Men of War 2 review

Our VerdictMen of War 2 is a flawed but rewarding gem for masochistic RTS fans.

Our Verdict

Men of War 2 is a flawed but rewarding gem for masochistic RTS fans.

PC Gamer’s got your backOur experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you.Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware.

Need to knowWhat is it?Rock hard real-time strategyRelease dateMay 15, 2024DeveloperBest WayPublisherFulqrum PublishingReviewed onAMD Ryzen 7 5800X, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, 32 GB RAMSteam DeckUnsupportedLink:Official site

Need to know

What is it?Rock hard real-time strategyRelease dateMay 15, 2024DeveloperBest WayPublisherFulqrum PublishingReviewed onAMD Ryzen 7 5800X, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, 32 GB RAMSteam DeckUnsupportedLink:Official site

What is it?Rock hard real-time strategy

Release dateMay 15, 2024

DeveloperBest Way

PublisherFulqrum Publishing

Reviewed onAMD Ryzen 7 5800X, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, 32 GB RAM

Steam DeckUnsupported

Link:Official site

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Men of War 2 layers in new deck-building elements and some shiny graphics alongside a wedge of singleplayer and multiplayer options but, beyond that, this sequel is the same as the franchise ever was: brutal, shocking violence that can see scores of your forces wiped out in an instant.

(Image credit: Fulqrum Publishing)

A soldier using sandbags as cover

These moments will leave you feeling elated, and crafting a dynamic sandbox in which they can happen is a massive achievement. Original developers BestWay, returning for their first entry into the series since 2008’s Men of War, show a deft eye for creating drama out of what could be meaningless death.

Combat in Men of War 2 feels mechanically deep and incredibly satisfying when you get it right. Instead of the traditional rock, paper, scissors style balancing found in many RTS games, Men of War 2 is even simpler. Bullets will kill most infantry without issue, bigger bullets—say from an anti-aircraft gun or vehicle mounted cannon—will shred light armour, and explosions will kill basically anything if you hit it right, whether that’s a Panther tank or a squad of riflemen hiding in a barn.

Direct control returns and allows you to take command of a unit and tool them around yourself. There’s a real joy to taking your own shots as a sniper or going hands on with your anti-tank gun to wang a round into the tracks of approaching enemy armour.

It’s your funeral

(Image credit: Fulqrum Publishing)

Lots of bloody corpses

As battles progress, the beautifully crafted maps stop being just a collection of flora, rocks, and buildings and instead become naught but a collection of vantage points, kill zones and fatal funnels. Correctly fortified, these points could hold off an entire army, but there’s a chaotic energy to the game that means that just about anything can happen. Several times I clicked away on the map to check out another area on the front line, coming back just in time to see an enemy soldier with a can-do attitude has ruined my entire battleplan and reduced my defences to a smoking crater and human detritus. With the shiny new graphics, these body-filled locales look better than ever before and it goes a long way to selling the sheer meat grinder that every match turns into.

When everything comes together, it creates thrilling battles of attrition. While the battles in Men of War 2 feel bigger than ever for the series, a tight cap on how many units you can actually call in (and the resources needed to actually call things in in the first place) means that you constantly felt starved for troops. After a particularly bad loss in an area I often found myself unable to bring in reinforcements, turning everything into a hopeless scramble for survival as you send a few scattered and ill-equipped infantry to try and tackle whatever godless killing machine has just broken through your front line.

(Image credit: Fulqrum Publishing)

A road blockade

New units are slowly unlocked over time. You are first able to call in the First Echelon soldiers, then you can call in a greater number of more equipped Second and Third Echelon troops, these Echelons effectively gating your higher powered units behind a timer. These moments create a small surge as you can finally call in a big tank or an artillery piece that you think could change the flow of the battle. Generally though, I found most battles become much less intense after first combat. Most matches end not with a bang but with a whimper, as your dribble of surviving troops desperately tries to advance the frontlines.

Similarly, the story-led campaign gives you so little to work with resource-wise that every death feels like something you should quickload to get around. An enemy sniper can take out several infantry before you can properly react, and when you’re playing with a fairly small fighting force, it feels like you’re often setting yourself up for failure. I played several missions in the story-driven campaigns and sampled a bit of the Russian, German and US missions, as each of the three have a unique storyline, but I frankly found that they just irritated me. The set pieces were impressive, but with so little room for error, there’s not a lot of room for experimentation.

