Company of Heroes 3

There are many clear similarities with previous game – they have kept all the best bits, fans will be glad to hear, but it is clear that improvements and tweaks have been made where needed.

For example, now, taking the time and resources to add side armour on your tanks now matters more as infantry takes centre stage and will happily destroy a vulnerable tank, given the chance, and fuel is no longer freely available and must be actively sought out. As your tanks are now more vulnerable, so you must use strategic thinking when deploying them, if you expect them to survive the encounter.

An all-new campaign mode joins the well-loved multiplayer skirmish, the latter of which can be against other players or the AI. No matter which way you play, your actions can have knock-on effects that must be calculated and allowed for – although some of them are quite unusual: unlocking grenades, which allows shooters to clear buildings, can result in delays to airstrike support, for example.

NPCs arrive in the form of Italian Partisans who can be called upon to help out in battles or on the map. The game is dynamic and your actions will change the course of the game so you get a different result on each succeeding playthrough.

The Nitty Gritty

A major addition to this game is the Tactical Pause system which allows the player to pause the game, and input a lined-up series of commands that will be enacted sequentially once play resumes.

The graphics in this game are far more detailed, so you can see individual bricks crumbling and tiles falling from buildings under attack. All the sound effects are satisfying and realistic, and buildings rattle, creak and shake when struck by mortars, giving your gameplay a delicious precarity.

There are toggles for automatic reinforcing of depleted units and to allow auto-upgrades when new levels are unlocked, and these make gameplay even more seamlessly enjoyable. The campaign map is rendered in full 3D (more about which, see below), and you can move companies in support of larger movements to capture towns or hold defensive lines around the map. You must properly maintain supply and fast move features (such as airfields) to win.

What’s New?

The three-dimensionality has allowed new features to come into play, such as:,

Verticality: For example, when soldiers are hiding in cover, they lose that protection when the enemy shoots down on them from above, just as in real life. Fighting from height earns you a bonus, so it is worth bearing in mind

Breach is when your army attacks and takes over an occupied building, turning it into your own fortification

Tactical Pause (see above)

Destruction: buildings under attack will take on one of three states. These are: Flattened – rubble, Cover – good for hiding from enemy or Shot and sight blocking – hide in more safety, but cannot garrison in these too damaged buildings