Company of Heroes 2 has been in development for six years and takes players to the Eastern Front where Russians fight in defense of the Motherland against the German invaders. Needless to say, the game is set to feature the bloodiest battles of World War 2.
Relic wishes to emphasize the scale of these battles with maps scaled to larger sizes than those in the first Company of Heroes. While the game shouldn't be expected to see maps anywhere as large as Wargame: European Escalation or RUSE, the battlegrounds will be sizable indeed. Like the first game, you'll take control of your units at a squad level, allowing you to zoom in up close.
The environment will play a heavy role in Company of Heroes 2, just as it did in the real war. Snow will have depth, and it will be spread procedurally as tanks and units tread over it. Tanks can get bogged down by snowdrifts, and infantry can use it to flank the opposition and use it as cover. These are just a few of the innovations being made to the game's advanced cover system.
In addition to snow, fire will also see some play as buildings can be set on fire, causing the snow on the roof to melt and cause the entire ceiling to collapse in on the structure.
Company of Heroes 2 also introduces a new element of gameplay called "True Sight" which only allows you to see what your soldiers see. Unlike regular Fog of War, their vision can be obscured by smoke grenades, which can be used to provide cover for your soldiers as they move through the battlefield.
Relic's developers say that the focus on Company of Heroes 2 isn't to make it different from the original, but rather to improve on its concepts. As with the first game, resources will be based on territorial control, and the team has no plans to change the things that worked for the first game.
Source: PC Gamer June 2012 Issue
