One of the many games I was able to test here at Gamescom 2022 was Company of Heroes III, the long-anticipated entry in this legendary franchise. Is this one worth the hype or will it disappoint? Time to find out!
Two phases
The gameplay demonstrated the two phases of Company of Heroes III. Fans of the franchise know that this is an iconic real-time strategy game where you have to win against your enemies by sending out your troops in real-time, no need to wait on your turn, just attack them at full force. Before I was able to do so had to activate my mission on the interactive map, a map that looks and plays like a turn-based game. The game is set on a giant virtual map where you’ll need to conquer certain cities to advance. If I wanted to start I mission, I had to attack the city on the map to dive into the mission itself. A fun mechanic that can become rather tricky too. Since you don’t have that many troops on your map, you’ll need to command them strategically so that the enemy can’t intercept your attack before the start of the mission. This fun little extra turn-based action is a nice bonus here and sets the atmosphere before diving into the mission. Once you attack a town on the map, it’s time to invade it in real time.
Once the mission itself starts, it’s back to classic Company of Heroes gameplay. For the sake of the demo, I was dropped rather deep into the game which meant I was up for a challenge. To claim the town, I had to defeat my opponents with some ground troops, specialized soldiers and a couple of weaponized jeeps. Not that much but more than enough to get the job done if you plan out your attack strategically. Going in full force against the enemies won’t work since they have a lot of backup and powerful tools to stop you in your path. Instead, you’ll need to find the weaknesses in their defenses and use those to your advantage. It also helps a lot if you manage to flank the opponents and deliver devastating damage from different sides of the map all at once.
The troops you start with aren’t the only troops you can command. If you gather enough resources, you can create new forces in your base camp to support your men on the field. Constantly switching between the action on the field and the management of new troops is your core business here. If you only focus on the battles, you’ll have a hard time, if you want to win, you’ll need to work hard on the extra support so you can defeat your enemies with more firepower. It’s a tested formula and nothing really that new for the franchise but it still works perfectly. Since this game has a bit more power to count on, the maps are bigger and more detailed and you can put more troops in action at once. It’s a pretty fun experience that will certainly please the RTS fans.
Early conclusion:
Company of Heroes III is back and is bringing the classic gameplay elements we all love that much. It’s a great addition for the genre and a must-play for the fans.
