It has been 15 years since the first Men of War came out, and even though there have been some great spin-offs, it is finally time for a sequel. While Men of War 2 may have its kinks, the game rally brings back strategy games to a better time, and the ongoing RTS revival is strengthened by it.
Be a commander in the war
Men of War 2 can be played in a wide variety of game modes both in multiplayer, single-player, and coop. It does have something for everyone fans of the genre. But no matter what mode you choose to play, the gameplay will of course be similar.
You have many different units to pick from, ranging from riflemen to varying tanks to planes, all with unique advantages in different situations. All foot soldiers and the like also come with the ability to either build ditches or build walls with sandbags, making defense fun and varied to play, which many RTS sadly do not. Whether I am engaged in a stressful multiplayer game weighing my offensive tactics against my defensive tactics, or focusing on missions solo, the feeling of being a commander in war is always highly present.
Campaigns come with great limitations
Aside from a simple but needed tutorial part where you learn the basics of the game, I highly recommend you play it. The story campaigns ease you into the game as a campaign should. Here you have story campaigns made for the game for all three sides of the game: Soviets, Germans, and Americans all containing six different missions around 30 minutes each. But you also have campings from historical battles which is a nice touch.
The campaigns are all very focused, where there is a limited amount of different units at your disposal. Missions range from holding a place on a very limited map to capturing a point and pushing enemies back. The big problem here is the very limited maps. While they do expand the further you get in a mission, they are still very small and rarely give you the chance to explore more than one or two tactics for finishing the mission. And seeing how the story is very forgettable, badly written at times and with voice actors who cannot act at all, the only reason for going through the campaign is if you are looking for a more mission-focused experience.
Shines in multiplayer
There are a couple of different ways to play multiplayer and no matter what way you choose, you are going to have a blast. The campings and the pve multiplayer part are the appetizers in Men of War 2, the pvp multiplayer is the real thing.
Playing in a 1 vs 1 mode really feels intense and will work perfectly for a more competitive scene where you are in full control of your units and your tactics. Here you have to plan accordingly to your opponent’s tactics and things go fast. But the even greater way to play multiplayer is with more people on each side, 4 vs 4 feels as close to commanding units in war as I would like to come. These matches are crazy. Troops; tanks and planes are everywhere and if you play with ransoms, no one is talking to each other so you have to adapt to what is happening on the battlefield, and most of the time you will come out of it feeling good about your choices.
Conclusion
Being back on the battlefield commanding troops in World War 2 feels great. Unless you play it as a longer tutorial, the campaign was a big letdown. The multiplayer was instead a great and positive surprise. I didn’t think I would fall back into an online RTS again, but here I am just waiting to get this review done so that I can jump back in.
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