The time has come for the verdicts for Company of Heroes 3, which – between long-awaited news and adjustments – proves to be an excellent sequel.
Once, Caesar began his Commentarii de Bello Gallico by dividing Gaul into three parts that no student of Latin will ever forget, even if he wanted to, so we’ll be in good company by doing the same with the review of Company of Heroes 3, the new RTS by Relic Entertainment.
We’ll start with the narrative campaign in North Africa, followed by the new dynamic campaign in Italy, and finally with some thoughts on multiplayer, tech and everything in between.
The North African Campaign —
Returning players to Company of Heroes will feel right at home with the African campaign narrative. You will play a series of missions set in the North African theater of the Second World War, following the DAK (Deutsches Afrikakorps) in their battle against the Allies. For the most part, this campaign works like most Company of Heroes campaigns.
The variety of missions is excellent, as all campaign stages have something new to offer. You’ll raid convoys, breach defensive lines, burn supply depots, evacuate allied forces, and so much more: there’s absolutely no repetition and you’ll find virtually every type of mission you could expect from a WWII game.
Even better is the presentation, even if you shouldn’t expect bombastic cinematics (there are no cutscenes, in fact). Playing as the Germans, following the exploits of Erwin Rommel and experiencing the power fantasy you might expect from such a story, the game does not fall into the trap of legitimizing popular myths about the war in North Africa. A result achieved through a second narrative sequence, which follows a Libyan family of Jews in the breaks between one mission and another. The father joins the British ranks, while the mother and daughter remain in Benghazi, providing us with different perspectives on the war.
This allows Relic to shine a light on some misperceptions of this theater of war, such as the fact that this war wasn’t just fought in empty deserts. The family experiences the Axis occupation firsthand, being bombed by the Allies and witnessing the execution of Jews in North Africa. The campaign also does a great job of debunking the Rommel myth, while keeping intact the power fantasy players may have always associated with it. To be honest, we are impressed by how the North African campaign of Company of Heroes 3 manages to humanize and demystify this conflict with great mastery and without sacrificing being entertaining. The only con is that it doesn’t last long: on the standard difficulty, we completed it in just 4.5 hours, so you might want to try the higher ones.
Company of Heroes 3 arrives in Italy —
Company of Heroes 3’s dynamic Italian campaign is the main course for single-player players. This campaign takes the Ardennes Assault mode from Company of Heroes 2 and takes it to a whole new level, featuring a turn-based strategy map of Italy combined with the real-time combat for which the series is known. You have to move your companies around the map, attacking and defending German outposts, airfields and brigades.
As in Total War, these encounters trigger real-time battles, which are basically normal skirmishes. They often include random bonus objectives, which allow you to gain additional XP and help make battles unique despite using nearly identical maps. Battles can also be simulated if you want to save some time. The more important ones for big cities or places known as Monte Cassino instead include scripted elements to shuffle the cards a bit, but the decisions you make along the way to get there will affect the outcome.
All roads lead to Rome (and the liberation of Italy), but it’s entirely up to you how you get there. You will have American and British commanders, admittedly very stereotypical, as well as Italian Partisans who will give you advice and optional objectives, with all of them trying to pull you in a specific direction. By following their lead, you can enhance your relationships with them to get additional bonuses. Also, the above Partisans playstyle is a completely different experience from the other two, but it does require some effort.
All of these sub-mechanics work well together to create a cohesive experience and offer enough variety to encourage multiple playthroughs. Overall, the dynamic campaign is a well-designed and executed addition, and it’s also a great foundation for possible future content and an educational experience for newcomers, as it also includes several tutorials.
Multiplayer and skirmishes —
In the broad division between RTS focused on macro-management (StarCraft, Age of Empires, Supreme Commander) and those on micro-management (Warcraft, Dawn of War), Company of Heroes proudly raises the banner of the latter, and the thing does not has changed in the new chapter. COH 3 keeps the core principles of the series intact, focusing on action and units rather than economy, which is certainly less of a distraction for fans. Gamers with fast fingers will always have an edge in the RTS genre, but a game of Company of Heroes 3 isn’t won by speed alone.
The multiplayer mode of the series has never been more strategic thanks to the addition of Battle Groups. Like the Company of Heroes 2 Doctrines, Battle Groups have various units, abilities, and bonuses that can change a faction’s playstyle – sometimes radically. What makes Battle Groups so appealing is the variety of choices and units they offer, such as Italian forces for the Afrikakorps or Indian troops for the British. Each Battle Group contains two paths with units, skills and upgrades to choose from over the course of a match – so where choosing the right Doctrine was a single important choice in its predecessor, the new chapter challenges your decision-making more times in the same game, opening up another strategic front for players to compete on.
This extra layer contributes to the feeling of having more control over the action in Company of Heroes 3 than in the previous installment. Artillery strikes and airstrikes are still effective but point-and-click skills don’t feel as lethal as they did in COH 2, with a very welcome reduction in the randomness factor. The now drier vehicle fights are another example of the greatly reduced RNG, which makes the game as a whole more enjoyable.
New toys such as towed artillery and the ability for infantry to board vehicles are exciting additions, opening up new gameplay opportunities, and – if you’re only playing with AI – the tactical pause system will let you think your move and plan it in detail before jumping into the fray to witness its outcome. The game has stylized graphics that will not particularly impress lovers of photorealism. What matters most in RTS is readability and here the goal is brought home: once you play a bit, you will be able to quickly distinguish which units you are facing and what kind of artillery shells are raining on your screen. Environmental destruction is an important part of the gameplay, too, since it decreases available cover.
Company of Heroes 3, the verdict —
Overall, it’s fair to acknowledge that the presentation is more practical than spectacular or impressive. The game includes Steam Workshop support with an internal mod manager, and you can load custom games with specific mods, so if you want to have matches with everyone starting at the highest tech level or other variables, there’s nothing stopping you from you and your friends to do it. Ultimately, Company of Heroes 3 evolves and innovates, but without losing the heart and soul of the series.
Written by Marco Wutz for GLHF
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