Real-time tactics game Men Of War 2 has been pushed to 2023 to incorporate more features and content sparked by feedback from closed playtests. Developers Best Way and publishers Fulqrum say the impact of having to pause development because of the outbreak of war in Best Way’s home country of Ukraine has led them to take extra time on the game for these to be implemented. Watch the latest trailer below.
]]>A teaser trailer for inbound World War 2 strategy Men Of War 2 has been released that promises a full reveal on September 1st. Hey, it’s actually pretty tense too. Get the advance intel by watching the trailer’s trailer below.
]]>1C Entertainment, the publishers of games like Men Of War and King's Bounty, have been bought by Tencent. Among the 1C subsidiaries hoovered up are Muve, Cenega and QLOC, the latter of which provide co-development, testing and localisation services to companies like EA, Warner Bros. and many others.
This is the second company Tencent have bought this week, with them picking up Inflexion Games, the makers of survival game Nightingale.
]]>I've always found it hard to get excited about the Men Of War series. 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's Company Of Heroes does.
So it's a promising sign that, at the end of Best Way's demonstration of the just-announced Men 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.
]]>A shell ricochets off a tank hull, exploding in mid-air and killing an entire infantry squad. A sniper round finds purchase on a commander's helmet, but leaves his head intact. I've had a soft-spot for Digitalmindsoft's long-running WW2 Men of War series for some time; Chaotic, anarchic things, they're more like simulationist tabletop strategy games, played out in realtime. While it bears a different name, the modern-themed Call to Arms may as well be a direct sequel, and has been lurking around Steam Early Access for some time now. Today, it officially launched.
]]>Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time.
Men Of War should be the king of Steam even today. A sort of sandbox World War II strategy game with a vast range of possibilities, from repairing and then hijacking broken tanks to stealing hats from downed enemies for added armour and any number of stealth and/or combat options, it is in many ways The Dream.
]]>Those men, they do like a good war. But what, if anything, is armed conflict good for? It's good for modding tool updates, that's what. 1C Company have just released an update to Men of War: Vietnam, focusing on balance issues and ever-popular mod support. A tough game on release, even the mighty brains of Jim and Tim had trouble with the difficulty of the base game, as Jim mentions in his review of the first level. It's good to see that problem addressed. It's better to see the comprehensive new mod tools, allowing creation of custom scenarios and entirely new maps. Mod tools, the order of the day.
]]>This week I've been submerged in the murky jungle waters of forthcoming real-time tiny-men commander, Men Of War: Vietnam. 1c sent over four levels from the full game, and I've played through them. I've given a little overview of each of these level below, and have discovered that my description represents a sort of plan of the increasing degrees of excitement that I am experiencing. In fact, I've drawn a graph.
]]>My aim? In the reach zone. My fingers? Poised over the old word-piano ready to impart the following vague but important snippet of Men of War news. In addition to toiling away on MoW: Vietnam, MoW: Condemned Heroes (a standalone title based on the activities of a Soviet Penal battalion), and more DLC for Assault Squad, 1C are currently planning Men of War II. It's very early days yet, but last week in Prague, series producer Sergey Gerasev dropped some interesting hints as to possible directions.
]]>PLEASING UPDATE: Ah, I got the wrong end of the stick. I have two of five missions to play with. There's actually going to be one for each faction. That makes this 350% more exciting!
Ooh, I love a bit of Men Of War: Assault Squad, and now I have a bit more of it. Two new (as yet unreleased) skirmish scenarios have been dropped into my grasping hands by the chaps at DigitalMindSoft. Plenty more on this, below.
]]>We've got ten Steam codes for excellent real-time co-op strategy Men Of War: Assault Squad to give away, courtesy of 1c and DigitalMindSoft. Not only that, but we'll be arranging some co-op games for the winners, at some point, as well as for anyone else who wants to get a bit of Assault Squad going. In the meantime, if you'd like to explain why you should win a copy of Men Of War: Assault Squad - and we will need good reasons from everybody - email us at this address, with the subject, "To Win Some Men", before the end of Tuesday 12th April.
]]>Want to hear me, Rob Zacny and Julian Murdoch talk about Men Of War, and specifically Men Of War: Assault Squad, for almost an hour? No, okay. Well if you do know anyone who does then they can tune into the latest episode of the Three Moves Ahead podcast right here. We talk about Men Of War. A lot. I think I repeat myself, and probably lose the thread a bit, before saying something profound. (No tea for an hour!) It's a fun time.
