Company of Heroes 3

Relic’s latest is a failed experiment, but a great game

- FRASER BROWN

WORLD WAR II still looms large more than 80 years after it all began—from school history lessons to cinematic epics. Even when we’re looking for some video game escapism, it’s there, making us replay the Normandy landings or the Battle of Stalingrad, deafening us with a cacophony of artillery and exploding tanks.

For Company of Heroes 3, developer Relic has taken us further south to the vineyards of Italy and the north African desert. And a lot has changed since the previous games, with the studio’s ambition and desire for experimentation growing. This is something new, but it’s not the novelties that impress the most.

Company of Heroes 3 is a beast of a game, cramming in two campaigns and four factions. Its proportions are fitting for this devastatingly massive conflict. The main course, ostensibly, is the Italian dynamic campaign—promising something akin to World War II: Total War. From Sicily to Rome, you’ll push your way north, fighting the Nazis in random skirmishes and incredible bespoke missions. It’s a huge turn-based campaign that serves up a slew of spectacular, tactically interesting RTS battles, and it should be the most exciting thing Relic has ever done. Lamentably, this is not the case due to the absence of one crucial ingredient— it isn’t remotely dynamic.