Company of Heroes 3

This is going to be a long review, and honestly I don’t know why I’m spending time writing it for a game hardly anyone plays, maybe three people will actually read the whole thing. But I feel like I’d be doing a disservice to my fellow gamers if I stayed silent, so here we go.
Let me set the stage, it’s 2006, Company of Heroes just released, and at the ripe age of 10 I experienced a game that left an everlasting impact on my life. Like many of you, I was living through the golden era of gaming, a time when passion drove video games, not greed or profit. Games were created as art, not as products. That’s where gaming should have stayed, and sadly it’s drifted far far away from that.
I remember Company of Heroes being violent, brutal, and real, or at least as real as a game could feel. It didn’t hold back, it stayed true to itself. It was, like so many games back then, a product of its time. Three years later I would be a pre teen playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, not realizing my best days of gaming were starting to exist behind me.
Games like Company of Heroes felt like they were made by people who loved playing them, people who wanted to show what a passionate group of individuals could create if they came together through their differences, not because it was a job but because it was their way of life. I remember long nights playing Skirmish against AI, alongside other incredible titles of that era. RTS games had a special pull for me, Dawn of War, Age of Empires, StarCraft, all beloved by millions, each holding a special place in someone’s heart.
Another favorite of mine was World in Conflict. Oh how I wish Ubisoft still made gems like that. Its campaign was incredible, and if you’ve never played it I highly recomend watching a full playthrough on YouTube. It still radiates the love and care that helps it stand the test of time, something many modern titles lack.
I even played tons of Empire Earth. As a kid it felt massive compared to how I see it now. But all these games, including Company of Heroes, had one thing in common, they were great games.
Fast forward 20 years. I’m on the cusp of turning 30, and not only has my view of the world changed but so has gaming and the industry as a whole. I still crave the same passion and artistry in games, and while some titles still spark that feeling, finding truly great games is rare and becoming rarer by the day.
It’s a sad reality RTS fans like us need to face, this genre is no longer a major money maker. It’s niche and it’s dying. Why? Probably a mix of factors, shorter attention spans in the younger generations, games treated as products to squeeze every cent out of us, developers making games as a job rather than a calling.
You could apply this to the movie or music industry too, but the writing is on the wall. And as a quote from Lord of the Rings perfectly says
“The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.”
Games today are pushed out faster, with less polish, less passion, more issues, and rarely done right, because too many decisions are made by people staring at spreadsheets, focused only on maximizing profit for minimal effort. They expect us to be grateful, expect us to buy their dog crap storefront purchases, expect us to deal with the bugs for years so they can look good on their fiscal year reports.
Company of Heroes 3 is a product of this era. While it has improved since launch, it suffers from the same problem plaguing many modern titles, a lack of soul. I picked it up on sale at 60 percent off three years after release and, against my better judgement, bought all the DLC. Like many others have said, the DLC is overpriced and feels like a cash grab. But someone has to take the plunge and share their experience, because if we don’t look out for each other, what’s the point.
I’m not sure if the industry can ever return to those golden days, but I hold onto hope. And to be fair, Company of Heroes 3 isn’t a complete failure. While it lacks the passion of its predecessors, the developers did manage to capture the classic feel of the series in some ways. Booting up a Skirmish against AI still feels fun, it feels like Company of Heroes, even if it isn’t quite the same.
I played a lot of Company of Heroes 2 as well. It had its strengths and weaknesses, and ideally each new entry should build on the good and fix the bad. Company of Heroes 3 took steps forward but also steps back. There’s still enjoyment to be found here, and I saw a comment claiming Company of Heroes 2 didn’t hit its peak until five years after release. I don’t know if that’s true, but I cling to that hope, hope that one day games will feel like games again.
That said, it’s still missing a lot. It feels more like a product than a passion project, complete with storefronts, microtransactions, and all the modern day clutter. That saddens me because the core gameplay feels great. I bought this game hoping to relive that feeling of being a 10 year old kid, staying up late playing Skirmish until bedtime. Sadly that magic is hard to find.
I haven’t and probably never will play the campaign. Some people love it, some people hate it, but I just know in my heart it wont have the kind of impact I wish it would. World in Conflict was the last RTS I played that actually had heart. Look at games today like Call of Duty Black Ops 7, the campaign is a joke. Then go look at the World at War campaign.
Even games that built their identity on incredible campaign stories fail now. If you’re looking at this game, an RTS, for a meaningful and impactful campaign, what kind of kool aid are you drinking. I wish it wasnt this way, but I am starting to accept that gaming as I once knew it has changed, possibly forever, and I need to find peace in that which does exist still to get me through this ultimate game called life.
I bet we all wish the campaign was incredible, wish it would move us, make us ask questions, make us look at things in a different way, but not even the big names can do that anymore. You’re only going to get that from pure single player focused games now, the industry itself is dying, a hard fact no one wants to face.
I bought this game for Skirmish vs AI, and that’s what I’m reviewing. The player count is low and may stay that way. Multiplayer can be fun but it’s impossible to know how long it can survive, and something about this game nags at me like so many others, the passion is missing.
I look at other games I play and even games I dont play anymore, and most of them have higher player counts than Company of Heroes 3. This game is on life support and it’s impossible to tell when Relic will cut tail and run. If they had stayed true from the very start, the game would be in a different place.
So overall, do I recommend this game? Yes, if you can get it on sale, but temper your expectations and understand what you are getting. At full price I’d honestly be disappointed by what it could have been. But there is fun to be had, and performance wise I think it feels great compared to the older titles.
There’s so much more I could say, but I hope I’ve gotten my point across. Company of Heroes 3 is definitely lacking, and I accept it may never be more than what it is, but for now it’s enough to scratch that itch, however small, until the hope I cling to one day becomes reality and a new game releases with the passion that lights a fire in my heart.
Until then, I wish anyone reading this the best and hope you can make an informed decision about whether or not to purchase this game. If I could go back, I’d buy just the base game. God Bless.
Edit: Removed the dashes because people whine, game is fun, not as good as it could be - good enough to recommend though.