This was less of an issue in the game’s other campaigns—which include both dynamic and procedurally-generated campaigns—but there was always a constant nagging feeling that there just weren’t enough troops to do what I wanted to do. A skill issue, yes, but I’ve put hundreds of hours into Men of War Assault Squad and never felt this in the previous games.

Pick a card

(Image credit: Fulqrum Publishing)

Fighting in the trenches

The big new addition to Men of War 2 is the battalion system. This allows you to bring multiple battalions with different selections of units into the game’s two dynamic campaigns and to the wealth of multiplayer matches on offer. These battalions are pretty self explanatory: an artillery battalion will have a lot of artillery, while players selecting a tank led option will no doubt be unsurprised to find themselves knee deep in tanks.

You can see this in the two procedurally generated campaigns too. Conquest allows you to bring several different battalions on a romp across Europe, with a battle each turn. Raid is a smaller scale affair generating 16 maps for you to fight through. Raid is billed as more accessible, but because both require you to research new technology and then build a deck over time, it still feels very involved. Still, these dynamic options should be more replayable than the narrative campaign, and give players that do want to tweak and prod with their battalions a perfect toybox. For me, I found myself wishing I could just upgrade my technology and then have units automatically built into my battalion for me to play with, rather than trying to work out, sight unseen, who would be best for me to take out to war.

(Image credit: Fulqrum Publishing)

A mounted machine gun hiding behind a building

Despite these missteps, it’s hard not to enjoy what Men of War 2 is putting down. While World War 2 has proven to be fertile ground for the RTS genre, Bestway has created an uncompromising and compelling RTS. Sadly, many of the new additions to the Men of War formula don’t feel particularly necessary. As bizarre as it feels to say, I find myself wishing that Bestway had tried to reinvent the wheel less, and built more upon the brutal combat that underpins the game.

Instead, Men of War 2 is an uneven package. There’s no denying the wealth of stuff here: the game is full to bursting for RTS fans willing to learn the razor-wire covered ropes. I had a lot of fun, and despite how punishing it was I found myself eager to hop in again and again. I want to unlock all of the different battalions and see how they feel in combat, and I’m even tempted to spend more time in the game’s multiplayer, despite knowing I’ll get battered.

Not that losing would be a surprise. Failure comes in many forms in Men of War 2, and failure can befun. Sadly, several small flaws combine to make Men of War 2 difficult to love despite the tight mechanics that hold everything together.

The Verdict74Read our review policyMen of War 2Men of War 2 is a flawed but rewarding gem for masochistic RTS fans.

The Verdict

74Read our review policyMen of War 2Men of War 2 is a flawed but rewarding gem for masochistic RTS fans.

74Read our review policy

Men of War 2Men of War 2 is a flawed but rewarding gem for masochistic RTS fans.

Men of War 2

Men of War 2 is a flawed but rewarding gem for masochistic RTS fans.

LatestSquare Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fansThe Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcementsPath of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better lootSee more latest►

Latest

Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fansThe Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcementsPath of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth PC

Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans

The Sims 4 - a woman with red hair and a purple top exclaims with excitement

The Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcements

A Path of Exile 2 sorceress casting flaming skulls in a hellish landscape

Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot

See more latest►

Most PopularTurtle Beach Stealth Pivot reviewIkea Matchspel gaming chair reviewASRock DeskMini X600 reviewZotac Zbox Magnus EN374070C reviewMinisforum AtomMan G7 Ti reviewSamsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra reviewNoctua NH-D15 G2 reviewGulikit KK3 Max reviewBallionaire reviewMarvel Rivals reviewBe Quiet! Dark Rock 5 review

Most Popular

Turtle Beach Stealth Pivot review

Ikea Matchspel gaming chair review

ASRock DeskMini X600 review

Zotac Zbox Magnus EN374070C review

Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti review

Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra review

Noctua NH-D15 G2 review

Gulikit KK3 Max review

Ballionaire review

Marvel Rivals review

Be Quiet! Dark Rock 5 review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Our Verdict#

It’s your funeral#

Pick a card#

Our Verdict

It’s your funeral

Pick a card