Men of War Demo

Strategy games have all but exhausted almost every scenario from World War II, especially when it comes to the most famous battles. Hence, new titles have to come up with some original ideas in order to be noticed, otherwise they quickly get repetitive and boring if nothing out of the ordinary keeps the players engaged.

Men of War is a real-time strategy game that adds quite a bit of tactics into the mix, as well as an interesting back story to keep you invested into the game from start to finish. Although the main theme is the WWII yet again, this time you get to witness it from different perspective and in different locations, depending on the campaign you are playing.

Thus, while one of the plot lines concerns itself with a few young cadets that form a friendship on the battlefield, there is also the German campaign, as well as a few scenarios that take place in Africa, where yet another set of characters takes the lead. Regardless of who drives the story forward, though, you always have to keep an eye on the map, since it is always crawling with enemies and ambushes await you at every corner.

The real beauty of the game is revealed once you realize that you can assign commanders and recruit new soldiers on the go, which allows you to form teams and get attached to them over the course of the action. Each soldier can loot the bodies of the fallen enemies and take their equipment, weapons or ammunition, so that you can fight back with the same firepower.

A variety of vehicles are also present and they can all be driven across the battlefield, ranging from APCs, to heavily armored tanks. Naturally, they can be of great help against enemy armor or infantry, but you also have to keep in mind that the game features a very realistic damage system, which means that a well-placed anti-tank grenade can quickly neutralize your vehicle.

Despite that, unless the vehicles are completely destroyed, they can be fixed with the help of repair kits. Hence, although it does take quite a bit of time and the soldier doing the repairs is exposed in the meantime, there's no need to leave anything behind as you advance through the battlefield. Your infantry can also hide behind walls, trees or inside houses, in order to avoid direct fire and take advantage of the extra protection to retaliate.

Men of War may be a bit intimidating at first, due to the large number of commands and options that are put at your disposal, but each one of them becomes indispensable after a few hours of game time. The intense battles quickly get you hooked, especially since you can basically employ any tactics you want, as long as you keep winning.