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You play as the Nazi Afrikakorp led by Erwin Rommel, but between each mission, the narrative is shown from the perspective of the Jewish Berbers fighting in the resistance. What’s baffling about the campaign, however, is how its narrative plays out. For example, one mission has you making contact with recon vehicles and then protecting their retreat when the enemy’s main force arrives. By and large, these missions do a good job of each feeling different and challenging your strategy in some way.
#New company of heroes 3 series#
The African campaign is a much more straightforward affair, feeling like your standard RTS campaign that takes you through a series of guided missions. Sadly, each campaign winds up feeling drastically underbaked in some ways but surprisingly engaging in others. SegaĬompany of Heroes 3 has a staggering amount of content to offer, with a smattering of multiplayer maps and modes on top of a massive Italian campaign that takes a more grand strategy approach with a world map, and a North African campaign that’s your typical series of RTS missions. The lush landscapes of Italy make for a much different landscape from the usual hard grey battlefields found in World War II games. The change in setting to the Mediterranean Front (Italy and Africa) versus the usual European and Pacific fronts works absolute wonders, and while Company of Heroes 3 doesn’t have any truly revolutionary mechanical changes, this strategic gameplay is the most expansive and chaotic it's ever been, in a good way. 17 years later, there’s finally a sequel that lives up to the promise of the first game: Company of Heroes 3 is one of the most tactically satisfying RTS games of the last decade. While Company of Heroes 2 wasn’t bad, per se, it made some serious missteps in terms of gameplay design, map size, and overall tone.

It completely redefined how cover systems and squad mechanics could work in the genre. The first Company of Heroes is one of the most important real-time strategy games of all time. The Italian countryside is a smattering of burned-out buildings and craters as I desperately command my troops to reinforce a break in my defenses, but it only takes moments before everything comes crashing down.
