variety we can more easily initiate new strategies and are not bound by the bad luck of having the wrong tech tree, as it was before.
With the adapted units and off-map support, we have versatile possibilities to engage in battle. Use infantry units in one, use a mix of infantry and tanks in the next, or even, if necessary, some off-map artillery support.
The experience we have from playing Back to Basics is greatly improved. Our knowledge and capabilities are put to the test and the fight for victory is much more enjoyable than in the original version.
The reworked AI too is a huge improvement in my eyes. We, as Company of Heroes players, know how boring it was seeing the AI spamming only off-map units and building nothing else, being totally careless about what units you build and have. Once a base is destroyed, they all only gather around the dead HQ... It was all too enticing to only spam and rain down artillery on them.
The rebalanced units are a great addition to the mod. Some units were really overpowered in their respective ability, some others were not able to meet our expectations compared to their high manpower cost. Thanks to these changes the game is being as smooth as it could be with a well-matched balance. The only exception would be the still a little too powerful rangers and rifles that can sometimes overpower other units rather easily.
At last, the modified and new gameplay mechanics are giving us a harder time to get our needed resources to build units and a much smaller ammunition and fuel income, forcing us to really think twice about the next unit we build - if it is really the right one or not.
These tweaks are also demanding that we try and keep our units alive to not waste any resources we have at our disposal. Not sticking to this will most inevitably lead to our downfall.
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Final Thoughts:
Company of Heroes: Back to Basics is redefining the whole game concept to have a more enjoyable feeling and adds completely new gameplay, different from all other mods. It does really enhance the combat feeling to a new level and the grind for victory to its fullest.
The AI, thanks to its modifications, is now smart, reacts according to what we build, and is giving us a really difficult time to keep up the pace if we try harder opponents.
I myself, as a Company of Heroes player who started in 2007, was addicted for at least 5 years playing nearly only this game. I got myself countless hours of playtime, and Back to Basics is for sure something new that no other mod did. I do really enjoy playing Company of Heroes more as of today and I am greatly impressed by these really neat changes the mod offers us.
I was taken a little by surprise seeing the responsive AI and the much more realistic gameplay in which I did fail my first attempt being in my usual routine game. I don't see myself as a good player against other players. The only game I did actively play against them was in Company of Heroes Online, where I could claim myself successful. But sadly, this game got its servers closed.
Besides this, the developers of the mod are constantly following the community and are ready to help and give advice if something feels amiss, they are also present to keep the mod updated for a long time. There might still be some places where fixes and changes are needed but I am optimistic that with further fine-tuning, Back to Basics will easily keep itself toe to toe with other big and reputable mods.
Overall, this mod is definitely a must-try or must-play for every Company of Heroes lover and fan.
If you are looking for further details you can check out the trailer on the Steam store page:
No, the camera angle could always be switched as to however you like it. By doing so you can take some cool-looking screenshots. And yes I also decided to do the review to give the mod some support with a proper review, since the main game is from 2006 and acquiring players isn't as easy as a new game, especially since I am directly talking to one of the developers.
I only finished the first singleplayer campaign storyline for this game many years ago and stopped from there. This mod is free and seems to change the game to a 3D view from the top down view? It is also nice to see that the mod creation team is still supporting it.
Good review.