![]() ![]() They can’t actually instigate real-time battles on their own, however, but if they are near or attached to a company when one starts, they can provide a range of benefits.īeing a cautious commander, I decide to bring a medical detachment with me. They’re backed up by detachments, which can still march across the map on their own, taking territory and getting into turn-based fights. Across the war, they get points that can be spent on a variety of upgrades and specialisation options. Companies are your primary units that you’ll use to engage the enemy in real-time battles, running the gamut from American airborne units to devastating Indian artillery. I’ve got several companies and detachments at my disposal, and how I combine them will have a big impact on the battle ahead. Before storming the airbase, however, I have to decide my approach. My first target is the nearest airbase, giving me access to handy things like aerial reconnaissance and paratrooper drops, which will come in handy in both the campaign map and missions. So there’s a lot of thought, a lot of love, a lot of attention being given to the map, I think mechanically as well as from the presentation layer.”Īfter spending a bit of time admiring Italy, I get back to the war. So where were the rail lines? Where were the roads? Which roads were functional? As we’re building the map, we’re taking note of which highways the Allies used that were serviceable for tanks and things like that, which ones had hard surfaces and which ones were dirt tracks. “We’ve looked at old World War II maps of rail assessments done by the Royal Engineers. “It’s got that Mediterranean palette, but we’re also spending a lot of time looking at the construction of each of the territories,” says lead campaign designer Andrew Deneault. But Relic’s also built it with an eye towards logistics and authenticity. It’s a fetching map, too, with lots of little cosmetic flourishes, like Vesuvius standing next to Pompeii, huge and menacing, or the striking Monte Cassino, which looks lovely even when it’s surrounded by barricades, tanks, and AA guns. You don’t need to take every town in Italy, but I quickly found myself being seduced by the promise of total conquest and all the goodies that come with it. Each discrete bit of territory offers something, whether it’s more resources, another link in the supply chain, or access to air and naval forces. It’s a chunky map, but only a small slice of the full Italian campaign that we’ll get to play at launch. My army is hanging around Naples, with the sprawling Italian countryside stretched out before them. Sure, there are still gaps, and some features not working quite like I expected, but broadly this is already a game where the relationships between the systems are very strong and very apparent. There’s a level of consistency and permanence that even Total War hasn’t achieved, and while Littman apologetically explains that the connection between the campaign and missions “simply isn’t there yet”, I think he’s being humble. This ‘holistic loop’ is one of the main pillars of Company of Heroes 3 and makes this undeniably complex game feel significantly more intuitive. What you can do in the RTS layer can be replicated in the turn-based campaign, whether it’s bombarding the enemy with artillery strikes or plonking down some sneaky mines to scupper troop movement. Both layers share the spotlight and are fundamentally interconnected. While Relic has dabbled in dynamic campaigns before, it played second fiddle to the RTS action – not so in Company of Heroes 3. The largest and most ambitious game Relic has put together. ![]()
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