Men of War II: NOT Company of Heroes - for better and worse

Patreon ▶ / zade_95
Men of War II is available to play as part of a multiplayer tech test - free for everyone and out right now! With our first real look at the long awaited sequel, can it live in a world of Call to Arms and Company of Heroes?
Men of War II: store.steampowered.com/app/11...
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'Reviews + Previews' playlist - • Reviews + Previews
Gameplay recorded on PC | Audio recorded using a Rode NT-USB
#menofwar #menofwarii #rts #realtimestrategy

[@RedHazeCh]

Since you're unfamiliar with this subgenre, real time tactics made by eastern slavs (blitzkrieg, sudden strike, men of war, syrian warfare etc,...) doesn't care much about balance or meta as it is about immersion, accuracy and a sense of scale. That's why the damage model, destruction physics and unit roster are so detailed and well made even for the earlier games released in the early 2000s. This game in particular is an oddball through because it has focus on multiplayer which is very different from the rest of its SP-heavy predecessor

[@yukipaw1702]

Love their games, even with all the clunkiness of it, the spectacle of battle is absolutely amazing

[@aleksapetrovic6519]

Isn't Sudden Strike Hungarian game? I only played the last itteration and I consider it as a very poor immitation of Wargame which is very sad because I love the artstyle.

[@dennisdavidov782]

There are also the Codename: Panzers games (Phase One, Two and Rush for Berlin) made by Hungarians which are some of the best in the genre. There was Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps also from Hungary which was pretty good too.

[@dangerpowers5939]

​@@aleksapetrovic6519 sudden strike 2 is far the best. There was a game called hidden stroke aswell that was good, no idea if it was just a rip off of sudden strike.

[@RedHazeCh]

@@aleksapetrovic6519 Nah sudden strike was developed by Russian, the last one you played (ss4) was developed by the ex-stormregion dev (which is hungarian and responsible for codename panzer) so it just feels like a codename panzer game than anything else, especially the multiplayer.

[@pilotmanpaul]

Try Gates of Hell. That's what I'd call a truly successor and sequel for Men of War Assault Squad 2. The most successful game in the MoW series.

[@Something_Clever]

I’d 100% recommend trying men of war assault squad two, simply cause to my knowledge it’s been the most successful release since the original. I personally play competitive with the mod robz realism on it, and casual vanilla, but it feels like that game still has a surprisingly active community. From my perspective as a huge fan of it I straight up didn’t enjoy call to arms or gates of hell ostfront.

[@Hunter_6601]

What put you off from gates of hell? To me, it’s an improvement in almost every way from the previous installments but I’d like to hear your opinion.

[@pilotmanpaul]

@@Hunter_6601 Exactly. Gates of Hell for me is a worthy successor and sequel to MoWAS2.

[@triple7hysteria]

You got massively filtered.

[@pravinschmidley4711]

What’s wrong with gates of hell?

[@dennisdavidov782]

If you have the time it would interesting to hear your thoughts on the whole series and the evolution of it from: Soldiers: Heroes of WW2 to Faces of War to Men of War (+ Red Tide) to Assault Squad 1,2 (Vietnam and Condemned Heroes can be skipped) and the Call to Arms games.

[@AkifZahid]

Faces of war is my first game in the man of war series and it's my favorite

[@Zade_95]

Yeah that'd be a cool video and something I'd be keen to do! "I reviewed every Men on War game..."

[@DanielVisOneCade]

​@@Zade_95 yeah for what is worth I've invested heaps of time over the years in the multiple entries. Not only going through knocking out each campaign in turn but also bot bashing with friends or setting up blufor vs redfor games in my clan. The gem engine had a surprisingly good editor which was accessible enough that you could knockout some from multiplayer games almost like your a GM similar to what might see playing ARMA or ARMA 2. Picked the first few titles up back in the day when you still had to venture out of the house and buy things based off the little blurb on back of their boxes/clam shells. Got to say I was not let down by Soliders Heroes of WW2 and it's unique formula so I think it would be great to see you cover it's development over the years of you feel like it. Unfortunately I'm much more time poor these days then back when I was a young fella but I trust my fellow series veterans and if they are saying the newest entry is off the mark and missing some of the core components that grew to become it's best selling points I would trust that to be fundamentally true. Hope that helps mate enjoy your week and stay safe! 😊

[@sarahrichards1281]

​@@Zade_95 if you do this, I'd recommend finding people to share in a couple multiplayer engagements for the later games, as those mostly have poorer AI and less singleplayer focus but intensingly interesting multiplayer pvp battles. Especially the Gamemode "front lines" unique to MOWAS2 which is probably the most unique and interesting multiplayer experience you'll find when compared to most rts games.

[@thencrranger5628]

@@Zade_95 If you really planned to, don't forget Battle of Empires and Call to Arms (along with it's DLC).

