One of the best real time strategy games ever made is ridiculously cheap on Steam this weekend. Company of Heroes and both expansions are available individually or as part of the complete pack at 80% off. The original game is just £1.39 / $1.99. The complete pack, which includes Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valour, costs just £5.39 / $9.99.
Company of Heroes has a superb single player campaign that features some of the best RTS missions in PC gaming. You start out with a single squad of men, fighting through enemy territory to secure reinforcements, and end up as a well drilled force builds bases, constructs tanks and takes entire towns. The asymmetrical Allied and Axis forces are almost perfectly balanced for competitive mutiplayer, and it's especially good in co-op against a force of hard AI.
Both expansions have lacklustre single player campaigns, but the addition of British and Panzer Elite forces in Opposing Fronts makes it easily worth the extra cost. Tthe German Panzer Elite specialise in lightly armoured fast vehicles, and have a tendency to mount any gun of any size onto a half-track to blitzkrieg foes from unexpected directions. The British have a degree a of manoeuvrability thanks to their mobile bases, but specialise in building trenches and holding ground. They're most notable for their incredible artillery, Churchill tanks and Commandos who come crashing into the fight in a glider.
Tales of Valour is the most disappointing part of the package. With an uninteresting series of quick single player campaigns and no new factions (a smattering of new units for existing armies is added instead), it's the one you should drop if you're looking to save a bit of money on the deal. If you're interesting in playing co-operatively with friends, the £1.39 / $1.99 is worth it for the survival map, an early precursor to the brilliant Last Stand mode in Dawn of War 2.
