Trial report of Heroes 3: This real-time strategy new game is worth looking forward to

The Heroes 3, produced by Relic Entertainment, a mining company, was announced in July last year, and the official recently opened a media preview event. As a fan of real-time strategy games, I naturally won't miss this opportunity. After experiencing it firsthand, I am indeed more looking forward to this new installment in the Heroes series.

Realistic style battlefield

According to the official introduction, the stage of Heroes 3 took place in Italy and North Africa during World War II. For those familiar with this period of history, the relevant characters and stories will definitely not be unfamiliar.

The actual North African campaign began in 1940, with participating countries including Britain, Germany, Italy, the United States, and so on. During this process, generals such as Rommel and Montgomery also demonstrated their talents and staged classic battles one after another.

In this trial game of Company of Legends 3, players will play the role of a German commander. According to the system prompt, the commander needs to lead the army to support the Italian forces and intercept the opposing British forces.

In terms of combat units, players can command various infantry teams and tanks. At the beginning, players will have two classic German "No. 3 tanks", and the British Matilda II tank will also appear in the early stages of the game.

Tank 3 vs. Matilda II Tank

When both tanks fire at each other, an interesting phenomenon occurs: "bouncing". In the real world, many tanks have thick and angled frontal armor, which can directly deflect enemy shells. Hero Company 3 recreates this scene, which also increases the realism of the battlefield.

Of course, there are also many realistic details in the game, such as the artillery team having a complete set of loading actions; When the tank moves, it will cause dust to fly around; The impact of the explosion at the stronghold is also quite impressive. As a game that pursues authenticity, it can be seen that the official team of Heroes 3 has put in some effort this time.

I had a great time playing

Compared to the classic Red Alert 2 or StarCraft, the Heroes series, although also classified as a real-time strategy game, has many differences in specific mechanisms.

It should be emphasized that the game mode of the Heroes series is centered around "occupying points". There are many strongholds scattered throughout the map. Occupying these strongholds can supplement our resources and even directly determine the success or failure of the battle.

grabbing and occupying points

Due to the importance of the stronghold, there will be frequent scenes of "close combat" in the matches of "Company of Legends", and this time "Company of Legends 3" is no exception. Even if the trial content is only a single player battle level, I can always feel the pressure of battle.

In actual games, I not only need to get rid of the fog of war, explore the enemy's troop configuration, but also prevent the enemy's counterattack after occupying the stronghold. In the early stages of the game, my psychological state can indeed be called "cautious".

But after obtaining the FAMO half track vehicle in the middle of the game, my stress plummeted. This classic vehicle performs exceptionally well in the game. Although it is not a combat unit, it can quickly repair damage to various tanks. More importantly, it can restore damaged enemy tanks and capture them.

The FAMO half track vehicle can be called a "miracle"

With the help of the versatile FAMO half track vehicle, I quickly repaired a flamethrower and a StuG III self-propelled gun, paired with the existing "No. 3 tank", and successfully formed a powerful tank squadron. In the later stages of the game, I also incorporated a British Crusader II tank using a semi tracked vehicle. At this point, the enemy forces are no longer able to pose any threat to me.

Although I haven't had serious exposure to the Heroes series before, it doesn't prevent me from enjoying playing it. With a cross firepower network composed of several tanks, I quickly broke through the enemy line. Even if I occasionally encounter setbacks, I can still dispatch half track vehicles and engineering teams for repairs. After a fierce exchange of fire, I successfully won this game.

In addition, the official has also prepared a "tactical pause" function for players. As long as you press the spacebar during the battle, the game will automatically pause. Players can observe the battlefield situation at this time and deploy the actions of each unit in advance.

For me, the value of a tactical pause lies not in pre planning the troops, but in the pause itself. Due to the unique characteristics of Heroes 3, the battlefield situation can be described as constantly changing. Old players should be able to adapt to the rhythm of the game, but new players may have problems with their brains and hands not keeping up.

Therefore, a simple "tactical pause" is very friendly to new players. They can use this function to calmly analyze the enemy and our forces, and then develop more comprehensive strategies.

After all, I have a foundation in both Red Alert and StarCraft, so I don't rely on tactical pauses when playing Heroes 3. But I still believe that "tactical pause" is a major highlight of Heroes 3. It indirectly lowers the threshold for getting started with the game, allowing more players to understand the mechanics and systems within the game, and thus appreciate the fun of the game.

There is still a little concern

In terms of overall impression, my evaluation of Heroes 3 is undoubtedly positive. But this work has not been officially released yet, and further details are unknown. Therefore, I have decided to list two noteworthy questions, hoping that the official can answer or improve them in the future.

Firstly, there was a minor issue that occurred during this trial. When I ordered the transport truck to tow the anti-aircraft gun, the model of the anti-aircraft gun would repeatedly jump horizontally in a specific area. This issue should be a bug, and I hope the developers can fix it.

The second question is related to the battle plot. The prequel to the series, "Company of Legends 2," focused on the Eastern Front battlefield, but the battle mode was mixed with many "Black Soviet" scenes, resulting in low overall quality of the script. This has also been criticized by many players. I don't know if the writing team can recreate a wonderful story for Heroes 3.

It is worth noting that the official release of the Chinese version of Heroes 3 has been confirmed, and we believe that more domestic players will take this opportunity to experience the Heroes series.

Setting aside the aforementioned doubts, the playability of Heroes is still very high. If you are interested in the mechanics of this game series and don't want to face full screen English, then starting Heroes 3 is definitely a good choice.

epilogue

For me, Heroes 3 is both a mechanism rich real-time strategy game and a realistic work that describes the history of World War II, both of which are enough for me to pay for it myself.

Like its predecessor in the series, Heroes 3 has a unique gaming system and the operational barriers still exist. But the official has reduced the difficulty of the game through features such as "tactical pause", and the release of the Chinese version will also expand the domestic audience. After a long wait, Heroes 3 will meet with everyone on November 17th of this year. I hope this real-time strategy new work can bring us more surprises.