I've been a fan since the original release back in 1999, and jumped straight on the Fig-backer train back in 2019 when HW3 was first announced. I haven't had much time to complete the HW3 campaign this weekend, and am about 60% through; I really like the game so far, even though the story isn't stellar, but it is a 6/10, as in above average story for my part. There are some gameplay issues, like some pathfinding issues, and some personal preferences where I'd love to see units getting xp based on performance in battles, and getting boosts in different unit abilities. Also, classic controls are good, but make it a bit difficult when navigating terrain, so I think I have to switch to modern controls to better that experience. It would also be cool to be able to outfit your capitals with different modules, so you could have specialized carriers, or outfit destroyers differently based on role. I really liked that from complex mod for HW2.

I'd score it like this:

- Story: 6/10

- Visuals: 9/10

- Audio design: 10/10

- Gameplay: 7/10

- Unit variety and design: 8/10

- Total: 8/10


This is my preliminary score, so I'll just have to see if any of them change after trying out modern controls and completing the story.

I've been a fan since the original release back in 1999, and jumped straight on the Fig-backer train back in 2019 when HW3 was first announced. I haven't had much time to complete the HW3 campaign this weekend, and am about 60% through; I really like the game so far, even though the story isn't stellar, but it is a 6/10, as in above average story for my part. There are some gameplay issues, like some pathfinding issues, and some personal preferences where I'd love to see units getting xp based on performance in battles, and getting boosts in different unit abilities. Also, classic controls are good, but make it a bit difficult when navigating terrain, so I think I have to switch to modern controls to better that experience. It would also be cool to be able to outfit your capitals with different modules, so you could have specialized carriers, or outfit destroyers differently based on role. I really liked that from complex mod for HW2. I'd score it like this: - Story: 6/10 - Visuals: 9/10 - Audio design: 10/10 - Gameplay: 7/10 - Unit variety and design: 8/10 - Total: 8/10 This is my preliminary score, so I'll just have to see if any of them change after trying out modern controls and completing the story.