Company of Heroes 3: Narrative Deep-Dive – IGN First

ign.com:

Company of Heroes 3 sticks close to the World War 2 RTS's roots in many regards. But maybe the biggest departure is its open-ended Italian campaign. While Company of Heroes 2's Ardennes Assault expansion played with the idea of nonlinear storytelling, this new campaign is taking things to another level in terms of branching story and player freedom.

One way this campaign shows the war from a new side is the inclusion of Italian partisan forces who worked against Mussolini's government and the occupying Axis forces, assisting the Allies in liberating the country. They are represented by the fictional rebel leader Valenti, who will come to you with requests and suggestions.

"So if you work toward loyalty with Valenti … you can gain access to abilities that will let you use partisan hubs on the campaign map."

Partisans can weaken enemy strongholds before you even attack, and partisan units can also assist you in combat if you stay in their good graces, granting you Italian irregular troops who are good in a skirmishing and harassing role. But it won't always be easy to stay on their good side while trying to achieve your broader objectives.

"They're reminding you: take care of our land and our people. You're here to help. Don't hurt us. Don't destroy these culturally significant places."

"We did a lot of research, and what we came up with was trying to tell the best story while being as close to accurate as we could. An amazing story told in Italy is the Battle of Monte Cassino.

"The battle is dramatic, and sad – in the end, the abbey is destroyed. We give the players the opportunity to make very delicate choices in this map, to the point that you might be able to save the abbey."

Monte Cassino is an abbey in Latium built in 529