Company of Heroes 3 Preview: A more strategic take on the classic formula

Company of Heroes 3 brings back those exciting real-time strategy duels from the WWII era – with more factions, units and maps than ever before.

We got our hands on a preview version of the game that gave us a first look at the two campaigns; North African Theatre, a classic linear mode, and Italian Theatre, a new dynamic campaign.

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We also had to try the upcoming RTS game’s multiplayer, which has skyrocketed since the first preview build we tried.

There are four playable factions – Wehrmacht, Afrika Korps, British and USA – and each play their own role in the gameplay.

The developers had different design philosophies when it came to each army, and those design choices were evident in the preview build.

Everyone has a specific focus. The Afrika Korps has strong mobility and offensive power, while the Wehrmacht is entirely defensive.

They are customizable, allowing you to adapt to different scenarios and plan different strategies for each scenario.

The highlight so far are the battlegroups available to any army.

Like Doctrines from Company of Heroes 2, they have different units, abilities, and bonuses to change your faction’s playstyle.

Unlike its predecessor, which is all about one choice, throughout the game you will have to make several challenging choices that add to the strategic elements.

The Afrika Korps can ask Italy to improve their unit selection, but you still have to select the unit type you want.

This forces opponents to be prioritized and evaluated. This gives the impression that you are more in control of your destiny.

Point-and-click abilities don’t feel as deadly anymore, which reduces randomness, and the way vehicular combat has been revamped helps put you in control.

Technically, huge improvements have been made since we last saw Company of Heroes 3.

For a preview build, it’s refreshingly bug-free. Some of the AI ​​is not working as intended, but there is still time to fix this before release.

Hardcore fans of the series can rest assured that Company of Heroes 3 is on the right track, and if it keeps improving, it could be its best yet.

Written by Marco Wutz and Georgina Young on behalf of GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN.

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