Company of Heroes 3 for PC is a real time strategy game, the sequel to Company of Heroes 2 and is set in the WWII theatres of Italy and North Africa. You can play as Allied forces in Italy (the Allied invasion of Italy peninsula ensured its docility as WWII amped up – this historical (and highly sensible) move is rarely featured in WWII gaming) or as Axis forces in North Africa.

There are many clear similarities with previous game – they have kept all the best bits, fans will be glad to hear, but it is clear that improvements and tweaks have been made where needed.

For example, now, taking the time and resources to add side armour on your tanks now matters more as infantry takes centre stage and will happily destroy a vulnerable tank, given the chance, and fuel is no longer freely available and must be actively sought out. As your tanks are now more vulnerable, so you must use strategic thinking when deploying them, if you expect them to survive the encounter.

An all-new campaign mode joins the well-loved multiplayer skirmish, the latter of which can be against other players or the AI. No matter which way you play, your actions can have knock-on effects that must be calculated and allowed for – although some of them are quite unusual: unlocking grenades, which allows shooters to clear buildings, can result in delays to airstrike support, for example.