CoH3... A good game made with limited resources. Not as good as old ones but they try to get there. Thats a short summery, below is longer one.
I played CoH 1, Online, 2 and now 3, suffice to say, I know a bit about this series.
Company of Heroes 3 does bring improvements to certain stuff compared to older titles but trouble development shows that this game needs much more work then CoH 2 did. This is key point, troubled development, as far as I know, they had issue during it and add fall out with publisher, it only shows worse state of affairs and how limited in fixing they are.
Campaign: Its expended idea from that of Ardennes Assault DLC, sure they are better games with stratigic map that then turns to tactical one if battle starts, but as said, its expended idea of what they done before. It works but more work on it would be nice.
There is also a short mission to mission campaign and its servicable, think of it like those mission packs that ware in CoH 2, skirmishes with bit of story and scripted moments that does not try to be more then that.
Skirmish: Main gameplay of this game, as said before, its improved but not too much, it is combination of CoH 1 company selection and upgrade with ability to swap them in loadout with other commanders that ware in CoH 2. Some will say that move to force us to pay for them is main issue and I wont disagree, but will remind you in CoH 2 you had similar situation and in time, they allowed to get some of them through in game currancy.
Most new things that are in gameplay that I noticed and cared to mention is veterancy and cannon towing. Vet system now instead of unlocking right away new ability, you get option between two, depending on units it can range from airburst mortar rounds or HE delay for mortar team, to extra explosive damage or faster point caping for paratroopers. There ware mods that used this system back in CoH 2 and those mods ware one of most played ones, so I say its good addition or change to vet system.
Ability to tow cannons and other emplacement with wheels on them greatly allow for quick reposition on them from HQ to frontline or between combat positions if far away enough.
One thing worth to mention that is diffrent from CoH 2 is removed intel buletins, which ware passive boosts for your loadout, you could have only 3 at time but they ranged from quicker reload to additional squad member.
Microtransaction economy + skins: Now the pain of all... Microtransaction or as one could say "If this is microtransaction, my d*** is a baseball bat!". I aint gonna lie, its a mess, CoH 2 one was not so good two years after release either but this is new low... New low I suspect is do to troubles in development and with publisher I mention before. Skins here have been cut in to smaller portionts, meaning PER UNIT, not unit TYPE, but per UNIT. Meaning a engineer squad can wear blue pants while rifleman squad wears red in same loadout. This aint good and shows they ware planning to hook whales with fancy new skins. Which them selfs they went more lazy as cheap skins are simple recolor that does not look good (nor historical) to super detailed that cost same as this game if you want for your entire faction...
In CoH 2 you could earn some of those stuff through level up or as spoils of war (reward for playing certain number of games) or by buying them from points you could get from spoils of war system. Yet here you either pay real money or do weekly challange that pays very little nor does it allow getting most "elite" skins (to be fair, some skins in CoH 2 you had to buy with real money anyway but those in 99% of case ware either promotional or player made through workshop system).
Suffice to say... Its bad and one can hope they in time go back to CoH 2 model as it was good middle ground.
Player workshop (mods): Compared to CoH 2, they removed player skins (there ware talks of bringing it back but time will tell...), but promised to expend on how well you can mod gameplay and add new units. So far its as same as it was in CoH 2 on that aspect, but modders are already hard on work to either improve or change gameplay to how ever one wishes, be it more arcade or more realistic and so on.
Final part: I done similar review 10 years ago for CoH 2 saying how it aint so bad when everyone was saying its worst thing in a world, today Im doing similar thing. CoH 3 is in pure gameplay, still a company of heroes 2 with some changes. If thats all you want then you will get it here, but if you wanted expended mods or better player progression outside of campaign... You will be dissapointed.
Should you get it? Only when its low in price. As far as I am concerned, I enjoy this game as it is now, as long as I dont look at skins and wait for modders to make update to mods that will change how gameplay plays.
May who ever reads it, in part or full, may your day/night be peacefull one and next day trouble free.
PS: Apology for grammer mistakes, english aint my first language.

