0 A.D. vs Company of Heroes 2
0 A.D.
0 A.D. is a really unique game not because it is possibly one of the most well-made, open-source, historical real-time strategy games we've ever seen; the game started off as a mod for Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings but ended up being a standalone game with its own game engine and everything. This is a pretty huge feat and puts 0 A.D. on the same level as other successful mod-turned games like Garry's Mod. However, the game may lose out a bit when it comes to popularity mainly because it's not available on Steam, which happens to be the current largest PC gaming platform, and partly because there isn't a lot of promoting from established gaming media, or marketing, even.That said, the game is incredibly impressive for an under-development and completely free game. You can play as a number of civilizations that has their own graphics and models to set them apart. There are also citizen-soldiers who like in real-life, can switch between gatheirng resources like a civilian and fighting as a soldier depending on need. Unlike certain RTS games that allow you to unlock every branch of the tech tree, this game offers technological tradeoffs between two equally important tech, forcing you to really consider your choices and pick one that fits your play style.
0 A.D. also tries to be as historically accurate as possible, conforming its 3D models and maps to actual historical depictions of the people and land back in the day. The effort into making game realistic is astounding, but of course, the devs have mentioned that if they had to choose between having a feature that's historically accurate or playable, they will definitely choose playable every time... naturally, since this is still mainly a game and all.
So, if you're interested, know that you can get the game for free on their site.
Company of Heroes 2
Company of Heroes 2 is the exciting follow-up for the original Company of Heroes game. Set in World War 2, this game is rather multiplayer-focused but it does provide players with an intense single-player campaign which also double as a way for you to be familiarized with the gameplay before heading into multiplayer.The game does have a lot of "standalone" DLCs that adds either a new single player campaign to the game or a new multiplayer army for well... the multiplayer gameplay which you'll have to buy if you aim to get a "complete" version of the game. This kind of make the multiplayer aspect of the game rather pay-to-win since players without the new multiplayer standalone, which usually features a new army that's slighter stronger, will probably be on a disadvantage.
All in all, Company of Heroes 2 is still a great game from a great franchise, but it seems like the developers/publishers may have lost some favor with its player base mainly because of the slew of "standalones" that players have to shell more money for in addition to the "base game".