Company of Heroes 3

Navigating a tonal minefield with just enough confidence, Company of Heroes 3 is a big, refined, and beautifully textured addition to an already brilliant series. [Eurogamer Recommended]

The core of Company of Heroes 3’s pair of single-player campaigns is fun, tactical RTS action of the kind the series is well known for. Battles are often spectacular in their use of terrain and the series’ traditional mix of infantry and armor, and are consistently interesting despite the lackluster AI that loves to blunder its way into an unconvincing defeat. But its campaigns are both wrapped up in big ideas and stories that just don’t work out well. A buggy and frustratingly designed dynamic Italian campaign map feels like it’s just wasting time between the exciting tactical battles it loosely connects, and the North African campaign’s strong missions are strung together by loose stories that fail to connect. After the brilliant World War 2 campaigns we’ve seen from this series in the past, it’s hard not to be disappointed in these. [Single-Player Score = 60]

It may have taken 17 years and one disappointing sequel along the way, but Relic are to be commended here for somehow managing to take tactical perfection and redefining it not just for old veterans, but for a whole new generation of armchair generals as well.

With Company of Heroes 3, Relic could have easily taken the safe route — or, to put it in Sid Meier-speak, ignored the “completely new” and “improved” pillars of sequel design in favor of something familiar. Instead, it looked outward, recognized what made the best modern strategy games tick, and adopted those factors into its own formula. Company of Heroes 3 is a great sequel, yes. But it’s also just an excellent game.

At its core, Company Of Heroes 3 is a rip-roaring return to form and then some for Relic's much loved RTS, and its stirring orchestral score will have you beating your chest and yelling hoo-rah like only the best toy soldier fantasies can. If Relic can iron out some of those lingering campaign niggles, this could easily be an all-timer for WWII strategy buffs, especially once its multiplayer kicks off in earnest in the coming days. It might be the kind of beach holiday that's riddled with mortar shells, machinegun fire and tank explosions, but whichever road you end up taking, this is one trip that's definitely going to be for the history books.