[@samz8691]

I am a fan of MOW so hope this turns out well. I didn't finish it yet but I liked how Red Tide (A single player only expansion) added the Italian and Romanian Factions, I'm kinda sad they weren't brought back for any of the multiplayer games, as you don't see Romania that much in WW2 games.

[@mcsmash4905]

red tide was a bit whack on some missions but most of them were quite excellent , tbh now that i think about it there isnt any men of war campaign that i didnt like

[@spartnmarcen5110]

WHAT THE HELL??? HOW DID I MISS THIS?!! AHH!!! Between Diablo 4, Midnight Suns, and now this all being free for the weekend and Great War: Western Front on Monday this truly is a fantastic weekend.

[@bishopsarch]

A great review (and might I say as someone who only started watching from your Coh3 review, I really like your content). As someone who has played MoW, MoWAS2 and CTA Ostfront, if you liked this game then you'll really like the previous instalments. The question I asked myself while trying this new rendition was "is this game doing anything better than the previous titles?" and the answer, shortly, is no. If you like this game, the previous titles, particularly CTA Ostfront and MoWAS2 are better in almost every aspect. Again, really enjoyed your review!

[@Serious_Ludd]

Exactly what I was asking myself ! What does this installement brings in comparison of the others ? Sadly according to your review, nothing.

[@Zade_95]

Thank you! I'll be sure to go and play AS2/GoH before mow2 releases.

[@empireofitalypsstimfromano5025]

Just Because It Dosen't Bring Anything New Dosen't Mean It's Outright Worse. Better Graphics And A New Campaign Would Already Be Nice And I Think We Have Better Graphics Than Mowas 2 Already And Getting A Better Campaign Than That Would Be Easy Since They Are All The Exact Same Missions For All The Different Factions

[@TheCommunistColin]

If you're interested in the single player aspect of the series, I strongly recommend Men of War: Red Tide. It's a primarily single player campaign experience centered around a series of operations carried out by the Soviet Naval Infantry during WW2. It's got a lot of very tense and challenging missions involving stealth, sabotage, recon, resource management, all the way up to full fledged battles at places such as Odessa, Sevastopol, and Kerch. I suspect it probably hasn't aged terribly well but I remember being very impressed with it as a teenager, and many of the mechanics are similar to the more modern Men of War games.

[@henryhamilton4087]

Prepare to have to reload plenty of times because Red Tide is ESPECIALLY stingy with unit counts and i'd say 80% of the time your objective is to break a German defense line (of at least 100-300 men with artillery and tanks)....while the game gives you anywhere from 8 conscripts to maybe 30 marines and a tank. It is a good game that's based on the original MoW engine with some improvements, but the missions are incredibly difficult, and can take more than an hour each, and require a lot of just direct control micro and some cheesing.

[@lonereaper4287]

i will add that the way units work in this game is different to assult squad 2 where there was no limit to how many you could call in, there was a soft cap of units allowed out at a time but if they died they could be replaced with other units. there are no squad caps in the echelons. your resources were divided into three 1. Manpower, the basic currency which all your normal units cost this regens over time 2. Command power. The soft cap that limited how many units you could have at a time. 3. DP (i don't remember the name), you had 10/100 depending on the game. this would be specialized units that did have a limit how many you could call in, this currency did not regen.

[@Rogue_Tiger]

So, while not called men of war. Call to arms and Call to arms Gate of Hell (they made it a dlc for an entirely different game, dumb we all know) should be covered too. I have finished the video yet but a bit part of what keeps theses games (Assault squad 2 mainly) alive is modding. From realism mod to mass content to Warhammer and star wars.

[@Rogue_Tiger]

Oh, and the editor mode. That's a big thing

[@Badhero4]

Saw Sudden Strike mentioned in the comments. It's good to see fans of different strategy games coming together.

[@HistoryMonarch1999]

I played it, and I so far love the trench system, like it looked like I could make foxholes and then build trenches between them. Seeing the ghost shape of it before I put it down is SO helpful. I didn’t get to play enough but as long as I can heal while laying down I will be satisfied

[@saltyshackles5227]

Gates of Hell: Osterfront is the best WW2 RTS right now. I hope Men of War 2 can polish and develop into that standard over time.

[@epicdude8860]

I think I'm going back to Assault Squad2, this Men of War 2 is just a remake version of Arena version

[@Ratich]

Yeah they're quite different beasts actually one is a traditional RTS with a focus on tactics the other is a Real Time Tactics game with no base building allowing you to semi realistically reenact WW2 battles

[@Ratich]

In previous games it was just the bird's eye view I think the third person was added in the later games. Also the successor made by the German Devs has first person view added to it as well

[@SirArtanis7]

You know how you have to many games on your steam library? When you search it for a game an 3 from the same series pop up and you don't remember getting them!

