Developer: Relic Entertainment Released: 2006 Company of Heroes might not be the most mechanically interesting real-time strategy ever, or even the best looking (though it still scores high on both of these points). Instead, Company of Heroes is special because of its emotional impact on the player. The soldiers being controlled from above aren't nameless grunts, but personable characters that you do everything possible to keep alive. This adds a certain tension missing from most single-player strategy experiences, as units aren't expendable, and sending a favourite soldier into near-certain death is extremely tough. This, combined with gameplay that relies on good battlefield tactics over twitchy control makes for the best World War II strategy game ever made.
