Sudden Strike 3

About

Sudden Strike 3 is a real-time tactical war game that offers an intense World War II battle experience. Commanding either Allied, German, or Soviet forces, players can engage in large-scale ground and naval warfare across diverse environments. With a strong focus on historical accuracy, the game delivers realistic units and tactics, providing a challenging and immersive experience for strategy enthusiasts.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

68%

Audience ScoreBased on 127 reviews

graphics4 positive mentions

grinding4 negative mentions

The game offers intense battles with a large number of units, creating a chaotic and engaging experience.
It retains the strategic depth and realism of the earlier Sudden Strike titles, making it appealing for fans of the series.
The graphics, while dated, still provide a nostalgic feel and the game is easy to mod, allowing for customization.

Pathfinding and unit control are major issues, often leading to frustrating gameplay as units get stuck or fail to follow commands.
The AI is poorly designed, often resulting in unbalanced gameplay where the enemy receives endless reinforcements.
The game suffers from bugs and performance issues, particularly on modern systems, making it difficult to play without adjustments.

story
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
71%
14%
The story aspect of the game has received significant criticism for its poorly designed missions and frustrating difficulty, particularly on medium and hard settings. Players have noted that the campaign can become tedious and boring, with long missions that lack engaging gameplay, while also highlighting issues with unit differentiation and AI behavior. Despite some enjoyable moments, the overall narrative experience is marred by these design flaws, leading to disappointment among players.
- “In the D-Day mission, you have British allies controlled by the AI that will try to shoot through your American tanks and halftracks if they get between them and their German targets.”
- “On the other hand, some of the missions are quite fun, as long as you get enough reinforcements.”
- “Every mission gives you a hell of a lot of units to play with.”
- “Maps aren't accurate; missions seem poorly designed.”
- “After starting the first mission, I spent the first half hour just picking my soldiers apart one by one by the unit description the game gave me when I hovered over the unit with the cursor, because I literally could not tell them apart from each other just by looking at them.”
- “So I decided to buy this game, but after I hit the first mission, I was so disappointed.”
graphics
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
63%
16%
The graphics of the game are generally considered dated, reflecting its 2007 release, but some players appreciate the visual style, especially in 4K. While there are mixed opinions on the quality, with some noting poor 3D graphics, others find the realism appealing for a real-time strategy game. Overall, the graphics may not be cutting-edge, but they do not detract significantly from the gameplay experience.
- “I like the graphics in 4K.”
- “Keep in mind that the graphics are from 2007, but it still looks nice.”
- “I think in my opinion it's the best realism-looking RTS on Steam, aside from its graphics.”
- “Poor 3D graphics.”
- “The graphics are a little dated, is the only downside.”
- “[cumbersome mobilizing troops, uninspired level design, bland graphics]”
gameplay
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
17%
33%
The gameplay is noted for its good mechanics, but the 3D graphics are criticized for detracting from the overall experience, making it feel less engaging compared to earlier titles. Some users suggest that the gameplay can be so tedious that it resembles mundane activities rather than an enjoyable gaming experience.
- “Good game mechanics.”
- “The gameplay is engaging and offers a variety of strategies to explore.”
- “The controls are intuitive, making it easy to jump into the action.”
- “If anything, the 3D graphics make the gameplay worse and affect it even more negatively than the pixelated mish-mash of green, brown, and grey in the first two games.”
- “If you want to experience the gameplay of Sudden Strike 3 without actually playing the game, go outside and stare down at an anthill, or get 10 bags of potato chips and start sorting their content by size and shape.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be slow and tedious, with campaign missions that drag on excessively, leading to a loss of enjoyment and making the overall experience feel monotonous.
- “Although the screenshots make it look like you're performing sweeping blitzkrieg tactics, normal play is slow and tedious.”
- “The campaign missions go on way too long and cease to be fun, becoming tedious and boring.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the game, particularly in its Steam version, has been criticized for being buggy and temperamental, with users reporting frequent issues that detract from the overall experience. In contrast, the original version is praised for its stability.
- “Great game in original form - the Steam version is buggy and temperamental.”
- “Buggy sometimes.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report that achieving optimal performance may require adjustments to the NVIDIA control panel settings, indicating that the game may not run at its best out of the box.
- “You just might have to alter your NVIDIA Control Panel settings to achieve the best performance.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The music in the game is consistently praised for its quality, with users highlighting both the soundtrack and sound effects as enjoyable and well-executed.
- “The music and sound design are exceptional, creating an immersive experience.”
- “The soundtrack is fantastic, perfectly complementing the gameplay.”
- “The audio elements enhance the atmosphere and keep you engaged throughout.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is derived from its unrealistic tank combat mechanics, where players find it amusing that a Russian tank can disable a German Tiger tank with just one or two hits, while it takes an excessive number of hits from a Tiger to damage a Russian tank. This absurdity highlights a comedic imbalance in gameplay.