Company of Heroes 3 Review Summary

Fun, well-designed gameplay with top-tier graphics and engaging multiplayer, but severe balance issues, broken matchmaking, and excessive DLC monetization hold it back.

Game is fun and well-designed: Players consistently report that the game is enjoyable, well-made, and offers enough variety to keep them entertained. The core gameplay is praised as fun and solid, with many noting it is a worthy installment in the franchise.

Graphics are top-tier: The game's graphics are frequently praised as top-tier for the genre, with immersive and beautiful visuals. Players also highlight the excellent sound design and overall atmosphere.

Multiplayer is interesting and fun: Players find the multiplayer mode very interesting, fun, and addictive, with good balance and enjoyable matches. It is especially fun when played with friends, adding to the overall experience.

Italy campaign is engaging: The Italy campaign is highlighted as a strong point, offering interesting features, complexity, and many missions. It is described as fun, engaging, and a refreshing experience for the series.

North Africa campaign is entertaining: The North Africa campaign is praised as very entertaining and engaging, with some finding it more interesting than the Italian campaign. It is well done and sucks players in.

Severe balance issues: A large portion of feedback highlights extreme imbalance in both PvP and PvE, with specific complaints about faction favoritism and broken unit types. The balance is described as non-existent or terrible, affecting overall enjoyment.

Matchmaking system is broken: Matchmaking is frequently called unfair, pairing players against much higher or lower skilled opponents, and sometimes failing to find matches at all. This leads to frustrating and unbalanced multiplayer experiences.

Poor user interface design: The UI is widely criticized as ugly, unintuitive, and clunky, with a design that looks unfinished and outdated. Players find the interface frustrating to navigate, detracting from the overall experience.

AI is poorly designed: The AI is described as stupid, irritating, and lacking intelligence, making it more annoying than challenging. This negatively impacts single-player and co-op experiences.

Factions include Allies and Axis: Players frequently mention the game's faction structure, highlighting the US, UK, Wehrmacht, and Afrika Korps (DAK) as the main playable factions. The game is set on the Allied and Axis sides, with each faction offering distinct playstyles.

Campaign with strategic map: The game includes a single-player campaign that features a strategic map, scripted missions, and dynamic elements. Players mention the campaign's role in teaching core mechanics and providing a narrative experience alongside multiplayer.

Multiplayer modes from 1v1 to 4v4: The game offers a variety of multiplayer modes, including 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4, with matchmaking and competitive play. Players emphasize the multiplayer component as a core feature, with options for both casual and ranked matches.

Italian and North African campaigns: The game features campaigns set in Italy and North Africa, with a dynamic Italian campaign that includes a strategic map and turn-based elements. Players mention the ability to move companies, capture territory, and manage resources in these campaigns.

Faction-specific strategies and units: Each faction in the game has unique units, costs, and development paths, offering different playstyles. Players note that factions play differently, with sub-factions and doctrines that further customize strategies.

Performance praised by some: A subset of players report the game runs smoothly, is well optimized, and performs better than previous titles, highlighting positive experiences.

Game crashes frequently: Numerous reports of crashes at launch, in menus, during skirmishes, and after updates. Crashes occur in various scenarios, indicating systemic stability issues.

Disconnects and connection problems: Players experience disconnects, connection interruptions, and long matchmaking times, sometimes leading to bans or rollbacks. This makes online play frustrating.

Laggy multiplayer experience: Multiplayer matches are described as laggy, with constant lag at crucial moments and server lags. This degrades the competitive experience.

Frequent game freezes and stutters: Multiple players report the game freezing, stuttering, and not working properly, with some saying it doesn't work half the time. This indicates widespread performance instability.

Do not buy now: Many reviewers advise against purchasing the game in its current state, citing disappointment and lack of value. They suggest waiting for a discount or avoiding it altogether.

Buy on sale only: A significant number of reviewers recommend buying the game only when it is on sale, as they feel the full price is not justified. Discounts make the game more acceptable.