[@kriegsmarine12]

Not being CoH3 is only an advantage under any point of view

[@ThatOneMan830]

I’ve sunk hours into Assault Squad 2, especially with mods. There’s an amazing 40K mod for it, while Call to Arms has a solid Halo mod.

[@beansontoast468]

A ru owned 1C company with a sub-brunch in Czech Republic, firstly named 1C entertainment. Which is then suddenly bought out by tencent as of Feb 25th 2022... and rebranded as Fulqrum Games. Unironically, Fulcrum is also the NATO code name for the MiG-29 fighter... So a bit of a signature move by russians. It is also an attempt to distance themselves from sanctions. Since later on in April 2022 Poland issued sanctions to 1C poland. Basically, the publisher is still russian, even tho its tencent owned. Make what you wish out of it.

[@DiogoGaming2]

I started playing Men of war with assault squad II but i fell in love since, i played that game (and still play it sometimes) since it released, installing mods, making maps, playing custom campaigns and even making my own missions in the editor, i love that game so much!!! I played a bit of men of war arena but i didnt like the gameplay, its way more acrcade and i prefer the realism in assalt squad II, i played call to arms and i liked but its not to that point of assault squad 2, it feels a bit off because modern tanks and units in general have a very limited space in the maps and it does not feel as emersive for me at least. Gates of hell is a dlc for call to arms and it is a bit more like assault squad 2, more to realism side and i like it a lot more. Men of war II seems for me to be an extension and a better version of the Arena and its more for the arcade side (a bit of a mix between men of war and company of heroes and some inspiration in the still division games too), i like it but still for me assault squad II was that sweet spot btwen arcade and realism, for now gates of hell is my go to men of war (when im not playing assault squad II at least :) ). Ratten Reich is also a game inspired in Men of War and i think you should take a look, its more ww1/ww2 style but i think it as a lot of potencial too. Im a big fan of Wargame Red Dragon so im looking forward for Broken Arrow too.

[@rockinunderscore52]

even after men of war 2 is released, it would be amazing to see a review of Men of War AS 2, or Red Tide (for SP). the Men of War AS 2 Mod scene is INSANE (including a full port of the aforememtioned red tide entry).

[@trblemayker5157]

Honestly I was expecting some evolution of the series. Gates of Hell and MOW2 looks and plays just like Assault Squad 2.

[@2stroke438]

They stopped giving a shit after as2 and realized they can just easily rehash stuff and people will buy it. As2 is still the best and holds up great, as a long time mow fan, and mods are still being made.

[@MetallGecko1]

​@@2stroke438 The only issue with Assault Squad are the Engine limitations, it crashes very fast in bigger battles with some mods.

[@Argacyan]

@@2stroke438 AS2 itself was an easy rehash of AS1 that people bought if you were around for that like I was. The observation is funny, and I'd agree, but imo AS2 was exactly the thing that caused that problem.

[@2stroke438]

@@Argacyan you're not wrong, I was still on as1 when 2 came out, but as2 was better because that's where everyone went.

[@davidawesome4569]

@@MetallGecko1 I really hope they have solved the engine issues in Men of War II. Robz in mowas2 was a blast, but the constant crashing of people and games going to a crawl whenever someone played on a potato pc, stops me from coming back to it.

[@textentity]

(150 hours in both MOWAS2 and Gates Of Hell) Mowas has always been a go to hood classic for my friend group to play a 1v1 or a 2v2 or sometimes when people's schedules align you have legendary 4v4 2 hour slugfests that people clip and remember for years to come. It's a very special game with a for our very special little community and mowas 2 doesnt really schartch the same itch. It's too streamlined and modernised so to say. You click queue, load into a public match, have a quick game and level up your regiments like you do in every other modern game pumped with progression systems. you can't just boot up a casual 1v1 or 2v2 while arguing over what mods to use. Spiritually this is an entierly new game for an entierly new audience and as everyone says Gates of Hell(not call to arms base game, it's shit) is the true succsessor to Mowas2

[@sarahrichards1281]

As an avid men of war fan, this series is the strangest groupings of games. They all vary greatly in developers, styles and focuses while maintaining the same core gameplay. They all have different versions of the gem engine and not necessarily do more recent releases use newer versions (often IP disputes have certain dev groups prefer either older or newer GEM engines). Few are very singleplayer focused and most favor 2v2-4v4 mp while many of the releases are made by modders from a particular other men of war game. But what they all share is an awesome tactical experience which is brutally punishing to inexperienced players and forces well thoughtout and coordinated offenses or thoroughly planned defensive lines with overlapping lines of fire. They also don't have the stale rock paper scissors aspects of other rts. Since any infantry unit can acquire any piece of equipment left on the battlefield, armor can be repaired and damage models are built of realism, so many different styles are viable. An incredibly resourceful player can hold a line with only a couple infantry squads against an armored attack, and actually in theory gain in strength through the stealing of equipment and repurposing of weapons. The assault squad 2 Gamemode of Front lines shows this best. In this Gamemode, the defending team has a set amount of time before the game start to set up their defense of the map. In this time, players can lay down mines, set up ambushes, dig trenches, camouflage positions, lay barbed wire and tank traps and also use explosives to clear out cover their enemy may use to attack them. This mixed with the total destructive system means a peaceful town will end up just craters, trenches, tank wrecks and burned corpses after 30minutes of fighting over the same territory. So while yes men of war isn't for the more base builder fans, it offers an entirely difference rts experience that makes them probably my favorite games in the genre. PS Gates of Hell: Ostfront is probably the most modern and enjoyable, especially for a new player, while Men of War Assault Squad 2 is basically the definitive classic of the series.

