I
hate RTS. Even the ever popular Starcraft, I only got through the Terran campaign before resigning myself to playing non-RTS mods on Battle.net.
I've tried Rise of Nations/Legends, Warcraft, C&C, etc. Pretty much all of them and never really enjoyed my time playing them. Much of it has to do with my lack of skill. I am ham handed when it comes to managing multiple fronts and suck at creating effective groupings.
For whatever reason (probably the strong narrative), CoH is the greatest RTS I have ever played. It doesn't punish you too harshly when you make errors (Thank god for the retreat button) and the SP maps are designed in such a way that their are definite ways of approaching each situation and coming out on top.
The destructible backgrounds really add to the game and really make flanking and ambushing more devestating than ever before. The best part of the game: No resource micromanagement! By controlling territories and checkpoints, your resource rate increases! So simple, but increases my enjoyment 10 fold.
I can see how some experienced RTS guys would be put off by the rather dumb AI. I stink at these games, but can fairly easily plod my way across the map with one huge blob of armies, since they are all stationary targets. On some of the maps, I wish the AI would launch (unscripted) offensives to keep me honest. Maybe this will change in the last few missions.
Even better, then game only cost 10 bucks at CC.