]]>It's time to own Men Of War. I've banged on and on about this for years. I am certain that there are thousands of you who would get a massive kick out of this game who haven't touched it yet. Hell, Kieron and Quinns haven't played it yet, largely on the basis that it's a World War II game. That shouldn't stop anyone. Men Of War is a brilliant, dynamic, inventive, compelling, challenging, intelligent RTS with a thousand features hidden under its hat (which can be shot off, and then picked up and put back on your head). The voice acting is terrible, the tank battles are scintillating. It's now £3.24 on Steam. The slightly less entertaining sequel is bundled with it for £7.49.
]]>Competition time again, this time via DigitalMindSoft and Men Of War: Assault Squad. While both RUSE and Starcraft 2 have made us rather merry recently, it's actually the newly returning star of Men of War that has made me, personally, most happy. I've raved about it. Twice. Now though Men of War: Assault Squad's beta testing phase, which has kept me amused for countless hours across the past couple of months, is recruiting a select few extra people. We have twenty beta accounts to give away. What you need to do is to mail us via this link, keeping the subject line "Tiny Hero, Big Pockets" and tell us what you have in your inventory. The most amusing or poignant entries, as judged by the RPS compo-corporal, will receive details on how to claim their beta account. Closing date Monday 20th. But there's more! If the MOWAS Steam group hits 10,000 people it will go into an open beta. Frankly, we all want that. Join the MOWAS Steam group here.
]]>While the rest of the world seems to have been turning on the axis of Starcraft, I've been playing Men Of War: Assault Squad with RPS chums Phil and Dartt. It's mostly excellent. The game is in beta at the minute, with a busy contingent of testers playing both the co-op and versus modes of this new skirmish-based Men Of War game. That beta test is set to expand very soon, which is an exciting time. (Which reminds me, we will have some beta accounts to give away soon, so watch for that.) I've already written a bit about the game here, but I don't think I really explained how the game feels to play, and why it has take up so much of my attention. Read on and I will try to articulate some of my excitement.
]]>...if 10,000 people sign up to the Steam group. Hmm, I'm a little conflicted by this. On the one hand I want you all to sign up so that Men Of War: Assault Squad can have an open beta, simply so that you can see how awesome it actually is. And on the other, well, they should just have an open beta! I've already rambled a bit here about how superb the co-op missions are, and I feel like I should talk more about the special units, such as conscription for the Russians, or the epic tank battles, or the incredible details that make the thing come alive. I've been playing the hell out of the closed beta and it's sitting at the top of my contenders for game of the year right now. I know certain other RTS games are dominating the headlines, but this is ten thousand times more absorbing. It's going to be a nutritious feast of a game. I'll write more about it next week. In the meantime, go sign up!
]]>Yesterday afternoon, Phill and I managed to spend some time initiating the deaths of historical combatants in Men Of War: Assault Squad, which is the forthcoming multiplayer reworking of tactical cleverness simulator, Men Of War. We weren't picky: Americans, Britons, Germans, Russians, they all took their turn on the field of co-op glory that is Assault Squad's skirmish mode. Read on to find out what it was that we discovered.
]]>Turns out there's not one, not two, not two, not two, but two new Men of War games due later this year. Jim forcibly craned your head towards MoW: Assault Squad last week, but now there's Men of War: Vietnam too. Which I a) am quite excited about, as 'Nam is not a territory RTS has often trod in and b) played for a little while a couple of weeks ago.
]]>1c and DigitalMindSoft have sent word that there is to be a new game in the Men of War series: Assault Squad. This is intended to be an expandalone focusing on the skirmish, co-op and multiplayer elements of the existing game. There will be new multiplayer maps, and 4-player online and LAN co-op. It's also going to expand the feature set a bit for your little men, with hero units, "remote controlled bombs that can flatten entire residential blocks, airstrikes able to destroy incoming tank columns, special "For the Motherland!" charge attacks." Even more interestingly: "the ability to buy individual soldiers to suit players' needs the ability to buy individual soldiers to suit players' needs." Full press release below, and I'll have even more details next week, along with some assets. Exciting!
(I spoke of my love for the original Men of War here, and also in a secondary bonus ode published by The Escapist, here.)