[@Underground3]

Heard my thought on this. I hope Ratten Reich doesn't suck.

[@javi_op4339]

First of all I'll like to thank you for your work Zade, I've been watching your channel almost from the start. Now I'll go to the point, I am a "veteran" of the MoW series and there are so many things wrong with this game that a new player such as you wouldn't notice. Firstly, the graphics are at least outdated compare to Gates of Hell and the assets are the same of the original MoW (2009) ffs even the maps in the beta are similar to the MoW AS2 ones. Also in previous games you where given access to a sizeble arsenal of units of which some of them were special and cost special points that you couldn't recover during the match. Now you have to be limited by the echalon system which I personally don't like much. Another issue I have is the f***ing wiki appearing every time I get my mouse over any unit, that's horrible and so intrusive. And then there is the planes, they have a great impact in game and they fairly cheap, normally there haven't been planes in MoW multiplayer except in GoH where the airstrikes cost that special points I mentioned earlier. I have to mention the sound desing which is amazingly bad, tanks sound like soviet tractors and guns like nerfs. These are only some of the things I didn't like but there are more. Nonetheless the worst thing for me is that there seems to be almost no evolution from previous games. It is so similar that for me it is not worth it and that is without taking into account the more acarde vibes of MoW2. However, it also has some good things like the new gamemode, the 3rd person view... I don't know this is just my opinion. Sorry for my bad english. I am sure there are some typos

[@Cromwell95]

Cannot agree with this more

[@Zade_95]

Great writeup - you're right a lot off this wouldn't be noticeable for a new player haha. Is GoH the game you'd reccomend as the best representation of this concept?

[@Cromwell95]

@@Zade_95 Yes absolutely. Especially with its DLCs

[@javi_op4339]

@@Zade_95 GoH is for me the evolution this series needed, a bit more slow paced but engaging and fun, really good balance between realism and entertainment. The multiplayer is great, maybe it lacks in some alternative game mode but it's great nonetheless. The single player also have lots of options such as the dinamic campaign or the classic RTS one, both fairly well done although the dynamic one may be a little too easy for experienced players. I personally have a special connection with the campaign because it is the only game I know that has a mission based in the Blau Division and being Spanish that's to say the least, amazing. To sum up, yes I would say GoH is the best MoW like game currently, not taking into account modding which is far better in MoW AS2.

[@LordDizzicius]

Hey Zade, just adding this comment because it is one of my few areas of expertise as I have been a mapper / modder for the GEM engine for the last 5 years, specifically the Galaxy at War mod for AS2. (Secretly deep down want your opinions on the AS2 modding scene but I digress). To give my 2 cents, part of why I think MoW2 is being called arcadey is because the players have another game to directly compare to, namely Gates of Hell. See Men of War has always been a weird mix of hyper detailed mechanics with a somewhat simple aesthetic. A mod for AS2, Robz Realism, overhauled the entire kinaesthetic feel for the game and basically cemented itself in the community as a must have for many players. Several of the veteran modders, including but not limited to Robz, gathered together and developed their own game Gates of Hell which uses the more grounded aesthetic as the core of its design. To cut a long comment short, I think the community has a higher expectation of a MoW sequel because first, a high quality product that is pushing the conventions of the engine already exists in Gates of Hell, and MoW2 has to offer something significant to be impressive compared to that game. And second (and my bias).. AS2 has and still has an entrenched modding community and the inertia of moving that scene towards a different game is intense. For what it's worth, I think GoH will bring the mods with it eventually but time will tell! Thanks for listening to my take, if you can't tell, I'm very excited to see a little MoW content on your channel Zade!

[@ReviveHF]

You should try out the Call to Arms(Not to be confused with it's WW2 expansion Call to Arms : Ost Front).

