FE ATURE
2022 Preview
THE INVINCIBLE
An intriguing mystery set on a strange and
desolate alien world. The slick
retro-futuristic art style is the immediate
draw, but the weird, analogue space
equipment you’ll be using to seek your
missing crew also looks super satisfying
to mess about with.
RELEASE 2022
SOMERVILLE
This rural, post-apocalyptic adventure
comes from one of the original creators of
the sublime Limbo, and its story of a lost
family looks every bit as bleak and
affecting as that modern classic.
Absolutely sumptuous visuals are the
icing on the cake.
RELEASE 2022COMPANY OF HEROES 3
H
eading into Company of
Heroes 3’s multiplayer
pre-alpha, I’ve got a
plan. “I’ll start with a
comp stomp,” I tell
Relic, hoping to nab myself an easy
victory in an AI skirmish. I spend most
of this first match fighting with the AI
over a single capture point in a village
square that rapidly becomes
unrecognisable as the ground is
turned into craters.
I’m playing as the USF Airborne
battlegroup, one of two currently
available for the US faction, and one of
four in the build I’m playing. While the
singleplayer campaign lets you build
your forces out of whatever
companies and detachments you
want, even creating hybrids with US,
UK, and Commonwealth units, the
multiplayer battlegroups are preset
fighting forces with broad roles that
favour different playstyles.
The Airborne battlegroup is,
naturally, all about planes, whether
they’re dropping off paratroopers and
guns, or going on bombing and strafing
runs. I’ve already unlocked the
paratrooper ability, and this helps me
to speed up reinforcements after losing
everyone in an earlier scuffle. The
plane gets blown to smithereens, the
wreckage falling right next to my base,
but all the troops make it out in time.
Sadly, they get taken out by some
armoured vehicles. While I try to
recover, my enemy takes more
territory, fattens up its economy and
starts bringing in tanks. I’m screwed.
For the second battle, I switch sides
and take command of the German
Breakthrough battlegroup. It’s my turn
to scare everyone with some big tanks.
I’ve got a developer helping me out this
time, and we’re facing another dev and
their AI companion. My confidence isbolstered by a strong start, the source
of which is an unarmed recon bike
that’s able to capture territory, unlike
most vehicles. With plenty of
resources, I’m able to put together a
strong force and then get into it in the
centre of the map, where we’re all
fighting over a victory point.
We have the high ground, giving us
a handy bonus, and despite the
intensity of the fight we manage to hold
the enemy back, their bodies and
wrecked vehicles littering the bridge
below us. Expecting another attack, I
heal up via my ally’s medical truck, and
then secure the area by turning a
building into a forward outpost where
I’m able to recruit more troops.TIGER, TIGER...
Keeping troops alive and killing rewards
you with veterancy, which works a bit
differently in Company of Heroes 3, with
each faction getting distinct
advantages. For the US forces, you get
two veterancy specialisation options per
unit, but with the Germans it depends
on what Field Marshal you select. They
get three of them, each conferring
unique upgrades, abilities, and
veterancy bonuses.
The enemy outsmarts us and
manages to get behind us in the north
while pushing into our southern
territories as well. My veteran infantry
units have been wiped out by incendiary
strikes, but we’ve set plenty of
Americans on fire as well. I’ve also
unlocked the big guns, finally. The Tiger
rolls onto the battlefield, and everyone
scatters. A few soldiers get some shots
off, but the rockets hit the tank’s side
armour, and it shrugs it off. The enemy
reinforcements dwindle, and a big group
of them gets trapped between the Tiger
and my ally. It’s over, and I’ve erased the
shame of my first battle.RELEASE 2022 | DEV Relic Entertainment | PUB Sega | LINK community.companyofheroes.com