Company of Heroes 3 Review - The Three-Year Redemption Arc is Finally Complete
It took three years, a messy divorce from Sega, and a mountain of patch notes, but Relic has finally stopped hitting the self-destruct button on Company of Heroes 3.
When this game launched in 2023, it was a legitimate embarrassment. It looked like a mobile game ported to PC by someone who hated high-resolution textures, the sound design was as impactful as a wet noodle hitting a tile floor, and the "Grand Strategy" campaign was a broken, stuttering mess. I remember looking at the perfectly functional microtransaction store on day one while the actual game was falling apart and thinking that Relic had finally lost the plot. But it is 2026 now, and after a lot of soul-searching and an independent streak, Company of Heroes 3 has finally evolved into the RTS it was supposed to be.
The Ghost of Launch Past
To understand why the 2.0 and "Endure & Defy" updates matter, you have to remember how grim things were. The game lacked basic features like leaderboards or a "vote to surrender" button, which for a competitive RTS is like releasing a car without a steering wheel.
For two years, the community basically treated CoH3 like a toxic ex, running back to the safety of Company of Heroes 2. Relic had to work twice as hard to earn that trust back. They overhauled the lighting, fixed the "plastic" look of the tanks, and finally gave the explosions the "oomph" that the series is known for. In 2026, the game finally looks and sounds like a gritty World War 2 documentary rather than a saturated Saturday morning cartoon.
The Endure & Defy Turning Point
The real shift happened with the recent "Endure & Defy" DLC. This was the moment I felt the developers stopped playing it safe and started taking the kind of risks that made the original CoH a legend.
Tunnel Rats and Partisan Chaos
The US Forces Italian Partisan Battlegroup is a total middle finger to traditional front-line gameplay. You get to build tunnel networks that let you teleport infantry across the map. It feels like playing a different genre entirely. You aren't just pushing a line, you are popping out of a hole in the ground behind a Panther tank, sticking a satchel charge to its engine, and vanishing before the turret can even traverse. It is the most fun I have had with the US faction in a decade.
Kriegsmarine and Heavy Metal
On the Axis side, the DAK Kriegsmarine Battlegroup brings some much-needed "what the hell was that" energy to the desert. The Fritz X guided bomb is a manual-aim nightmare for enemy armor. Watching a British player try to micro their tank out of the way only for you to curve a massive bomb into their roof is peak RTS satisfaction.
Is it Finally Better Than CoH2?
This is the question that haunts every forum thread. In 2026, I can finally say the answer is "yes," but with a catch. CoH2 still has that specific, brutal weight to it that some veterans will never give up. However, the Battlegroup system in CoH3 is now objectively superior to the old Commander system. You have more choices mid-game, more ways to pivot your strategy, and the verticality of the Italian maps adds a layer of tactical positioning that the previous games just didn't have.
The pathfinding is mostly fixed, though you will still occasionally see a tank try to do a three-point turn in a narrow alleyway while being pelted by anti-tank fire. It is infuriating, but that is just the Company of Heroes experience.
The Verdict
Company of Heroes 3 has finally emerged from the shadow of its disastrous launch to become the best RTS on the market in 2026. The "Endure & Defy" update was the final piece of the puzzle, providing the experimental and chaotic gameplay that the series desperately needed to feel alive again. If you were one of the people who refunded it in 2023, it is time to swallow your pride and give it another look. The desert is hot, the mountains are steep, and the explosions finally sound like the end of the world.
We at NLM received a key for this game for free, this however didn't impact our review in any way.
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