Company of Heroes 2 flexible camera "gets your imagination moving"

The ability to zoom right in and out of the maps in Company of Heroes 2 isn't just graphically impressive; Relic hopes it gives players a better sense of attachment to their virtual cannon fodder.

Director Quinn Duffy told RPS that at zooming "breeds attachment" to troops as individuals.

"That’s a huge part of what we want. Immersion. Making these soldiers feel more real," he said.

"When you see fingers on a guy and then you zoom back up to the God mode, all that detail still exists in your mind. That attachment becomes stronger to those characters, along with the way they move around and the way they talk."

Duffy noted that the RTS's unusual level of tension comes from the dynamism of its mechanics but also from presentation.

"You don’t know if you want to risk losing the little dudes," he said.

"It’s why a lot of our games have these flexible cameras. You can play from the default, but you get in and look at what we’re presenting, like in Homeworld the turrets traversing stuff, when you pull back you have such a huge picture in your mind. It gets your imagination moving more."

Company of Heroes is expected on PC in 2013.