An unfocused but unique title that wasn't my cup of tea.
User Rating: 7.5 | Men of War PC
Men of War is certainly unique. In no other true RTS have I been able to (and indeed required to) managed the inventory of individual soldiers. Each soldier must carry a specific weapon which they may or may not be proficient at using, ammo, a helmet, bandages, and even knives or entrenchment tools. Each vehicle has fuel and ammo which can be replenished, and each seat must be manned by an individual soldier. Combine this with a fairly realistic ballistics and penetration model (infantry and REALLY vulnerable, and certain tanks simply can be penetrated by small rounds) and you have a very very micro heavy setup with a good degree of realism. The problem is that the AI is absolutely terrible in single player, and the game pits you against laughable sized hordes of them to compensate for it. While as a history nut I loved the amount of flavor in vehicles and weapons that were available, the AI undoes almost all of this. The result is a massive amount of save whoring and gamey behavior to exploit the AI. In multiplayer, the variety of units and weaponry is much appreciated, but the gameplay itself is directionless. you can capture points, but nothing you do ingame can change the steady stream of points you receive which allow you to unlock more units. The variety of units and size of maps means that there is a hugely wasted opportunity here, because as long as you have the points, you can buy the most advanced tank or infantry unit from the start. There's no hierarchy or sense of progression, and points are seemingly randomly scattered throughout the maps.
Ultimately, Men of War has an appealing level of micro, but fails in terms of direction.
