Company of Heroes 3 – You want to play it? You can still do this until November 19th

Relic Entertainment and Sega provide a complete mission when you link your Steam account to the developers’ servers via the official website. The mission is called (significantly?) Alpha and gives a glimpse into the start of the third Company of Heroes’ North Africa campaign, pitting German forces, more specifically the Afrika Korps, alongside game-controlled Italians against the British Army in the fight sends.

That’s right: for the first time, the German troops are the focus of a campaign, with the corresponding campaign following a classic linear narrative. If, on the other hand, you lead the Allies to victory in Italy in campaign number two, you will experience a dynamic campaign whose outcome depends on many decisions. However, that’s not what Africa is about, although you can expect some innovations there too, above all the fact that events can be paused at any time, through which you can get an overview and issue orders in peace. This is extremely good for the usual brisk battles.

At least Relic keeps the well-known concept: In Company of Heroes 3, long-lasting battles for positions don’t play a role and it’s all about quickly moving all the necessary units in order to use their special abilities as effectively as possible. Thanks to them, tanks make short work of infantry, but are little more than cardboard cutouts for specialized countermeasures.

What is new is that the vehicles not only suffer general damage, but are also particularly vulnerable at the rear and on the sides. You have to align them by holding down the mouse button and turning their cone of vision in the desired direction, and you can let them drive backwards to safely maneuver them to safety when opponents approach. There have also been repair vehicles, which repair damaged vehicles and even repair broken tanks, as well as towing vehicles, which, for example, move massive guns from one defense line to the next.

All this makes the events more varied and also gives some successes an idea of ​​additional satisfaction, because a little more personal effort is required for them. Earned units also provide motivation, and with their experience gain additional abilities in the form of advanced equipment, such as flamethrowers or barrage for certain infantrymen. It is all the more frustrating, even if it makes sense in terms of play, when experienced troops are so worn out that they only have to flee.

Now you can’t draw too many conclusions from a single mission. The only thing I’ve realized so far is that the tactical break is an extremely valuable addition. I’m not a big fan of spamming target markers and abilities fairly quickly, but luckily that’s de-skewed here, allowing for more thoughtful tactics. Or am I on my own with this?

I’m a little skeptical about the tank battles, because you shouldn’t experience too big a fight in Company of Heroes 3. In any case, the traditional view of relatively small formations units hardly seems suitable for this, especially since the camera is, as usual, very close to the ground, which makes the overview unnecessarily difficult. I really wish you could pull them out at least a little more.

And while I’m aware that the current demo is a very early version that’s still being improved, I’ve noticed several enemy troops just ignoring my units and even running through trenches occupied by Germans and Italians, as well as Tanks ruthlessly running over their own fortifications. Apart from that, I would also like to cancel a chain of orders during the tactical break by giving a new order without using the shift key, and I would like to be able to see if and where the corresponding unit has to move for this when aiming at a target. These and other little things in terms of operation and feedback have certainly been on Relic’s to-do list for a long time.

All in all, I see Company of Heroes 3 as a continuation that is faithful to the series and that receives small, meaningful improvements. I’m currently still looking forward to the dynamic campaign, i.e. the Italy campaign, because that could give the strategic events a whole new level. But I don’t want to classify it here without having played it. The only thing that is clear to me so far is that we can at least look forward to a very routine sequel, which will stir up a little desert dust on November 17th.