That nice bass explosion, however, can too easily fade into the background when other weapons are firing. Individual sound effects, taken in isolation, are excellent, like the delightful blast and ring of a shell exploding against a tank. In fact, perhaps the single biggest disappointment in Company of Heroes 3’s multiplayer mode is that its sound seems oddly muddled.

Sure there are specific balance issues – the M18 Hellcat's too tough! Those flamethrowers are OP! – but show me an RTS without balance issues at launch and I'll show you a liar. I'll say that, as of a few days after launch, this is the most diverse, balanced, and stable multiplayer game in the entire Company of Heroes series to date. CoH3 nails all of that thanks to a wide variety of factions, snappy unit controls, and great multiplayer stability. That'll certainly be true for Company of Heroes 3, because while the single-player campaigns are trapped in a quagmire of a strategic map and bogged down in their storytelling, in multiplayer we can focus on what really matters: moment-to-moment gameplay, balance, and faction mechanics. For a lot of long-time fans, Company of Heroes is a real-time strategy series that’s more about competitive play than single-player campaigns, and we've logged hundreds more hours playing against other people than against the AI in scripted scenarios.

Company of heros map is black screen