Company of Heroes 3 is the return of one of the giants of RTS gaming and while there are some issues with it, what it boils down to for me is that from a pure gameplay perspective, it is easily the most engaging and dynamic, and yes, fun Company of Heroes title.

Let's get some of the uncomfortable stuff out of the way first, with caveats:

Yes, the graphics and overall visual presentation have not evolved by leaps and bounds over the previous titles. I haven't done frame-by-frame animations analysis like some people have, but I am an avid screenshot photographer and as I look back over the screenshots I've taken, I find that I am a little underwhelmed by the set dressing of some of the maps, and some of the overall texture presentation and quality.

To me, the tanks and vehicles look great from a gameplay distance and that's what matters to me. The units are identifiable and most importantly have great abilities and game feel when using them. But a lot of the maps look more like a tabletop wargame's recreation of a place than an actual place, if that makes any sense.

At a distance, the towns and terrain look fine, but on many maps there is a bit of a sense of disconnectedness between the terrain and the buildings and terrain blockers and things that have been placed on it. Some maps are much better than others in this regard. But the best way that I can put it is that some of the maps look like a 3D terrain wargame board where people have placed model houses and other gameplay affecting pieces just so, rather than the maps giving a sense of actual place. I'm not sure if this is quite making sense, but I hope that I'm getting the point across...

I won't go much into sound quality or any of that, but it all seems serviceable to me, and I have no real complaints. I'm not a big audio guy and most of the rest of it is good enough that it doesn't detract from my gameplay experience.

It's the actual moment by moment gameplay that really shines to me. Unit abilities are less binary than they were in COH2, flame units feel powerful, unit abilities are varied and give you a sense of actually developing a strategy. It's all in a good state and likely to only get better with time.

The Battlegroups system is very well done. I love having the choice between multiple tech paths, each with different things to unlock. The faction customization systems in general are quite good, like USF tech veterancy ability choices.

It is **perhaps** not the best POSSIBLE game it could have been, but I think overall it is a very solid foundation on which to build and has launched in a much better state than COH2 did. I look forward to seeing where Relic go next with the game.

Company of Heroes 3 is the return of one of the giants of RTS gaming and while there are some issues with it, what it boils down to for me is that from a pure gameplay perspective, it is easily the most engaging and dynamic, and yes, fun Company of Heroes title. Let's get some of the uncomfortable stuff out of the way first, with caveats: Yes, the graphics and overall visual presentation have not evolved by leaps and bounds over the previous titles. I haven't done frame-by-frame animations analysis like some people have, but I am an avid screenshot photographer and as I look back over the screenshots I've taken, I find that I am a little underwhelmed by the set dressing of some of the maps, and some of the overall texture presentation and quality. To me, the tanks and vehicles look great from a gameplay distance and that's what matters to me. The units are identifiable and most importantly have great abilities and game feel when using them. But a lot of the maps look more like a tabletop wargame's recreation of a place than an actual place, if that makes any sense. At a distance, the towns and terrain look fine, but on many maps there is a bit of a sense of disconnectedness between the terrain and the buildings and terrain blockers and things that have been placed on it. Some maps are much better than others in this regard. But the best way that I can put it is that some of the maps look like a 3D terrain wargame board where people have placed model houses and other gameplay affecting pieces just so, rather than the maps giving a sense of actual place. I'm not sure if this is quite making sense, but I hope that I'm getting the point across... I won't go much into sound quality or any of that, but it all seems serviceable to me, and I have no real complaints. I'm not a big audio guy and most of the rest of it is good enough that it doesn't detract from my gameplay experience. It's the actual moment by moment gameplay that really shines to me. Unit abilities are less binary than they were in COH2, flame units feel powerful, unit abilities are varied and give you a sense of actually developing a strategy. It's all in a good state and likely to only get better with time. The Battlegroups system is very well done. I love having the choice between multiple tech paths, each with different things to unlock. The faction customization systems in general are quite good, like USF tech veterancy ability choices. It is **perhaps** not the best POSSIBLE game it could have been, but I think overall it is a very solid foundation on which to build and has launched in a much better state than COH2 did. I look forward to seeing where Relic go next with the game.