First Look: Men of War

When I was seated in front of the big screen debuting Men of War to the assembled gaming hacks, I was expecting a bog-standard RTS game. When I heard it was a World War II RTS, my boredom glands flared up and I was struggling to keep myself together.

However, then the game started and it dawned on me: this is the next game from the people who made Soldiers: Heroes of World War II (and the criminally ignored Faces of War).

My boredom and disinterest turned to excitement, as I’ll admit I was unaware that a new game was in development. More good news was to follow, as the battle unfolded in front of the furiously scribbling journalists.

This out the battles are grander in scope, yet still retaining the scenery-destroying brilliance of the previous titles.

The new game will feature the usual factions: Soviets, the US and Nazis. Interestingly, Japanese forces can be controlled in multiplayer, but sadly there isn’t a solo, offline campaign for them.

The game will be very familiar to those of you out there who have played Soldiers or Faces of War. The interface has been tweaked, offering a wider, less squashed experience.

A nice tough is the MMO-esque hotbar, which allows players to customise how they want the interface to look. Drag the actions you use the most onto the bar and you can have them ordered however you like.

Other than that, the game is essentially a bigger, better version of the previous titles, which is no bad thing. Some might criticise for the lack of real innovation here – there are no revolutionary changes of tack from the developers.

However, if it ain’t broke and so on. Why change a singularly excellent game formula just for the sake of it? Exactly – most fans will lap this up and, hopefully, newer ones will be attracted by the large scale and exciting battles.

One of the things that has been changed is the multiplayer, something the developers are focusing more on than before.

An intriguing aspect will be the ‘risk’ factor – do you send good units forward to try to defeat the enemy or hold them back for later? The risk element comes from the fact the enemy can appropriate your fallen hardware for its own use, if your attack fails.

So, throw your best tanks forward but see your attack grind to a halt and you could soon then be facing them in a counter offensive. The sort of tactical thinking needed to succeed in Men of War will hopefully bring more cerebral players to the table, instead of relying on lightning reactions and twitch gaming of other, faster-paced titles.

With that in mind, we at Gamezine are both looking forward to the end of the year, when Men of War will be unleashed, and to some intensely strategic multiplayer shenanigans. See you on the frontlines, soldier.