Company of Heroes 3
Flawed but ambitious and engaging WWII strategy game.
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Company of Heroes 3
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know Company of Heroes 3 is a real-time WWII strategy game for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Windows PCs. This game features violent images, blood and gore. You play as Allied Forces soldiers who can shoot and kill enemy soldiers, or use grenades, bombs and flamethrowers. Some scenes show soldiers dying, sometimes with body parts around them, and/or in a small pool of blood. You play as the Allied Forces but can also choose between US, UK and German forces in other modes. The game also contains strong profanity, including many variations of the F-word. The game will also include downloadable content (DLC) at some point, and has a number of versions that sell at different prices with additional content available based on the edition.
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What’s It About?
In COMPANY OF HEROES 3, players return as the Allied Forces, but this time the game focuses on the Mediterranean theatre of war (through the rolling hills of Italy and deserts of North Africa), folding in deeper strategic choices to the mix of action and tactics. While a RTS (real-time strategy) like its predecessors, newly introduced features include "Full Tactical Pause," which lets you stop the action and give commands without the pressure of time, and a turn-based dynamic campaign map, both of which are designed to give more control over the battlefield, and make the game more accessible to newcomers to the genre. Serving as the biggest game in the series' history, Company of Heroes 3 includes two large campaigns (especially the Italian one) and four unique multiplayer and cooperative ("co-op") factions, including large skirmish battles. Command ground, air and naval forces and build supply lines to crush enemy advances, with destructible environments, and with new flanking moves and infantry breaching mechanics (to flush enemy units from their hiding spots). New customization options allow you to summon help from a varied cast of specialist units and elite squads.
Is It Any Good?
This is worth playing, not just for fans of the franchise, but also for any strategy game lovers and WWII buffs. But Company of Heroes 3 has its share of problems, including several bugs that hurt the overall experience, and mediocrity in one campaign. As an RTS (or real-time strategy game), one of the two main campaigns in Company of Heroes 3 is an exciting exercise in tactical battles, resource management, and some quick thinking (and pivoting) based on the mission parameters. Experimentation is welcome, as you figure out how to tackle the task at hand with the units, weapons and environment you're presented with. Unfortunately, in the second (more turn-based) campaign, enemy AI wasn't very challenging, and ultimately the campaign experience wasn't very gratifying. What's more, there are bugs, such as pop-up screens that can't be closed, slowdown when a lot of action is onscreen, and some forces that wouldn't move, or they weren't moving to where they were instructed to go on an airfield. There were also odd restrictions, like not being able to save the game in the middle of the lengthy tutorial missions, or not knowing where and how to spend Skill Points awarded for progressing through the campaign.
That being said, there's a lot to like about the multiple ways to play (including the more linear and story-heavy North African campaign), or testing different and unique company playstyle options, and it's neat to explore parts of WWII's real events not as commonly covered in interactive entertainment. Mutliplayer works better than the single-player campaign, balancing infantry and vehicle combat, and delivering intense and memorable battles. Graphics are pretty good, played from an angled top-down "isometric" view, but zooming in reveals outdated character models. While fun and frenetic, Company of Heroes 3 feels like an incomplete game Until these are addressed, and maybe with a price drop, strategy fans might get more out of a spin with an older Total War title.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in video games. Is the impact of the violence in Company of Heroes 3 affected by the amount of realistic violence shown during play? Would the violence seem unrealistic if there wasn't as much blood and gore shown? Would that be disrespectful to the actual events of WWII?
Is it ok that a military conflict or full-blown World War can be considered as "entertainment." Are parents ok with this, since it's not hurting anyone -- and on the flipside, maybe even honoring fallen soldiers and living vets -- or does this trivialize losing lives while fighting for your country? Does time matter at all, since this was more than 80 years ago, compared, to say, a more recent war?
Game Details
- Platforms: Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Windows
- Pricing structure: Paid ($59.99)
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Sega of America
- Release date: February 23, 2023
- Genre: Real-Time Strategy (RTS)
- Topics: Cars and Trucks, Adventures, History
- ESRB rating: M for Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Last updated: March 27, 2023
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