LET ME PREFACE THIS REVIEW by saying that this is more of rant and just word vomiting all of my pent up thoughts and feelings about this game. If you want to skip all of that, I WOULD RECOMMEND this game ON SALE. I would give it a 7/10 overall IN ITS CURRENT STATE.

As someone who played the first two games growing up for the campaigns and comp stomping, I can tell you that you that this game did an OK job. I understand what they were trying to do with the Grand Strategy Italian Campaign, and in the most recent patch it is in a MUCH better state than it was at launch. However, I wish that they had just stuck to what made their campaigns so good in the first place: solid mission design, some semblance of a story line, and well defined characters/setting that you could immerse yourself in. But I digress... the campaigns are OK, and the linear North Africa campaign missed the ball for me as well.

As for the AI, nothing new here. If comp stomping is your thing, I would say that you will enjoy it just as much as you did in previous games. Although in all fairness I really haven't played against the AI outside of the Campaigns, so take that with a grain of salt.

That leads me to my final talking point, the Multiplayer. But before I get to the actual review, let me share my experience as a complete NOOB to CoH MP, and throw in my pocketful of change if you are new or frustrated with it: I barely played CoH2's MP, as I was a young lad with little time or patience for such a mentally taxing game. HOWEVER, I approached this game with the goal of wanting to get 'good' at MP, and after ~500hrs worth of grinding MP, from launch day, I can tell you that I still SUCK! XD I'm not terrible, but that is mostly because I have watched countless hours of streamers and content creators such as HelpingHans that literally talk you through their game play live or in a post-match analysis format. And if you are scared of MP or just frustrated with your current experience, I HIGHLY recommend doing this. MP is all about balance, push and pull, rock-paper-scissors game play where you are either DICTATING the flow of a match with YOUR build composition, OR you are REACTING to what your OPPONENT does. And this is where I think a lot of people get frustrated, as they just build whatever they want because they like the units or are going for some thematic/authentic build scheme. And if this is your preference, that's perfectly fine! GO PLAY THE CAMPAIGN OR COMP STOMP. But when you step foot into the MP space of this game, you will learn very quickly that the player base is constantly on edge and just waiting for an opportunity to ream you out for not carrying your weight. And If you are new to the franchise, or RTS in general, just play the campaign first. You will learn the game mechanics and have the ability to pause the game dynamically (although I recommend you ween yourself off of that habit if you at all want to play MP). I don't say any or all of this to scare anyone who is new to the franchise or to the MP, because I was that person. I want to inform the aforementioned that MP is a grind and it takes a LONG TIME to build up the skill and confidence to play MP effectively. The first thing you will want to do is play 1v1, because you can only blame yourself for your defeats. Once you start consistently winning 1v1's try out 2s and 3s. Big 4v4 matches usually devolve into massive tank battles if they don't end in the first 10 minutes because someone rage quits, so just be warned of that fact. They can be a blast, but also extremely frustrating. Play the campaign, play against the hardest difficulty AI 1v1, play and consistently win 1v1's, and watch skilled people play and cast games. You will get good, I promise :)