[@philiperece9754]

Hi, I strongly advise you to play Call To Arms - Gates of the hell. given that it was released long before the anticipated access to Men of war II, you will see that gates of the hell offers gameplay that is much more similar to that of other men of war, with the first person view that was already present on Gate of the hell (so men of war II does not offer anything new). The big negative point with Men of war II is that the developers just forgot what players like about their old series and wanted to make us something that makes no sense like BF2042 .... in the state current game and if unfortunately it comes out in the state where it and .... unfortunately I could only wish it to be a quick failure

[@tomgiorgini9154]

gate of hell is bug ridden, does not support 4k and looks like a black and white movie, and just has russia and germany, nice if you happen to be russian or german

[@joseaca1010]

A little bit of extra background info on Best Way, their offices were located in Severodonetsk Yes, the same Severodonetsk that the russians reduced to rubble last year Honestly all the Ukrainian developers, modders and content creators still working under these conditions have all my respect

[@Zade_95]

100%

[@mcsmash4905]

id highly suggest people to try battle of empires 14-18 which is basicaly men of war in ww1 , obnoxiously overpowered artillery , infantry dying from a single bullet , hordes of copy pasted soldiers , shrapnel shells , and intentionaly innacurate rifles and machineguns just to hammer home the fact that you need numbers/mass to do anything , also for the love of god people please understand that men of war isnt an rts but an rtt (real time tactics) game

[@lethrington]

As someone whos a veteran of the series (started playing when the original was the only game), I cant begin to describe the rocky nature of the quality of these games, and how also how little they have changed. Just watching your footage I can see models for tents and buildings and trees and textures, that have existed since the original game many years ago. As a veteran the only key differences I can see between this and Assault Squad 2 are a new "modern" UI, a focus on multiplayer, and this echelon system which has reduced the scale a lot more. It just doesnt look worth the purchase over the older games I already own. The thing is, that has happened a lot with the series. Its generally the mod makers who make any significant changes, as otherwise these games tend to feel like slightly tweaked rereleases using many of the same assets.

[@Zade_95]

Mmm interesting - thanks for the perspective! It does seem like mods are a lifeblood for the series a bit!

[@Kalakakku_]

Men of War II's gameplay and content is really bad when compared to MoWAS2 and in terms of realism and graphics CTA Ostfront is still the king. You should definitely play these two first before making a review.

[@gerardotejada2531]

I ve only hear bad things about CTA. It had an awfull launch, Gates of Hell was recived a little better but everybody was saying "Just keep playing MOWAS". Kind of what happrnd with Coh2 an 3

[@jacksheldon8566]

​@@gerardotejada2531 gate of hell launch was very rough. but it became better and better. today it is worth playing. CTA however can stay in the bin.

[@Zade_95]

Roger that - I will!

[@soliitudegaming7275]

Men of war II isn’t even out yet lol. Gates of hell is janky. Call to arms is a mess with limited to no support.

[@SylockTheDefiled]

If you haven't already you should do a video on BAR, as a person who has played for a while it's getting a fair amount of new players and it makes me excited where it can go.

[@Zade_95]

I plan too... At some point :p

[@michaelhawkins7389]

@@Zade_95 MEN OF War Assault Squad 2 was and still is amazing game .. hate the look of Men of war 2

[@AnthroTsuneon]

The 'Men of--' series and its tons of spin-offs has been great fun, but often are also extremely buggy or unpolished

[@Zade_95]

Yeah that's the vibe I got from researching - seems like a lot of people still enjoy it despite that

[@AnthroTsuneon]

@@Zade_95 Oh, they can be good fun and it's at that Dawn of War level of moddability where it's a good platform to give people an RTS or style of RTS in settings they might not have had the chance to enjoy before

[@gerardotejada2531]

Play Assault Squad 2 Origins. That is the defenitive Men of War experience.

[@duckmagnet3033]

I would recommend men of war assault squad 2 more than the original since the original has only campaign mode for singleplayer which is fun too but in assault squad 2 you can do just so much more there's a ton of mods too like Panther II's with nightvision because why not

[@Zade_95]

Mmmm ok - roger that!

[@pandaprewmaster325]

i suggest trying the first games that are called "faces of war" and the other one they are interesting and provided the base structure of what will become MOW

[@civilprotection3114]

I always viewed Men of War as a more realistic RTS that throws in hundreds of units for the sake of variety rather than balance. COH being far more casual since you can reinforce units, less punishing TTK for every unit, don’t have to worry about ammunition for every single soldier/ tank.

[@darkranger116]

Im just an orbiter waiting for the star wars and 40k mods so i can actually simulate ground combat when i play Stellaris.

[@inferno1305]

its so much better than coh3. The game looks great and runs really well.

[@deusameno579]

What about call to arms : GATES OF HELL ? xD

[@jeramey3914]

Love the videos zade. Can you do a BAR review?

[@Joe-kt7zp]

What is the most simplest game like this to play?

[@martindejonge695]

I love MOW and currently, besides Arma, AS2 is the game using most of my disk space due to mods. I do recommend DCG if you are going to try out MOW and AS1. I enjoyed the Assault Squad games more because the voice acting in the campaigns of these games always killed the mood but I enjoyed Faces of War's campaign. Call To Arms is also great and I love Gates of Hell, although I never got into these games for multiplayer, the editor is what got my attention. I think though I would stick to AS2 and CTA.

