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How Men Of War II aims to reshape the frontlines of World War II strategyDeveloper Best Way promises a new take on gaming’s favourite war
Developer Best Way promises a new take on gaming’s favourite war
Image credit:Fulqrum Publishing
Image credit:Fulqrum Publishing
I’ve always found it hard to get excited about theMen Of Warseries. This is admittedly partly down to the name. Short of outright calling your game “War”, Men Of War is about as generic a title as you can get for a video game. And I think this was at least partly reflective of the games behind it. Men Of War has generally delivered dependable real-time tactics games, but the series has never excited me in the way that, say, Relic’sCompany Of Heroesdoes.
So it’s a promising sign that, at the end of Best Way’s demonstration of the just-announcedMen Of War II, I came away keen to play it. Not only does it look slicker and more user friendly than earlier games (without compromising on the depth that appeals to the series' core fanbase) there are a couple of ideas it’s playing with that lodged themselves in my mind like chunks of grenade shrapnel.
Men of War II - Official Reveal TrailerWatch on YouTube
Men of War II - Official Reveal Trailer
The game’s campaign will be split into two separate storylines, one focusing on the Allies, and the other on the Soviets. The former follows Allied forces as they push through Normandy in the aftermath of D-Day, with scenarios built around historical engagements such as Operation Lüttich, a major German counterattack during OperationOverlord, and the battle of the Falaise pocket, in which Allied forces surrounded a large portion of the German Army following Lüttich’s failure.
The latter, meanwhile, centres around the Soviet defence against Operation Barbarossa, with the Red Army fighting for every inch of ground as the German war machine advances. The idea of fighting a defensive campaign is particularly intriguing, given that strategy games so often prioritise conquest and pushing forward. Best Way offered a glimpse of how this is likely to work, demoing a mission in which the Red Army had to destroy three bridges to halt the German advance.
The tactical potential of the frontline is immediately clear. I love the idea of pushing down the flanks to surround enemies and deprive them of reinforcements, constructing defensive fortifications along the frontline to hold it, watching for salients in your enemy’s line and sweeping sideways to cut them off. It seems primed to reward careful planning and flexibility.
Alongside these more abstract additions, Men Of War II also seeks to improve 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 resolutions, modern lighting effects, and so on. The audio has been overhauled too. Composite sounds will change in real-time and depending on the distance of the source from the player.
One element of Men Of War II that’s less clear is how straightforward the game will be to grapple with. Everything in the demo footage seemed to move more slickly than in previous games, but it’s hard to discern how that translates to controlling your army without getting hands-on. During the demo, Best Way said that they’re trying to balance accessibility with depth, but it sounded like the latter remains the primary focus for the studio, which will no doubt please the series' existing audience.
Mounted guns will let you view the battlefield in first-person.
As a direct sequel to Men Of War, the game will be more singleplayer oriented than itsAssault Squad spinoffs, but multiplayer is still being heavily catered for. The game supports skirmishes of varying sizes, including massive 5v5 battles, with players able to choose not only the army they want to fight as (whether that’s Germany, Russia, or the US), but specific battalion pre-sets geared toward specific fighting styles. Best Way also mentioned that the game will launch with full mod support, including a bunch of new tools for more creatively-minded players to adapt the game.
I’m excited for Men Of War II, which I did not expect to feel like going into the demonstration. It looks and sounds fantastic, while the frontline mechanic has me genuinely intrigued for the sequel’s strategic potential. The game is due to launch sometime next year, so between it and the upcomingCompany Of Heroes 3, 2022 is shaping up to be a banner year for World War II-themedstrategy games.