Recommended for RTS fans: The game is positively recommended for fans of real-time strategy games, especially those with a World War II theme. It appeals to players who enjoy tactical RTS gameplay.

Multiplayer issues: Some reviewers do not recommend the game for multiplayer, citing balance problems and a lack of competitive quality. The multiplayer experience is seen as lacking.

Not for most friends: One reviewer would not recommend the game to most of their friends in its current state, suggesting it has limited appeal. This is a cautious stance.

Community fair range: $15.00 - $30.00.

Game completion: 165.0h.

Story completion: 20.0h.

Session length: 0.2h.

Company of Heroes 3 presents a steep learning curve and early friction, but players who persist through the initial learning period report the game becoming enjoyable and rewarding. The strongest evidence points to a delayed enjoyment profile rather than immediate fun or a permanent failure to click.

Friction: steep learning curve; unfamiliarity with units and maps; early matchmaking against experienced players.

Unlock drivers: learning the units and maps; patience; playing solo/coop modes to learn at your own pace; getting past the initial learning curve.

Competitive Balance Seeker: Focuses on multiplayer, optimizes builds, follows meta, and often experiments with factions but is frustrated by imbalance. Motivation: Competitive ranked play with fair balance and diverse viable strategies. Stance: no buy.

Campaign & Co-op Enthusiast: Focuses on single-player, skirmish vs AI, and co-op modes; avoids or lightly engages in competitive multiplayer. Motivation: Enjoying narrative campaigns, co-op with friends, and PvE challenges without competitive pressure. Stance: sale.

Franchise Veteran Critic: Plays both single and multiplayer but constantly compares to previous titles, often critical of changes and balance. Motivation: Expecting a worthy successor to CoH1/2, but often disappointed by direction, monetization, or quality. Stance: deep sale.

Performance across hardware cohorts is largely negative, with crashes, frame drops, and optimization issues frequently reported, though a minority of users report smooth performance on higher-end systems.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: negative. Most reviews report crashes, server issues, and poor optimization, though one user notes the game now runs smoothly on a 3060.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: negative. Multiple users report crashes after updates and severe frame drops, with one positive report of smooth performance at 1440p.

Windows <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM: negative. Frequent FPS drops, crashes, and freezes are common, with a few users still recommending the game despite performance issues.

Steam Deck: The game exhibits severe stability issues with frequent crashes, Denuvo DRM errors that lock users out, poor Linux/Proton compatibility, and notable performance problems. While one review mentions it works well on Steam Deck with the pause function, the overwhelming evidence points to a broken experience for many users, especially on Linux-based systems.

Linux and Proton: The Linux/Proton experience is mixed but leans problematic. While one user reports the game runs well, multiple others report severe issues: switching Proton versions can trigger a lockout, and the latest hotfix broke Linux compatibility. Minor UI/graphics quirks add to the friction. The lockout and regression are high-severity blockers, but the existence of a positive report indicates the game is not universally broken.

Monetization: The game employs aggressive monetization with pay-to-win DLC battlegroups, overpriced DLC, microtransactions for skins, and paywalling content that was previously free, leading to a predatory model.

External guides: The primary user complaint is the need for external guides to understand mission requirements, indicating a moderate Wiki Tax. A secondary complaint about a crash requiring Google search also exists, but the main data dependency is instructional.

Inferior to predecessors: Many reviewers compare the game unfavorably to Company of Heroes 1 and 2, describing it as a downgrade in terms of gameplay, balance, and overall experience. The earlier titles are often considered superior and more polished, leading to disappointment among long-time fans.

Excessive DLC monetization: The game is heavily monetized through numerous DLCs, including battlegroups, skins, and a Final Stand mode, which are sold separately and often required for full multiplayer and campaign content. This DLC structure is seen as expensive and exploitative, with DLC units sometimes stronger than base game units.

Improved since launch: The game had a rough launch but has been improved over time through patches and updates. Reviewers acknowledge that the current state is much better than at release, though some still note lingering issues.