[@UndyingNephalim]

I could not stand the original Men of War but Assault Squad 2 was fantastic. I've felt this series is very inconsistent and has oscillated all over the map and after explaining the crazy development background and all the different companies involved.... it really explains a lot.

[@RandyArmy]

Tank movement looks like coh series or arcadey

[@StormKnight1]

Second comment: in this comment I thought of a perfect example to write as to why I love Men of War. In the original game, there was a mission where you controlled the Germans and had to fight off the Brits, on hard they are very strong, I used to perfectly shoot tank in the turret so it's crew would abandon it so I could secure it and move it behind my lines as I was building up to counter attack with my limited resources and an army of enemy tanks that I captured. No game I played ever gave me so much freedom of expression on how to execute my missions, Men of War is when you let battlefield and dark souls have a kid then turn it into an RTT and pump it with cool physics, inventory and pure freedom. Peace ✌️

[@lanceallen1916]

The graphics optimisation on this was terrible. I set graphics to medium across everything, AA and shadows off with an R5 3600, 16gb ram and a 2080S GPU, and was only getting 30-35 fps. They'd better sort that out before release.

[@mcsmash4905]

thats what happens when you are running all your games on the same old engine essentialy

[@potatoemperor8541]

You bring up Reddit and Twitter but I would recommend checking out the Steam Discussions for the Tech Demo, it's like 95% negative of what's being said about the game. Every Men of War/Gates of Hell player I know hates it and even if you ignore that it isn't really a Men of War game it still has a lot of other problems as Rimmy said. I've seen quite a few people like you who are new to the franchise do like it and that's fine but if you've played any Men of War game or Gates of Hell (which is what this should've been and you really should do in your reviews) you'll see it's nowhere near as good. Hopefully some of it can improve as it does have some pretty good ideas but it's being held back a lot by the negatives (tank gameplay is just World of Tanks, too arcadey, Echelon System/Regimetns isn't the best, unit control is the worse of any Men of War game, vehicle health bars). Anyway nice video, very cool.

[@Zade_95]

The one thing I've learnt from these comments is that I need to play gates of hell haha. I'll certainly play that, AS2 and the OG before the full MoW2 review

[@potatoemperor8541]

​@@Zade_95 Also completly random unrelated question but will you review Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy when it releases on Steam?

[@thesummerofmark]

Commandos video when

[@Zade_95]

Uhh Umm Ihh Uhhh

[@igorokinamujika2073]

I explored this saga some weeks ago as a potential followup to my CoH campaigns marathon (1,2,3). But I'm not sure about it. From what I understood, the only game in the series with a good campaign is Men of War 1 (whose cinematics are missing in the AS2 remaster). And people seem to agree its a very tough campaign in which you are constantly faced again impossible odds (and that Red Tide is even worse in this aspect). Which has killed all the interest I may had in this saga except for this ME II, which now I discover that its frowned upon by veteran players. Can some veteran confirm me this? Do the rest of Men of War games (or even Call to Arms) have barebones campaigns or nothing at all? Is the first Men of War campaign that hard? Also, I can't be certain without trying, but I'm not a huge fan of having direct control over units on an RTS/RTT.

[@jandamz1119]

When I first got MoWAS2 and tried their faction campaigns, majority if not all of them are the same missions just with a different faction. Was bummed when I saw it as someone who enjoys singleplayer content. Also I am in the same boat as you when it comes to Direct Control. Not a fan of it being a dedicated feature for almost every unit as it takes away from the commander experience which is what got me into RTS in general. It also gives a false idea of "that specific instance could've been done better if the player was direct controlling the unit at the right time." instead of "that specific instance could've been done better if the player used and positioned their units well." I am much more forgiving if that mechanic is limited to character driven stories though as it makes more sense since the player would be assuming the role of that specific character/unit (aka CoH did it and it doesn't feel out of place)

[@ShadowDragon1848]

Hm I don't know what to think about MoW 2. The only two "new" things are a Ui that tries to be more modern (but isn´t in my opinion) and the echelon system (which is okay I guess). But like all the other MoW releases this game feels again just like a big DLC. Oh btw I´mp rretty sure that Faces of War was the first MoW title.

[@Zarn130]

I would say that Men of War II is more like Men of War Arena which plays well diffrent from Men of War Assault squad 2 (the one respected and loved by most), and the next "men of war" game was Call of Arms: Ostfront I think Men of war is a good game but this Men of War II or Men of War Arena is not really something that feels how they used to and it's odd seeing them taking inspired from the failed game Men of War Arena then calling it Men of War 2 felt like a odd choice for us Veterans or ppl who got into MOWAS2 Personally I felt very dispointed with this game but curious of what other people felt. I still play Ostfront and MOWAS2 Only thing that sucks with Ostfront is acessibility but it's basicly made from modders with assistance of digitalsoftmind. I would recommed playing one of these

[@michalskorupa9487]

It really feels like a cheap game compared to mowas2. You should really give that one a try as its hell fun

[@plasmadrone3123]

when you do finally get around to covering the rest of the MoW and its subgenre (like its spinoffs, and predecessor), be prepared for the chaos, Voice Acting, and loooong vehicle repair time. also, CtW is cool too :) :) P.S: 07:18 oh wow, I haven't seen that game in ages. Is that "AirStrike"??