]]>Men Of War is probably my favourite RTS, and I've definitely not spent enough time with the multiplayer. Fortunately there's a grand excuse to get back into this week, as 1c explain: "In the lead up to the 65 th anniversary of Victory in Europe day, 505 Games and 1C company have today made the Men Of War multiplayer client available for free download. From the 11 th to 23 rd May inclusive, players will be given a temporary access key to engage in the game’s tense multiplayer combat modes."
]]>In between leaving pumpkins uncarved and scary masks unworn, I have been playing 1c's new RTS, Men Of War: Red Tide. The standalone expansion features twenty-three new missions with naval bent, and a small museum of new units. But is it any good? Here's Wot I Think.
]]>My favourite RTS so far this year will receive an expansion in the Autumn. It's a 20-mission campaign in a standalone release. Russian publisher overlords 1c say: "Men of War: Red Tide has players take command of the feared "Black Coats," the nickname given to Soviet Marines, an elite combat group specializing in engagements near the shoreline. The player has direct control of new game units including the Black Coats, new tanks, self-propelled guns, armored trains, landing craft, artillery and new enemy emplaced weapons to capture and use. New air support options include new fighters, bombers, hydroplanes; cruisers, destroyers and gun boats which provide naval fire support." No word on multiplayer options, however. I hope it supports co-op, which is one of the best features of the original game. (Via Blues, and mysteriously absent from the 1c site.)
]]>This is the kind of thing we'd normally leave for LewieP to herd into his weekly Bargain Bucket post, but if we wait to mention it till Sunday, most of the great offers will be gone. So, call this the RPS Bargain Jar or something. Quite a few of you have griped about digital store GamersGate's general design over the past few months, and it seems they too were aware of their fugliness. There's just been a big old redesign to make the site sleeker and noticeably faster - and, if you ask me, just a little bit GoG-esque. Shiny! And, thank Vonnegut, it doesn't demand to install yet another icon into our heaving system trays. To celebrate, they've a week of ultro-discounts - a new price-slashed game each day, plus a particularly splendid one lasting the course of the week. Buy buy buy!
]]>Quite a few people mailed this work in progress video in, so thanks to you all. It's a Men Of War mod called Battletech: In The Shadow Of Giants, which drops Battletech mechs into the Men of War maps. Posted below is what the mod team have currently currently released as a demonstration of how the mechs might look or work in the engine, and it's splendid. This is the kind of mod that really makes me glad of the flexibility of modern game engines. Go take a look, I think you'll be surprised. Not sure what the smoky end bit is about, but hey.
]]>And cheap on Direct2Drive. And more expensive on GamersGate. It's also slightly less expensive on Steam. So perhaps you can buy it. Why am I promoting this fiddly war game in such brazen fashion? Well, because I love it. You might love it too. Thanks to Teodor for the tip.
]]>I've been playing through a number of the Men Of War levels again for a second time, trying to feel like I'm somehow closer to mastering the game. I wanted to break down how one of the levels plays out to try and explain the game to people who haven't yet played it. This afternoon my level of choice was an assault on a German hilltop entrenchment, before an attack on a fortified base. It takes about an hour to play through, and my first time around it was one of the most chaotic gaming experiences I have ever known. After perhaps fifty hours of play I should now be a veteran of the game able to breeze through this early challenge quite easily. Right? Wrong.
]]>This mod for current RPS strategy beau Men of War is a bit good: a dynamic campaign generator [FORUM DOWN AT THE MOMENT, you can use this link but the mod needs loads of stuff that is not detailed there, only on forum thread.], complete with a bunch of map packs. It allows you to build a sequence of battles in the skirmish mode, and populate them for attack or defence scenarios. The install process and required extras is a bit hefty, but I doubt that will be too much challenge for Men Of War enthusiasts. There's also a realism mod out which is under continued development. There's also some chatter about a native languages mod for replacing the English with Russian dialogue, but no sign of that at the moment. I've posted a video of the announced (but unfinished) Stalker mod after the jump, which is some kind of perfect collision between two games. Man!
]]>The second-sequel to the cult classic Soldiers: Heroes of World War II launched last week, and it looks like it's going to be one of those games that comes and goes without attracting a big audience. Which would be terrible shame. Like King's Bounty or Sins of a Solar Empire, this is a game that's pure PC - something only possible on this proud platform, but without being wilfully obtuse about it. Or at least that's the idea behind this freeform strategy/squad shooter/roleplaying game - allow me to judge whether it's the case or not...
