This Italian airbase has turned into Hell. The seared, metal carcass of a plane dominates one of the airstrips, surrounded by craters and puddles of blood. The hangars are now just skeletons, and next to them screaming men dance as they burn. There’s so much shouting, with soldiers yelling orders and warnings as they move between fleeting cover. Then, a rocket-propelled grenade, and the soldiers are gone. And through it all I have this inappropriately goofy grin on my face because, finally, I’m playing Company of Heroes 3.
The scene, my first fight in the campaign, is the Company of Heroes I remember, but with the intensity dialed way up. There’s more destruction and noise and chaos, and the busyness of the battlefield speaks to the long list of new tools and units that have been flung into the meat grinder.
Among the headline attractions jockeying for position are a pair of large, dynamic campaigns set in Italy and North Africa; the ability to control the ground, air, and naval forces of both the US and UK, in tandem; an entirely optional tactical pause system, just for singleplayer; and the promise of a huge pile of customization that will be like catnip for loadout tinkerers. It has the immense scale of a Total War game, complemented by Relic’s experience with designing more bespoke, linear strategy games.
A New Dawn - The rise, fall and rise again of PC Gaming in Japan
The so-called 'Paso Kon' market (ie katakana's transliteration of 'Pasonaru Computa') in Japan was originally spearheaded in the 1980s by NEC's PC-8800 and, later, its PC-9800.
MARVEL: ULTIMATE ALLIANCE
Enter the multiverse of modness.
SLIDES RULE
Redeeming a hated puzzle mechanic with SLIDER
GODS AND MONSTERS
AGE OF MYTHOLOGY: RETOLD modernises a classic RTS with care
PHANTOM BLADE ZERO
Less Sekiro, more Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
STARR-MAKING ROLE
Final Fantasy XVI's BEN STARR talks becoming a meme and dating summons
THIEF GOLD
Learning to forgive myself for knocking out every single guard.
HANDHELD GAMING PCs
In lieu of more powerful processors, handhelds are getting weirder
FAR FAR AWAY
STAR WARS OUTLAWS succeeds at the little things, but not much else shines
FINDING IMMORTALITY
Twenty-five years on, PLANESCAPE: TORMENT is still one of the most talked-about RPGs of all time. This is the story of how it was created as a ‘stay-busy’ project by a small team at Black Isle Studios