Company of Heroes 3 debuts for Steam on November 17

Company of Heroes 3 will debut on Steam on November 17. The title is the latest real-time strategy World War II game coming from Relic Entertainment and Sega.

The companies also released a free North Africa operation available to play now for free on CompanyOfHeroes.com.

Relic began teasing the game last year as the latest installment of the RTS franchise. I’ve played every one of these titles and they’re always a deep experience when it comes to the single-player campaigns and multiplayer fighting.

Part of a series that has been around since 2006, the Company of Heroes games test your ability to control both the tactical real-time 3D battles and the thoughtful turn-based strategic 2D campaigns. And this one is set in Italy, as U.S. and British forces try to dislodge the entrenched German Army from places such as the Monte Cassino monastery on top of a mountain.

Gamers probably have a lot of pent-up demand for this title. It has been more than eight years since Company of Heroes 2 debuted in 2013 with a Russian Front setting. I loved playing the original Relic/THQ title, Company of Heroes, when it came out in 2006 with a Normandy/Cobra battleground.

Company of Heroes 3 will offer four playable factions at launch and two unique single-player experiences with the Italian Dynamic Campaign and the North African Operation.

Players can try out the Mission Alpha and take command of the infamous Deutsches Afrikakorps (DAK) as they attempt to repel the British from their entrenched positions. The Mission Alpha is free to play on Steam for one week from Tuesday July 12 to July 19.

While the previously announced Italian Dynamic Campaign offers a branching, open-ended experience, the North African Operation is a more classically designed, narrative-led single-player experience.

New mechanics will drastically change the battlefield in North Africa, where tank-riding enables coordinated rapid-strike assaults that overwhelm the enemy. Powerful Italian units can be called upon in Mission Alpha, such as the Guastatori combat engineers and the L6/40 Light Tank.

Players can also enjoy new core gameplay innovations like side armour, enemy vehicle recovery and vehicle-towing, which lets you reposition your hard-hitting artillery like the German Flak 36 and British 17-Pounder.

Players can pre-order Company of Heroes 3 at CompanyOfHeroes.com and receive some awesome bonus items at launch. The Digital Premium Edition comes with the Devil’s Brigade DLC Pack, containing cosmetics based on the first elite commando units of World War II. The Physical Premium Edition includes the Devil’s Brigade DLC Pack, Service Medal, Pocket Compass, Collector’s Book and much more. Both the physical and digital Premium editions will give players access to CoH3’s first expansion – coming to Steam in 2023. A full breakdown of all available pre-order content can be found on CompanyOfHeroes.com.

Mission Alpha access

Players that have installed any of the previous two Pre-Alpha builds will see the Mission Alpha automatically appear in their Steam Library. New players can sign up to CoH-Development and follow the instructions on the website to gain access to Mission Alpha and provide important feedback about CoH3 to the Relic development team.