]]>Men Of War, seriously, look past the name. This is a game that is at least as interesting for real-time strategy lovers as Dawn Of War 2. If you ignored the demo, please go play it, and understand that even that undersells the immense battlefield missions with hundreds of units, not to mention to vast scale of a game that has three full sized campaigns. Campaigns whose maps are also playable in co-op. I'm posting the videos after the jump with a sense of futility, because I know they don't and won't sell it to many people. Nevertheless Men Of War is second only to Empire in awesomeness for games I've played so far in 2009. It really is a fine thing. I recommend you take a look. The game is out now in Europe and will be out on the 17th in North America.
Update: you can steal the hats of your fallen enemies. Yes!
]]>The Men Of War demo is here (250mb). The demo contains the first level of the game, which is a tutorial sequence in which you patch up a tank, invade a village, and then attack a German convoy. It does not show off all the best features of the game, but certainly encompasses some of the most vital, such as using the inventories on your little men, learning to use cover, and showing off the destructible scenery. It's worth imagining, as you play this demo, what the escalation of the second (unfeatured) level is like; in which you have dozens of men, several tanks, and face hundreds of German soldiers and armoured vehicles. This is a game that is more than the sum of its demo. I'm certain we'll be talking about Men Of War a lot more in the coming months, because it's one of my favourites of the year so far. You should definitely play this demo.
]]>As I've mentioned before, Men Of War is a rather excellent-looking RTS from Russian developers Best Way. It's incredibly realistic and rather formidable in its attempt to convey the Russian theatre of World War II. Quite what is going on with this latest trailer I don't know. It's been scripted up to be... wacky? Quite peculiar indeed.
]]>Did we use that pun before? Oh nevermind. I do so enjoy it when a random theme emerges from the internet, and today's theme is: tanks of World War II. The tank you see above is from Men of War, which I shall talk about in a moment. Firstly, the secondary purpose of this post is to pimp out the latest issue of PC Gamer UK, which I implore all who are able to purchase immediately. The reason? Lots of Jim Rossignol words, obviously, but more specifically my feature on the Russian games industry. I went to Moscow and came back laden with delicious information. It's the the best thing I've written for a magazine since my trip to Korea. Anyway... Men Of War - or why a fiddly wargame was one of the best things I saw in Moscow.
]]>By way of a quick follow-up to our Men of War chat last week, it's worth noting a new beta of the multiplayer mode has just kicked off. That's right - free tanks for all. Temporarily.
]]>A couple of weeks ago, we posted about the announcement of Men of War, the second sequel to the lovely but little-known Soldiers: Heroes of World War II. Chris Kramer, MD of Digitalmindsoft, the co-developers (assisting Russian Ukrainian studio Best Way, the creators of Soldiers) and self-described 'Western soul' of the game, spotted my brief ruminations upon what the direction the series may be going in. So, he got in touch and suggested a quick interview. Below, you'll find him chatting about the differences between Western and Russian development, the enduring appeal of World War II and the importance of co-op.
If you've played Soldiers before, you'll understand exactly why I'm interested in Men of War - and if you haven't, I advise trying out the Soldiers demo right now and exploring its still-fresh fusion cuisine of RTS, third-person action, roleplaying and ultra-destructibility.
]]>Anyone ever play Soldiers: Heroes of World War II? I must write a retrospective of it sometime. Though a very different breed of strategy game, it was out there doing some of the stuff Company of Heroes did, but two full years before Relic's tankiest opus - Dubya Dubya Too with hugely destructible environments, ultra-death and a smart emphasis on use of cover. While COH is by far the more polished option, this outdoes it for sheer ambition. It had stealable, pilotable vehicles. It had an RPG-lite inventory system. It had online co-op play. Perhaps most adorably, there was also a little of the Cannon Fodder to it -just a handful of all-too-easily killed squaddies against a whole bally army. It was also weird and rickety in the way so many Russian-made games seem to be. If you've never played it, try the demo - it's a fair fascinating wee thing.
I missed the sequel, the unfortunately-named Faeces of War, as is too often the case for games that don't drift onto my hard drive for work purposes. Hopefully I will get to play the freshly-revealed third game, Men of War. MEN of WAR. Men! War! That's definitely a name I can get behind.
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