[@Zade_95]

I will! YES BRO! Airstrike 3D

[@plasmadrone3123]

@@Zade_95 my man!! I rechecked the franchise, and I recall playing the "AirStrike II: Gulf Thunder" quite a bit :D :D

[@Zade_95]

Let's goooo I remember downloading the airstrike 3d DEMO and having it take overnight on my dialup connection

[@plasmadrone3123]

@@Zade_95 that moment, and DEMO? what?? Early Adopter if I've ever seen one :v :v mine was from a bootleg CD compiling games from PopCap and more, including "AirStrike II: Gulf Thunder". I only got around to the first one, "AirStrike 3D", when I was in middle school. You know the story, boarding school + games on the computer lab, and that one was included in the list alongside "Stronghold: Crusader", "Counter Strike 1.6", and "Counter Strike: Condition Zero". Fun times LAN partying after school, or reading mangas in the library :D :D

[@Ratich]

You should also note that the original game is Faces of War published by Ubisoft of all people

[@tomgiorgini9154]

not true the original is soldiers hero's of world war 2

[@StormKnight1]

I am a Men of War junkie but I like the original + face of War + tides of war + condemned Heroes + as1. I like them more than assault Squad 2 but it's for niche reasons, one of which is that as2 even though very different from coh did try to introduce in some of the convenience stuff from coh, and to be fair, I love Men of War the less it tries to be like coh. Other trivia thing I dislike is that for the remastering of the original campaigns in aa2 they redid the voice actors and I didn't really like that. I am definitely excited for mow2 though since it's being developed by the original devs.

[@ahmadhadi177]

What's with the hammer and sickle in the thumbnail?There aren't any Soviet forces in COH 3.

[@jacksheldon8566]

since the first men of war game (Soldiers: Heroes of World War II) every game aimed for some degree of realism. with mowas2 being the most realistic one, especially with mods. however mow2 took a 180° turn and aim to be as much arcade as possible while still keeping some core gameplay elements from the men of war serie. it became too fast paced and vehicles hp/survivability got increased by alot compared to previous games. the 3 main issues about this game are : _too much restriction with divisions/regiments: not enough units to adapt efficiently to what the ennemy called in and not enough unit card which lead to not having any more units in late game. _some infantry squads can't be direct controlled nor separated into more little squads. which is one of the core infantry mechanic of men of war games... not fan of wiping whole squad just because they always stick together by default. _you lost an at weapon? repaired a damaged tank? recrewing it cost CP (cp = population)... imagine if in COH you needed population to grab stuff off the ground... overall the game has a solid base and did add some interestin innovations such as airstrikes and infatry able to move and shoot (wasn't the case in old mow games ^^) but there is too many little gameplay changes that feels like a jump back from previous game. mow players want an immersive ww2 war game with a slow battle flow and a realistic feel. not an arcade fast paced mix of steel division / mow / COH. i do recommend you try mowas2 (3€ on instant gaming !!!) and especially with mods: _ valour (the best ww2 mod for the game pushing realism even further), _asv w40k (no joke the best w40k RTS you ll ever play with this mod, better than dawn of war!!!), _vietnam 65 (men of war vietnam ported to mowas2), _robz (if you find valour not realistic & brutal enough), etc... and if you have money to spare you can also try gate of hell. (a very well made DLC for call to arms with better looking graphics and more reaslitic battles than mowas2.)

[@Zade_95]

Thanks for the huge writeup! That's all really useful info. I'll be sure to play AS2 and GoH before MoW2 releases. Appreciate you reccomending those mods too - I'll give em all a crack 😊

[@jacksheldon8566]

@@Zade_95 for mowas2, if you ever want to play multiplayer games vs AI you either need the airborne dlc or a host with it. You can still play Vs AI in campaign missions without the dlc, solo or coop, tho. That was a bizarre and controversial move from the Devs. As for GoH, you need CTA in your steam library but you don't need it installed.

[@gumblebrum]

Just gunna throw my two bobs in here and say I personally would recommend if you only play one other title in the men of war series is Assault squad 2 as though I love the original AS2 is definately a better representation of the game and where it's playerbase grew the most (still quite active to this day) plus there are a ton of awesome mods for it. If you do play a second i would recommend gates of hell but hey you do you I'm sure i will love the vid either way

[@retro2405]

Look at MoWAS2 and compare it with this game, it's almost appaling. Also, nice review - I really enjoyed it! Short and informative.