Anyway, on to the MP 'Review'... it's good, and I am addicted to it. The highs of defeating your opponent(s) in this game are ecstasy. Transversely, the lows of getting routed and losing in this game are heart breaking and, often, rage inducing. Either because you only have yourself to blame, or because you only have your teammates to blame if you are solo queuing. As for balance, after the most recent patch I would say that overall the balance is good. The people that scream and cry about one side being overpowered and need nerfing, are just bad at the game and only play as one side. That does not mean that certain units on each side don't need balance tweaks. But I don't think people understand just how difficult it is to balance this game, let alone an RTS in general. You have, quite literally, hundreds of moving pieces in a single match. If you start adding build composition to that equation and consider the number of different possibilities, you will start to realize that the current team of 2 at Relic may be in a bit over their heads. I have ridden the waves of imbalance that have plagued this game since launch, and I can confidently say that the current state is more than playable. It is enjoyable, and yes, I play all factions relatively equally. Getting frustrated by this game is just in its nature, and that's ok.

Finally, I want to address all of the complaints that this game isn't CoH2... no sh*t XD. No, this game is not CoH2. IMO, the graphics are better, the audio is better in some regards and worse in others, the TTK infantry is much shorter, it runs INFINITELY better and is well optimized, blah blah blah. If you prefer CoH2, that's fine. Go play CoH2. And I know that I am about 2 years too late to this debate, and realistically my argument is only valid now that the game is in a good state 2 years since launch. But hey, I enjoy the game and I want to encourage people who are skeptical to give it a shot. Because honestly, I do feel like the people at Relic genuinely care about this franchise and want it to succeed. Their partnership with SEGA is now over, which I think was a major factor in this game's general dropping of the metaphorical ball, and they are free to develop the game as they see fit. The initial review bomb that this game received, and continues to receive, from the die hard CoH veterans is a bit unfair IMO. And maybe I'd feel differently if I had played CoH 1 and 2's MP. These are all just my opinions as someone who wants this game and the community to grow. Finally, stop complaining about their monetization of the DLC's, no one is buying their stupid skins so they have to make money somehow now that they're an independent studio XD.

In conclusion, give this game a shot if it's on sale. And if you have made it this far, thanks for taking the time to endure my diatribe. Cheers! :)

