You can't pause, and you better know how to use your faction's tech tree, or else you'll find yourself with your back against your command center watching the enemy's victory points stack up. My first thought was that the single-player did not adequately prepare me at all. Multiplayer gameplay is nothing like the methodical campaign skirmishes - it's fast, intense, and unrelenting.

Three and a half minutes later, we were staring at a defeat screen wondering how we got steamrolled so quickly. Neither of us are slouches when it comes to real-time strategy games, and we felt comfortable enough with the mechanics to take on two computer-controlled Wehrmacht commanders at normal difficulty. Early on, I enlisted my brother to help try the co-op mode. Most maps have roads that lead directly to the capture points, but players can increase their odds of success by flanking the enemy.īut while the single-player gameplay could irritate me, Company of Heroes 3 really soars in its multiplayer. It wasn't until turn 30 or so when I'd captured nearly half of Italy that the game opened up for me and I felt empowered to do what I wanted.Įach campaign mission begins with an overview. You're locked into a small unit headcount at the start, which means that sometimes you're invading a country with just one infantry unit. This Italian campaign promises ultimate freedom, but delivers a restrictive early game. Fans of Star Wars: Empire at War or Total War will be familiar with that turn-based approach, where friendly territory is determined by control of several major towns and cities and battles zoom-in to the familiar tactical view. I was excited to test what Relic calls the 'dynamic' Italian single-player campaign, which allows you to set your own course for re-taking Italy through a zoomed-out strategic map.

The sandbox-style, turn-based gameplay of the Italian Dynamic Campaign will be familiar to fans of grand strategy games.īut while Company of Heroes 3 may return to familiar mechanics, it expands its scope Italy and North Africa - theaters too often overlooked by other WWII games.

Company of heroes d day map