Review: Men of War
There’s something poignant about it, something horrifying and characteristic of what World War 2 was like, that has been missed by other RTS’s of its ilk. Although Company of Heroes was very enjoyable, it felt overly heroic throughout the game (except for the Normandy landings at the start). Men of War is a different game altogether, even though it uses similar cover systems and attacking methods as CoH. Every scenario in the single player campaign is a brutal war of survival against what can seem like a neverending onslaught of Nazi infantry and tanks. Getting to wreck havok against the Nazi’s in counter offensives is a brief and rewarding experience for holding off against great difficulty.
Hide and Seek?
A perfect example of this is a scenario you meet very early on in the Soviet campaign; defend the train until it loads up cargo and is ready to go. The aching slowness of the percentage meter gradually increasing is an experience most games fail to get right, resulting in either boredom or annoyance at getting so far then failing. With Men of War it’s an exhilarating fight to the death as Nazi forces move in from every single position and attempt to destroy you. By the end of the scenario all my men had been wiped out and pushed back to the very brink of the map. A smattering of soldiers were left to defend the train with it almost complete at 99%. Another minute to hold out against tanks and multiple infantry. By the end the train left with no soldiers remaining, the German tanks only a metre away from its destruction. Exciting, intense and horrific all in one, and that was just one of the scenarios.
Men of War is a perfect game in many ways. The ability to enter into and use any vehicle in the game becomes not only a boon, but a tactical choice. Do you move that truck out into the road so as to give yourself cover and a better firing position? Do you move up near to where the enemy is likely to attack so that you can blow it up later, creating enough of a shockwave to knock out the enemy? Company of Heroes taught us the meaning of clever cover usage on the map. Men of War takes this cover usage and adds in its own spice of action. Enemy tanks for instance are extremely deadly, but they’re not invincible. By clicking on the tank you can determine it’s area of attack, and therefore how best to flank around it so you can drop a grenade in and destroy it. You have to be quick though, as everything on the map is destructable eventually.
Bad guys are here somewhere.
Once you get to grips with the game it can be both challenging and fun. The tutorial supplied with Men of War is a bit flimsy, but thankfully performing actions on the field isn’t to complicated. All you have to remember is that in Men of War, left click is for actions and right click is for deselect! This little change has caused me confusement a good couple of times since i’m used to right click for orders RTS games. Once you get over that you’ll also find a couple of surprises in the game. Enemies, some tanks, boxes and other items on the map can be looted, resulting in an inventory screen opening up, creating a peculiar RTS-RPG feel to the game. You can effectively loot the enemy for ammo, weapons, mines and other items in order to survive. Indeed you soon find as you play Men of War that it becomes advisable to do so. Ammo isn’t unlimited in this game. You will run out of grenades and reloading options, and once that happens you’ll need to restock or watch your men be killed easily.
There they are!
Graphically the game is in par with Company of Heroes as well, though attempts to maintain a more gritty look to it as well. Sound is where the problem lies really, as the English dubbing for the cut scenes is sadly poor. Not dissimilar to another game i’ve played that was published by 1C Company, the dubbing sounds like it was performed afterwards to the game, and the English voice actors in question weren’t given an idea as to what’s happening in the cut scene. The result is quickly talking, slow pauses and generally terrible voice overs. It lets down an otherwise great game.
Other niggles are that the objectives aren’t always clear, and indeed the tutorial makes no mention of how to find the objectives screen to discover what to do. In one mission i’m told to retreat to the forest, but with a forest all around me it doesn’t bother to point me in the right direction. The result was I was killed a couple of times before I got it right.
Overall though Men of War is a great example of modern day RTS fun. It’s hectic, complicated and at times you’ll wish for a pause button just to breathe, but the rewards of fighting off endless hordes of Nazis are wonderful, as you feel you’ve achieved something. Definitely a recommended buy.
Good review! I completely agree with all your points.