Men of War 2 review: The brutal RTS you’ve been waiting for

After some lengthy delays, Men of War 2 has finally hit the digital shelves, and the RTS is as brutal as it is fun. 

As a young gamer, I grew up with the likes of Command and Conquer and its many iterations, so war games are cooked into my blood. As a result, when I first opened Men of War 2, I couldn’t help but feel some excitement about the highly anticipated return of this series.

Men of War’s history is a little back-and-forth, with the first title game being quite the success and its follow-ups a little bit hit-and-miss. 

This time, though, it seems that Best Way and Fulqrum Publishing have consolidated player feedback to deliver something that keeps everything you loved from previous titles, but still fixing the things that didn’t quite work.

Key details

• Price: $45/£38/€45
• Developer: Best Way
• Release Date: May 15, 2024 
• Platforms: PC

Single-player is something special

You have your regular Story Mode and Historical Mode which are fun to play, but Conquest Mode and Raids are really where single-player starts to shine. 

Conquest Mode was a little confusing to figure out at first, but once I got my claws in properly, it was by far the most fun I had in Men of War 2. You can build your own armies and fight for territory in lengthy attack-and-defend-style missions, and it really tied the experience together. 

Once I felt I had a hold on Conquest, I moved on to try Raid Mode. It’s not something I’ve really seen before, because each campaign resets and regenerates every time you start it again – it’s literally endless content. 

The Technology Trees give you a real sense of progression, too. It’s quite a grind to get all the units you want unlocked, but in tandem with Conquest and Raids, it doesn’t turn into ‘do-the-same-thing over and over again until you’re blue in the face.’ It’s a creative way to grind out the Trees without getting bored.

It must be said, though, that this game is brutal. There were multiple missions where I needed to turn the difficulty down to Easy to try and make it through. Even then, Men of War 2 doesn’t give you much space to make mistakes. 

So, this game isn’t for the faint of heart, but the challenge gives it that satisfying feeling when you’ve managed to successfully complete a mission and get those rewards. 

Multiplayer lets you get creative

As for Multiplayer, there are three different modes and a myriad of lobby settings so that you can make the experience your own. It makes it a lot of fun, and it means you can find some weird and wacky experiences by using a little bit of creativity. 

Batallion PvP and PvE are personally my favorites. Being able to edit your regiments to your own liking kind of takes away the necessity to play with a particular faction to be strong, and it feels incredibly rewarding to win a game with an army that you’ve essentially designed yourself. 

That’s not to say that Classic isn’t fun, though. It’s definitely for the more seasoned players – the limited CP and limits on army builds make it all the more challenging. It’s not a mode for everyone, it wasn’t necessarily the mode for me, but it has an important place in the progression of this game.

It’s not perfect

Now, I must admit, Men of War 2 isn’t perfect. The tutorial is incredibly useful in giving you the tools you need before you start, but sometimes I felt it went a little overboard. There were times when I just wanted to move my tank forward and try the mechanic out, but got continuously interrupted by a screen of text giving me more context. 

This continued into single-player where every time my game was saved I would be stopped in my tracks for a big ‘Saving Game’ splayed across my screen. This might be because I’ve been spoiled of late with games that save quietly in the background, but either way, it was a little disruptive. 

There were also some bugs present that made or broke a few missions. There were a few times when soldiers refused to leave buildings they were set up in, and other times when they didn’t listen to my directions and got annihilated while running to cover. 

Aside from mechanics, the voice acting and storytelling are lacking at times. I understand that we’re not necessarily playing an RTS for the story, but because the actual missions and gameplay give you the real feel of being a Commander at war, it did break my immersion when HQ started talking. 

The verdict – 4/5

Men of War 2 has loads of fun content you can easily lose entire nights to. Both single-player and multiplayer have such a variety of missions and modes that any RTS fan can find something in it that they will love. 

It’s not a perfect game, but the frustrations I found in it were negligible in my ability to actually enjoy it. The brutality and intricate mechanics mean that it’s not a game for everyone, but even if it’s your first shot at trying out the series, you’ll probably find something to sink lots of hours into.

Overall, Men of War 2 is a stellar addition to the series, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan or a veteran of RTS games.

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