PC owners are delighted! World war has broken out! [Is this right? - Ed] No, North Korea hasn't invaded Blighty - instead, it's Company of Heroes 2, the long-awaited follow-up to the original that brought World War II to life way back in 2006.
Let's be blunt - WWII has been flogged to within an inch of its life in the gaming world. Indeed, so tired are we of that epic struggle being depicted in games that any developer caught programming one will hereby be court marshalled on the spot. But Relic's Company of Heroes 2 is different.
The original real-time strategy game won over battalions of fans thanks to its superb tactical play. The sequel builds on this premise, this time casting you as the commander of the Soviet Red Army as it fights to fend off the Nazi's invasion of the Eastern Front.
Cue a rich plethora of options to smite the Hun with; a generous single-player mode boasting a campaign that's packed with a welcome variety of missions from hunting down a German Panzer to bowel-loosening assaults by the enemy on all fronts. Once done, players can head to the 'Theater of War' for a fresh bout of SS slaying in battles set outside the campaign's year of 1941.
And while the in-game AI may have been beefed up to provide a more human challenge, the real man-on-man action is to be found in COH's enhanced co-op and competitive modes. All these modes feature new systems as well - expect better graphics (naturally), get snowed under by the ColdTech weather system (in blizzards, double-march your troops to nearby campfires - or risk their Knackwursts dropping off) and appreciate the brutal TrueSight System which only lets you see an enemy if one of your toy soldiers is eyeballing him.
And for armchair generals who love medals, the game features a whopping amount of achievements to amass over the course of playing - 366 in fact (yep, you're gonna need a bigger general's jacket). COH 2 then is a worthy successor to the sublime original, and one that you'll only realise you're addicted to when the light starts to creep in from behind the curtains at four o'clock in the morning. Now if only Relic would reboot Homeworld...