If you like Company of Heroes, but wish to have a less arcadey exerience, Gates of Hell is the closest you'll get. The game is slower, more realistic and it offers more features for each unit. Ammo types matter. Units can be equipped with whatever you please. A mistake is more costly and a victory is more rewarding.
The game doesn't look very good for a game released in 2021. It's very outdated. Unit animations aren't always the best. But it looks realistic, gloomy and gritty, which suits a game named after the Eastern front in WW2. The atmosphere, sound design and general look are good despite the outdated graphics.
However, the AI is HORRENDOUS. Vehicles have a tendency to move somewhere and then turn around, presenting their weak rear armor to enemies. Getting soldiers to face the correct way in their trenches can be a huge pain. Units will not run away from the enemy unless they're commanded to hold their fire, meaning they can get a retreat order, run for a bit, then stand still and fire at the enemy in the open, resulting in their swift demise.
The AI also won't fire on enemies in the same building as them. If you put your units in a building, and an enemy outflanks them and enters via the backdoor, they'll just stand there and let themselves get mowed down by a single soldier.
A ton of micro is required to take care of all these little hiccups. They won't always bother you, but it certainly is really annoying when it happens.
There's a load of campaigns to play and they're generally pretty fun, but you'll get screwed over by random events such as a sudden artillery bombardment, wiping out all your units without warning. The AI might suddenly attack from a completely unexpected direction without any hint being given as to this being a possibility.
The enemy AI also has a tendency to rush you without much care given for strategy. It doesn't matter whether it's the Germans, Americans, Brits or Soviets (who contrary to popular belief didn't use quite that much human wave strategies); all of them will bum-rush you with their tanks and infantry without a care in the world, while you need to properly micro everything to counter their nonsense tactics.
It's by no means a bad game, but it can be very intense and at times frustrating. Don't expect clean results. Every battle will be bloody and you'll get screwed over by something, whether that's the game yanking your pizzle, your AI refusing to turn and shoot, or your tanks voluntarily receiving backshots. You can overcome this, but don't expect to walk away with low casualities.