NOTE: I'm a longtime CoH franchise player - ~2k hours in CoH1 over the different versions AND 4.6k CoH2 hours - which I've mostly played in competitive (ranked) MP mode (where I've been hovering between rank 80 and 300 in different modes, factions etc)...
CoH3 is definitely better than CoH2 by now. There are still some artistic (animations, specifically explosions, colours etc) choices which I believe are worse, but Relic has gone a LONG way to make the gameplay better:
- QoL improvements have been there since day 1 and they make a big difference. Quick base building constructions (Tech is no constructed from the HQ: double click and let the game sort out the position; no longer bring engineers back to base, select a position etc), autoreinforce (units now replenish by themselves unless you deactivate it) and all factions having access in their roster to a halftrack/ambulance are a game changer that are sorely missed whenever I go back to CoH2 (which, after the last "2.0" patch which added the heaviest tanks in the form of an expensive DLC called Fire&Steel: KT, Pershing, Crocodile Churchill and Elefant is pretty much never).
- There is more consistency. Hitting a unit is no longer the COH2 lottery where 1 in 10 shots is a whole unit wipe, 5 shots are low hp hits and the rest are misses. In CoH3 units will deal consistent damage over time; on the retreat/cover less so, but it's still there. It works and feels good for both indirect or direct fire units; which doesn't mean a well-placed artillery isn't devastating. This dynamic reduces frustration due to lucky enemy hits (or unlucky friendly hits) massively.
- Battlegroups (the new "commanders" or "doctrines) give more varied flavour to the factions despite the base roster being sufficiently strong and interesting.
- Any sort of attack feels more satisfying. Please compare the JOKE that the LeIG18 is in the COH2 OKW roster vs the same unit in the COH3 DAK roster.
- Armour feels WAY more satisfying. Armour can be strong (no longer the joke of PTRS consistently penetrating frontal KT armor). Flanking is more important than ever (which is what this game was always about) and positioning has become more important than ever. I can't stress the armour improvements enough: A big change from CoH2 to CoH3 is that the game is designed more around light and medium vehicles. In CoH2 the worst AT would consistently penetrate frontal armour of light vehicles, and put pressure on medium vehicles. In CoH3 your light AT will NOT penetrate the front armour of the late game units.
Balancing is still not perfect (it's not perfect in CoH2 either); some units/abilities feel very strong when playing against, but that doesn't turn the entire roster/battlegroup into "pay to win". I've yet to buy the latest DLC (Fire&Steel) and am able to consistently play and win against the new commanders.
All in all: CoH3 is in a much better place than CoH2 ever was. Whatever improvements are left to be made to CoH3, the minor weaknesses CoH3 has compared to CoH2 are absolutely balanced out by all the strengths CoH3 has over CoH2. I definitely recommend the purchase.

ehh. its on sale for 30 you could do worse. Also i play with a lot of the community mods so I have no knowledge or care about the vanilla experience. I dont play PVP, just a comp stop after work and i drink whiskey and go to bed. its a living.

Listen, if you're crusty at 40 years old like me...the game is ok. I played 1 and 2, both GREAT. CoH 3...it's faster paced. Game is built for the autistic little shits who can't stay still on a chair for 10 minutes. Game is good, just a little too fast for me now.

Idk why everyone doesn't like COH3.... So far im enjoying it. BUT. there is a few things I do not like...For example:
CONS:
I Mainly played as the U.S. forces in COH2, so i was massively disappointed that you dont have combat engineers jump out of your tank (or really playing any faction not just U.S.) and are able too make repairs right out there on the field....Now you need engineers hanging around all the time so there is that... And the way they made how you traverse Italy (first campaign...at least thats what I chose first.) It has this weird RISK like battle that you bombard and attack etc, and some of the cities have skirmishes where you can fight. And IDK what happens if you lose a city and come back too capture it if you play the whole mission over or what.... Everything is changed... Everything... so it is a bit confusing.. When you requisition more Units they come from the ships at sea and have too be shipped in which tank a few turns especially if you are kinda far away the battalion needs 3-4 turns and if you needed them ASAP then most likely you lose...The DLCS shouldve been free. hopefully no one paid full price and waited until it was $15 on sale, I did that and was glad I only spent that much cuz like Ive said...DLCS shouldve been included already.
Pros:
They got rid of that "your squad only has "x" amount of requistion until the whole platoon is wiped out and can no longer play as them." You can use both U.S. and British forces as separate units so there is a diversity of ways too play with there own unique fighting and tactics and weapons. The graphics was always one of my favs in this franchise so I can Zoom in and almost read the decals and medals on officers shirts and seeing Ze Germanz blow up its hilarious. Same gameplay with new units and weapons and can still pick up enemies panzerschreck, flame thrower and a light machine gun etc. so pretty much your whole 5-6 man squad basically has one of the above mentioned. Game mechanics are better, hard too explain you would need too watch a gameplay vid too really understand what I mean.
and on and on. sorry for writing a book im 2 years late so Im sure no one will read this but hey. there is my two cents. Ciao

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-FIN