Company of Heroes 3 review: War is hell, but supremely playable
The real-time strategy (RTS) game genre has experienced an extraordinary rollercoaster-like trajectory. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, RTS games were very much part of the gaming mainstream, and routinely sold millions of units. Then they seemed to vanish without trace, but have recently begun to chisel out a comeback. The arrival of Company of Heroes 3 marks the point at which that comeback can be seen as official.
In certain ways, Company of Heroes 3 provides clues as to why RTS games flirted with extinction. It is nearly 10 years since developer Relic Entertainment released Company of Heroes 2, suggesting that top-class RTS games are not easy to make. Nor are they easy to play – Company of Heroes 3 will test your tactical abilities to breaking point. If you jump into its multiplayer side, without first developing a deep knowledge of its units, interface and structure, you won't find anything but frustration.
In a world geared towards instant gratification, RTS games require their players to put in an old-fashioned amount of focus, concentration and attention to detail. Does Company of Heroes 3 reward its players for that dedication? We cleared some time in our diary to find out.
5/5
Bringing back the once seemingly moribund RTS in spectacular style, Company of Heroes 3 is intense, tactical, authentic, meaty and innovative – but not for the faint-hearted or those seeking instant gratification.
As it turns out, Company of Heroes 3 aims to do more than provide satisfying gameplay — it also brings some clever new ideas to the RTS party. Especially in the first of its two single-player campaigns, which charts the Allied forces' sweep from south to north in Italy starting in 1943, before continuing all the way up to
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