Company of Heroes 2: Before I even begin, let's talk DLC.

I mentioned on one of my blogs that Company of Heroes is one of the best RTS games of this generation. Everything from it's robust graphics engine, it's AI, and it's unique approach to how battles play out on an individual level was a step in a new and brilliant direction. It felt like a fresh break from the average strategy game where enemies stand in front of each other and hit the other guy until he falls over.  

RIP THQ. The show must go on.

So imagine my excitement when I heard about SEGA announcing that Relic Entertainment was making a sequel to the "highest rated RTS game in history". There was a few months there where we didn't know what was going to happen to the game series. THQ had filed for bankruptcy and was sadly no more after a valiant battle with financial troubles. But then SEGA buys out Relic and now Company of Heroes lives! Yes! I was so excited! Of course I'm going to play this game and proudly review it, it's the sequel to one of my favorite RTS games of all time!... 

How about a nice cup of shattered dreams?

So... Are you waiting for the catch? Can you FEEL it in the air? Can you picture it hurdling toward you, about to slap you in the teeth? Well, my friends, when SEGA bought the rights of Company of Heroes, I was alright with it. SEGA publishes Total War, my favorite strategy series, what could go wrong? A lot actually. You see, the gaming community exists in a series of controversies. Before DRM, there was DLC, before DLC there was whatever people older than me can remember.  

While the whole EA, Xbox One DRM train wrecks were being cleaned up, we suddenly seemed to not care anymore about day one DLC. There was a time, just a few months ago where day one DLC was in our cross hairs. Mass Effect's hilarious on-disk DLC for example had the internet in a fit and Bioware haters in stitches. But because the bloated tumor that is corporate interest continued to grow to the point where it over shadowed DLC, we've come to accept it as the norm. 

"Alright. Fine. We have day-one DLC. It wasn't that bad, so why are you so angry?" You ask in a perplexed tone with your head cocked to one side. Allow me to illuminate the answer to your question, dear reader. 





Let see, two dollar camouflage patterns that doesn't even effect all the vehicles. See the (L), (M), and (H) next to to the text? That means the pattern only effects the light medium or heavy class of vehicle. How lovely. Three dollar tactics. Tactics.  I know some people might have taken it a bit far by saying day-one DLC was ripped off the disk, but I refuse to believe this wasn't slashed off the disk and monetized. They literally took a skill tree from the game and are charging three dollars for it. Not only that, they're doing it four times. The German Spearhead and Joint Operations and the Soviet Anti-Infantry and Conscripts Support doctrines. All yours for the low low price of 1/5 of an entire game. 

$55.74. That's how much it will cost you for all the day-one DLC. That's less than five dollars from being a whole other game. Awesome. But hey, at least you can get all the DLC if you "upgrade" your game to the collectors edition, in which case it will only cost you $40. How nice of them. 

What a disappointment to be faced which before I even buy it. But that's what happens when we let some things slip because we were paying attention to the newest controversy. Companies finallyfound a way to make us accept day-one DLC. They finally did it, guys. Which makes me wonder, what kind of monstrous, colossal frozen turd are they going to try to launch at our faces so we forget about console DRM? 

People thought they had a victory against big business this week when Microsoft pulled their DRM. Instead what they got was a distraction that let other companies run profuse behind your back and put in yet another way to screw you out of more content and out of more money. 

Please make the ride stop.