I always find it difficult to get excited about The soldier series. This is admittedly partly down to the name. Briefly calling your game “War,” Men Of War is a generic title you can get for a video game. And I think this at least partially reflects the games behind it. Men Of War has generally delivered believable real-time strategy games, but the series has never excited me the way Relic’s Company Of Heroes do.
So it’s a promising sign that, at the end of Best Way’s demonstration of the newly announced product, Men Of War II, I want to play it. Not only does it look sleeker and more user-friendly than previous games (without affecting the depth of appeal to the series’ core fan base) but it also has a few ideas. that it was playing with itself stuck in my mind like shrapnel.
One thing that hasn’t changed from the original Men Of War, which debuted in the early morning mists of 2009, is the setting. Men Of War II brings the series back to its World War II roots. But according to developer Best Way, having some members of the original development team, it won’t revisit popular fronts and battles copied by other World War II games. Designer Alexander Babin said: “We wanted to show a different side of World War II, without the classic battles like D-Day or Stalingrad, because at some point the player starts feel as if they’ve seen everything.”
The game’s campaign will be split into two separate storylines, one centered around the Allies and the other about the Soviet Union. The previous installment followed Allied forces as they advanced through Normandy in the aftermath of D-Day, with scenarios built around historic skirmishes such as Operation Lüttich, a major German counteroffensive in the aftermath of D-Day. Operation Overlord and the battle of the Falaise pocket, in which Allied forces surrounded a large portion of the German Army following the defeat of Lüttich.
Meanwhile, the second force centered around Soviet defenses against Operation Barbarossa, with the Red Army fighting for every inch of land as the German war machine advanced. The idea of fighting in a defensive campaign is particularly appealing, as strategy games often prioritize conquest and push forward. The Best Way gave a glimpse of how this might work, presenting a mission in which the Red Army had to destroy three bridges to stop the German advance.
What is immediately apparent from the show is how comprehensive Men Of War II is in its depiction of World War II battles. The game features over 300 vehicles and 45 different army battalions, covering every imaginable role in the three major armies represented. Along with a wide range of infantry and armor, your forces can be supported by artillery weapons, which must be concealed from enemies using camouflage to be most effective. Air support will also be limited, with you being able to temporarily call in incoming planes for raiding and bombing. You’ll also have some ability to shape the battlefield yourself, with infantry able to dig trenches and build various defensive fortifications to help them hold key points.
More broadly, your strategic approach will be run by the front line. Control of the battlefield is marked with the front lines visible on either side, and there are many things that can only be done on your battlefield. Summoned units can only appear at a certain distance from the front line. Engineers can place anti-tank hedgehogs, dig trenches, and set up minefields, but only on your side of the battlefield. Medical can send wounded soldiers on your side to the hospital, and vehicles can retreat to repair or replenish ammunition.
In addition, your front lines are also fog-free, so aside from a few dedicated stealth units, you’ll immediately be able to see enemy troops entering your territory. It should also be noted that the front line can only be pushed forward by infantry units – tanks and other vehicles do not affect the front line. As a result, the most vulnerable units are also your most valuable units, so it’s important to give your soldiers the proper support. A general who is careless with his life will struggle to maintain control on the battlefield.
The tactical potential of the frontline was immediately apparent. I like the idea of pushing down the flanks to encircle the enemy and strip reinforcements, build defensive fortifications along the front line to hold it, observe the enemy in your line and sweep sideways to cut cut them off. It seems poised to reward careful planning and flexibility.
Along with these more abstract additions, Men Of War II also seeks to improve on the game’s more direct representation of the war. The sequel is running on a new version of Best Way’s GEM engine that has been “purpose-built” for it and has been upgraded to support HDR, 4K resolution, modern lighting effects, etc. The sound has also been overhauled. The synthesized sound changes in real time and depends on the distance the source is from the player.
Direct Vision means you can now get up close and personal with the battlefield, viewing it in first person from above tank hatches and behind field-mounted machine guns.
The result is a game that rivals Company Of Heroes for its audiovisual spectacle. Tank shells and rockets land in thunderous explosions that will reshape the game’s destructive battlefields, while the detail on the individual models is also impressive. Indeed, Best Way’s confidence in Men Of War II’s visual presentation is evident in its “Direct Vision.” The series has always allowed the player to take direct control of individual soldiers and units, letting them try to have a personal impact on the battle, but this has always been from a bird’s-eye perspective. You can now get up close and personal with the battlefield, viewing it in first person from above the tank hatches and behind the machine guns mounted on the battlefield.
One element of Men Of War II that’s less obvious is how simply the game will grapple. Everything in the demo footage seems to move more smoothly than in previous games, but it’s hard to discern what that means controlling your troops without execution. During the demo, Best Way said that they were trying to balance accessibility with depth, but it seems the latter remains the main focus of the studio, which is sure to please the current audience of the series. film.
As a direct sequel to Men Of War, the game will be more about single player than Assault Squad Side Story, but multiplayer is still being served a lot. The game supports skirmishes of different scales, including massive 5v5 battles, with the player not only being able to choose the army they want to fight (whether it’s Germany, Russia, or the US), but also battalion-specific presets geared towards specific fighting styles. Best Way also mentions that the game will launch with full mod support, including a bunch of new tools for more creative minded players to tweak the game.
I was so excited about Men Of War II, which I didn’t expect to feel like taking part in the show. It looks and sounds great, while the front-line mechanic got me really hooked on the sequel’s strategic potential. The game will be out sometime next year, so between it and coming Company Of Heroes 3, 2022 is shaping up to be a banner year for World War II themed strategy games.
