Recent reviews by Utumano

I was initially put off purchasing CoH 3 by all the negative commentary from Steam and even YouTube about the game. This is something I now regret having actually played this game and have found it is significantly better than it predecessor games.

I have been playing the CoH series since the first and in particular I played CoH 2 the most, purchasing it as soon as it came out on steam since I love the Soviet Front history, and playing as the Soviet Union was an awesome experience. Every game was intense and I enjoyed every moment of it even when being thoroughly slaughtered which is kind of the point that many players miss is that you can have an awesome, replay saving worthy game, even when on the losing side of the battle. So when I compare CoH 3 I should be comparing it to CoH 2 and to this CoH 3 does not disappoint.

Quality of Life changes
1. Auto reinforce feature which reduces admin time during game
2. Automatic base building which frees up engineers for battle which
- In CoH 2 building led to some imbalances as sturm pioneers built quicker than everyone
3. Towing functionality gives use to all those light non combatant trucks but serves a tactical purpose
4. Tank riding makes mobile deployment of infantry easier

Balance enhancements
For those that ♥♥♥♥♥ about balance just remember that balance has always been excruciating e.g. CoH 2
- Dual King Tiger with Dual shreck Volks blob
- Clown car with passenger sniper soviets (early)
- Instant fallscrimjager
- Sim city Brits and PE points camping
- Jet engine Panthers spam
- Instant artillery kill stuka call in
- Ober super humans spam
- 4 man squad for Wehr means easier squad loss from mortar spam
- Blobbing in general being a viable strategy
Obviously balance is always a concern at the competitive level but I would like to remind everyone that this is always an iterative process

Balance improvements from CoH 3 mechanics
1. All factions base build which removes the whole sim city camping that was prevalent from Panzer Elite and British forces in CoH 2
2. Emphasis on light vehicles and light tanks over heavy tanks (compared to CoH 2) means that an armoured rush usually consists of vehicles which can be knocked out by infantry and early AT or AA guns
3. Due to the emphasis on light vehicles there isnt as much of that impenetrable wall of steel in the late game compared to CoH 2 which balances of the game for the side deprived of fuel resources
4. Basic troop squad sizes are larger 5-6 means that squad integrity is better maintained compared to the lower sizes of the Wehr and British in CoH 2
5. Gun and support weapon crews comparative sizes between factions
6. Simple Doctrine options compared to the multiple generals of CoH 2 which makes balance easier

Absolutely incredible it is truly a masterpiece of a game. Probably the most well balanced game in terms of immersion depth and playability. Often history games become too heavily centrered around being historically accurate to the point where the game becomes an unplayable nightmare while others simplify the game too much that they remove of something crucial to that game. CK2 manages to strike a brilliant balances between those extremes and goes the extra step to make each playthrough different everytime by allowing for random interaction of agents in the game.

Bit of Back Story

I encountered the original Company of Heroes many years ago and back then I recall just how incredible and immersive the original game was particularly compared to other strategy games at the time. This sequel to the original does not disappoint and having played this game for many hours ever since it was in beta I have had the pleasure to see it come a long way over the years.

The Question of Balance

Always when you win - SKILL but when you lose - BALANCE

This game has had its fair share of up and down commentry on balance but it is the case with competitive games that there is an issue with one side having some set combination that dominates for a while and then it goes back the other way when patches are made.

I would rate this developer quite highly mainly due to how they dealt with the balance issue, namely, through gathering community feedback and developing patches to address concerns often releasing those patches on a monthly basis which would often lead directly to some dramatic and noticable shifts in the balance of the game overnight but in the longer term this lead to some great stuff by this developer in terms of balance.

Other development of key components in game

A very good history of development of the game as well with the addition of the multiplayer setup interface which came almost a year after the initial release. Often it was particularly annoying that the old interface of the original version was not included originally but then when it was it was made particularly well.

A lot of superficial additions like skins but sometimes rarely you would get a treasure of something like a new commander or some special trait. This was good but then when they made it all for purchase it became a game of pay to win which was annoying but was a minor issue if you were decent enough at the game to win without the need for commanders.

The modding tools that were released for modding made the game particularly fun to play around with as you could experiement and share making historically accurate gameplay to incredible maps many of which would be incorporated into the vanilla game as an addition.

My Experience Playing

It should be noted that the campaigns and the challenges are fun but the real game begins with multiplayer but the campaigns act as good training fields to learn the mechanics of the game.

I mainly play as Soviets but have also played as every other faction and I have to say that there is something uniquely special about this series. You always have the feeling of being in the battle with the units you were controlling and even watching the game afterwards it is brilliant to watch games including those that you lose in almost a movie like experience. I particularly love starting with some small relatively peaceful looking village or town and then over the course of the game blowing it to bits.

Compared to other strategy games out there CoH2 is not necessarily the balance king that goes to SC2 but unlike SC2 the game COH2 is more forgiving and much more immersive. You can pull yourself back from the brink unlike other games which favour the victor of the intial battle and often just lead to the initial winner steam rolling their opponent in the late game. The mechanics of this game allows for multiple opportunities for each side to achieve dominance and even bounce back into the game even when hampered early on.

The terrain on maps forces more indepth strategies to develop for using obstacles such as bridges, buildings, real fog of war and natural barriers like rivers and mountains makes this game far more immersive than any other on the market today. The game is also centered around many hard counters such that players are forced to think more indepth regarding their unit combinations and how each unit relates to the overall company strategy.

If you are interested in Strategy games and not tried this then you have not lived this is certainly a game to try out and franky for what you are getting for the price it is today it is a bargain I have certainly got my monies worth even paying full price many years ago.

Thank you for reading and I hope this was helpful

An interesting adaptation to the original, I prefer this map as it is set out, it would be good if the normal game map were the same.

It is an excellent idea for a game, but need alot of refining by the developers, especially in regards to weapon statistics and the role each unit plays in the game.