Company of Heroes 3: Final Stand

Company of Heroes 3 is a bit of a strange title. Relic didn't quite get it right with Dawn of War 3, but went on to create a fantastic sequel to Age of Empires. Company of Heroes 3 is a bit of a middle child. It's not their best title in the series, but it's not as mediocre as Dawn of War 3. Although Company of Heroes 3 has a few minor issues with lighting, sound and other aspects compared to its predecessors, it's a good game. That's why it's great to be able to try out the next major DLC, Final Stand, which takes the form of a wave-based mode for both single and two-player. There's no other real-time strategy game on the market that's quite as cinematic and human.

One thing I really love doing in the game is building fortifications and holding positions against overwhelming odds. This is something the Last Stand mode introduces. Just like in the popular Last Stand game mode from Dawn of War 2, this involves waves of enemies you must survive. The concept is simple: you have a base, and you can deploy troops from a building behind the base. The enemy's objective is to destroy the base, at which point the AI opponent wins. Before your opponent reaches your base, there are three bunkers positioned in the centre of the map, each covering a different route to your base that the AI opponent can take. You should protect these bunkers and build your defences around them. In many ways, the map design is inspired by Dota, League of Legends and other MOBAs. The game mode itself and the gameplay have a different character.

The bunkers not only play a role in defence; they can also reinforce your troops and heal their injuries, making each one a focal point where you and the enemy often clash. The problem is that this doesn't work like a standard match where you capture control points. Initially, you can only build individual unit types, and your economy is predetermined. At the start, you usually have a single infantry unit and can build another one fairly quickly. As the match progresses, allied aircraft drop crates containing rarer resources onto the map. If resource problems become acute, there are still certain things you can do. What happens over time is that between each of the 12 waves, you're given a choice to make. These choices include healing structures, various vehicles, different types of artillery and much more. You always have to choose between two options, and the other choice disappears for good. That's why it's important to choose what suits the situation and the match itself. I had a match with the African Corps where they were regularly launching air strikes, and I could choose between a V1 rocket or an anti-aircraft weapon that was also effective against infantry. The choice was straightforward given the number of enemy aircraft.

You have the option to play this scenario as whichever faction you like. The British and the Germans are quite strong in my opinion in this scenario. The African Corps has one problem, which is that their perhaps most important vehicle - capable of towing wrecks and repairing them into working vehicles - is hidden behind a choice between the waves. This means you cannot utilise their key gameplay feature from the start of the match. I'm still a bit undecided as to whether this is a good thing or not. However, the faction has access to one of the strongest anti-tank infantry units from the start, which makes things easier. It's entirely possible to complete the game mode on every map on Normal if you're reasonably skilled, without relying on permanent faction upgrades you acquire outside the matches themselves. It's certainly possible to complete all the other levels on your own as well. I didn't manage to master the hardest levels. That's a good sign that I've got a lot to learn and that there's real depth to the gameplay.

After each round, you earn points based on the faction you played as. These can be used to unlock abilities, increased damage and much more in a tech tree alongside the matches. They are permanent and affect how strong you are when you start. A more fully developed tree means you can last longer, deal more damage and do more things than if you didn't do this. In my version, it was possible to disable this if you didn't want these upgrades. However, the game mode feels designed for this. The idea is that you should play this as a standalone game over and over again. I like it; the game mode is addictive and it's extra fun with friends. It reminds me a bit of how addictive the mode in Dawn of War 2 was.

One feature that sets it apart slightly from other wave-based games is the bosses. They literally tower over the enemy. They felt well-balanced; they didn't have an unnaturally high amount of health but can be defeated fairly quickly with the right unit composition. However, they often have slightly more advanced weapon systems and are sometimes good at more than one thing. This made some of the bosses particularly dangerous. In other games, bosses are usually considerably harder to defeat. This is probably a sign that they're fairly well balanced on the easier difficulty levels, including Normal mode. However, they don't become unnecessarily difficult even on the harder levels either. What can happen, though, is that certain artillery bosses or vehicles can get stuck outside the boundary and fire at my bunkers. As a player, I can't attack the enemy there.

The question remains, however, as to whether this is something you should check out if you're a seasoned Company of Heroes 3 player or a newcomer. I actually think it could be quite entertaining for both groups. It's simple; it's not as stressful as player-versus-player modes can be. Personally, I've always preferred game modes where you fight against AI opponents - they can get so incredibly chaotic and engaging. Thanks to the game loop being robust enough to allow multiple players to play many rounds across numerous difficulty levels (eight in total), I think this could keep you entertained for a while. It's even more fun if you're playing with someone else. Unfortunately, it's so overpriced that I find it hard to recommend it at the moment. Just like the rest of the downloadable content, it's overpriced for this title, which I think is a mistake.

For the price, you get five maps for this game mode, four factions (all from the base game), 12 waves on each map, technology trees exclusive to each faction, a new skin for all factions and 18 dynamic events. As a side mode, these are excellent; they're entertaining both on their own and with an extra player. They narrow the gameplay down to combat and defending areas. You'll see buildings collapse, soldiers go up in flames and tanks explode. The core gameplay remains sharp when it comes to the soldiers' animations as they run, hold their rifles and change position. They move like well-animated characters in a first-person game. Overall, it's a cinematic and explosive strategy game experience.

In summary, I can say straight away that this is good. It offers a range of difficulty levels and can be played solo or with a friend. Personally, I think they should expand it to support three or four players over time. Some of the most enjoyable ways to play the Company of Heroes trilogy are team-based matches. They should capitalise on this in this game mode as well. The dynamic events keep every round fresh and it's generally entertaining. It's also a way for anyone who isn't too keen on playing against other people to try something new against the computer. Unfortunately, we haven't seen the slightest sign of a new campaign since launch. Which is a shame, as I reckon Company of Heroes 3 would have been well suited to an extra campaign similar to Ardennes Assault from the second game. If the price tag doesn't put you off and you want more content for Company of Heroes 3, this is a good package, albeit a bit light on content for the price.