The real time strategy genre has seen its fair share of spin offs, and the latest attempt to bridge traditional tactical warfare with modern rogue lite mechanics is Company of Heroes 3 Final Stand. Released as a completely standalone title meaning you don't need the base game to play this new entry tasks commanders with surviving grueling waves of enemy assaults.
On paper, an endless wave defense mode
set in the gritty, explosion heavy world of World War II sounds like a recipe for highly addictive, cooperative fun. However, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. While the moment to moment combat delivers the adrenaline rush RTS veterans crave, severe structural oversights and a questionable pricing model threaten to sink the experience before it even leaves the trenches.
When you are in the thick of the action, Final Stand undeniably shines. The core loop involves choosing one of four distinct factions, picking one of five available maps, and hunkering down to defend key outposts across 12 increasingly brutal waves of AI attacks.
The combat retains the signature depth of the franchise. Positioning anti tank guns, garrisoning troops in buildings for elevated fire rates, and dodging devastating artillery strikes requires constant vigilance. The game forces you to adapt dynamically; one moment you might be rushing to build tank traps, and the next, you are desperately calling in paratroopers to plug a gap in your crumbling defenses. Clever players can even utilize recovery vehicles to commandeer heavy enemy armor like stealing a Tiger tank turning the tide of battle in brilliant, unscripted ways.
When the artillery is falling, boss units are pushing your lines, and you barely survive a wave with a single squad intact, Final Stand captures the desperate, nail biting magic of classic tower defense games.
Unfortunately, the magic fades as soon as the post match screen appears. As a rogue lite, the game relies on a meta progression system. Surviving waves rewards you with perk points,
which are spent on permanent upgrades to make future runs easier.
The fatal flaw lies in the game's Endless Mode.
After beating the standard 12 waves, players can choose to push forward and see how long they can survive against impossible odds. Bafflingly, progressing through this endless mode rewards zero additional perk points. A player could fight tooth and nail to survive to wave 30, only to return to the main menu with the exact same currency payout as someone who stopped at wave 12. In a genre built entirely around grinding for incremental power, punishing the player for continuing their run is a fundamental design failure.
Beyond the progression issues, Final Stand struggles to justify its existence as a standalone, premium priced game. Retailing at nearly $30, the content pool is startlingly shallow. There are only five maps, and the passive abilities and upgrades you earn between waves begin to repeat after just a few playthroughs.
Worse still is the lack of basic multiplayer infrastructure. Despite being heavily marketed as a cooperative experience, there is no online random matchmaking. If you want to play with an ally, you must manually invite a friend from your own platform's friends list. Adding to the UI confusion, the main menu allows you to invite three friends to a lobby, even though the actual game mode is strictly locked to a two player maximum.
Finally, while the game lacks tutorials for newcomers, it certainly didn't forget to include a premium cosmetic store. In some cases, purchasing a bundle of premium currency to buy a single cosmetic skin costs almost as much as the game itself, leaving a bitter taste in an already content light package.
Pc Version Tested.
Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from Devs
