Company of Heroes 2's dynamic weather system will freeze your ass off
Winter is coming.
Company of Heroes 2 will debut innovative weather simulating technology via developer Relic Entertainment's new Essence Engine 3.0 and its aptly named ColdTech system, publisher THQ has announced.
This will allow soldiers to freeze to death in mere minutes, just as the Germans did during the Soviet's -40 degree Fahrenheit Winter of 1941.
Players will have to build fires to withstand the cold and snow will melt realistically based on its proximity to fire.
The new dynamic weather system will keep track of snowfall as well as infantry and vehicle tracks. The deeper the snow is, the more it will stifle movement. Frozen lakes can also be collapsed, leading foes to fall into the hypothermic waters below. Additionally, blizzards can occur, making conditions extra hazardous.
"Company of Heroes 2 is all about authenticity and no game based on the Eastern Front would be complete without extreme weather conditions," said game director Quinn Duffy. "Thanks to the enhanced technology offered by the new Essence Engine we are able to accurately portray the bitter Soviet winter which crippled the German army."
For more information on the PC strategy sequel, check out Christian Donlan's Company of Heroes 2 preview.
"Company of Heroes rarely shies away from the worst of the fighting, and rarely loses itself, either, in shameful delight at all the gory details," he wrote. "It never airbrushes in Hollywood heroics like Call of Duty, and it never indulges in gristle porn close-ups like the most recent Brothers in Arms. If anyone was going to make the Eastern Front playable, in other words, it should probably be this team."