[@Ejsnes]

I was wondering about this series but it seems flawed to me in its design, it tries to be realistic but it's arcade when you're controling vehicles or inventory, it wants to be strategy but at the same time forces you to micromanage combatants like in fps sim... Design is so conflicting that it's offputing

[@Napswhilewatchin]

MoW 2 is a strange game. I played every other MoW titel (and GoH), but this one is so different. Don't know if I like it. The game modes are really nice though. To be honest, if they just made a classic MoW 2, it would have been just like GoH. So I understand the change of direction.

[@jessicajsk7757]

Zade I watch every video you push out but are we really gonna do Gates of Hell dirty by moving on like it isn't an already superior product to MOW2

[@Zade_95]

Haven't played it personally. I will endeavor to do so before a full review!

[@Cromwell95]

I’ve played Men of War and it’s spin offs for so many years it’s probably my most played series of games next to Halo. Men of War 2 is just an insult to its predecessors, the fact tanks have health bars is just painful. One of my favourite things about Men of War was that a Tiger could hold its own against waves of weaker tanks, it was always so satisfying finally taking it out. I’m just so disappointed. Gates of Hell is what Men of War should strive to be. I won’t be purchasing it.

[@5000Seabass]

That’s inherently unrealistic as well lol

[@Napswhilewatchin]

HP-bars were always a thing in MoW. They were just hidden. But still, something is off.

[@rodi8266]

ye

[@TexYMatt98]

Try Gates of Hell, its the pinnicle of this types of games and the other titles aren't even close to its quality and difficulty.

[@Zade_95]

I will!

[@suszinronedvin]

If you want to make review on mow you should play MoW1 and MoW AS2. Playing Assault sqad1 is waste of time, becouse AS2 is exactly the same game but witch more type of mission.

[@Zade_95]

I will, thanks!

[@marekkos3513]

This game is downgrade to almost every way.They have no idea what Men of war 2 should have been.This game lookd more like a moba game

[@alexeivasiliev7766]

Most oldies of Men of War do not like it, because they expected another game (MoWaS3). So their expectations were not met. But who didnt play older titles or didnt like it much. Mostly like MP in MoW2. Because its more fast paced, fun and team play orientated. And yes, gameplay shines when every player in battle got used to it and know what to do. So it brings a lot of fun. Looking forward for your full review!

[@onlyyoucanstopevil9024]

COH3 KILLED MEN OF WAR 2 MEN OF WAR 2 KILLED BY CALL TO ARMS GOH OSTFRONT😂😂😂

[@blackbaron6310]

Just get gates of hell or older MoW. This game is inferior in every way and they borrowed a lot of stuff from SD2 like model to sell divisions as dlc.

[@Zade_95]

Everyone is saying gates of hell rules. I think it's going on the to play list :)

[@fellington2398]

Stop comparing apples and oranges.

[@Zade_95]

noh

[@austinrose8982]

I liked arena better

[@steriskyline4470]

Gotta get that glory to Ukraine virtue signal in there amirite.

[@bebapfamily3008]

COH 3 is better than MoW2

[@dnaseb9214]

Steel Division 2 is better

[@phoukka1]

Beta was HUGE disappointment for me. I have been playing this game series for over 10 years and this is absolutely mistake from creators. It way too arcade and ripped from its roots. Game mechanic is totally different. If you want play games like this, buy Company of Heroes and leave this crap to the store.

[@portman8909]

Respectfully disagree. This game is an interesting take and still way better than company of losers.

[@oliethemagicbum]

"glory to ukraine" and im out

[@ravu7]

dis game is DoA for sure. its so mid and unbalanced with its attempt to cater to both fps and rts players. if you play solo good luck with random teammates. thx for letting us play beta though. hard pass

[@diego2817]

I won't consider this an RTS... Company of heroes is miles away, even the shitty coh3

[@mcsmash4905]

men of war isnt an rts series anyway , its real time tactics

[@lucasart328]

Trqsh game

[@dowmage2903]

32 seconds, first?

[@Zade_95]

#1

[@mrcryptoviking8517]

Company of Heroes 3 is good !!!!!!

[@swinoob616]

Gates of Hell is better in my opinion

[@VoPoHo]

Thanks for stating your support for Ukraine and not being indifferent. I didn't even know this game was made here but the whole publisher story is indeed shady. Great review anyways!

[@maks3311]

Is just virtue signaling

[@mortarheadd6473]

I find it rather ironic that in the ideology of the ukie they hate the history of the USSR and especially with regard to WW2, demolish monuments to Soviet soldiers who fought against Nazism, mock veterans, they glorify traitors and collaborators, and draw crosses on bodies and tanks clumsily imitating Nazi Germany.

[@sopek1427]

Glory to Russia