Developer Digitalmindsoft’s and publisher 1C Entertainment’s standalone expansion, Men of War: Assault Squad 2 – Cold War, is the newest installment of the acclaimed Men of War series, priced at $25 USD.
Proven Vindictions
Grand strategy games that push customization to the point of silliness, that have open-ended micro and macro systems, and that blend narrative with gameplay drive are rare. I know a good one when I see it because I’ve spent hours optimizing my EU4 map painting skills, space raced against Deity level Gandhi in Civilization 5 and 6, spectated league battles of Total War: Warhammer 2–hell, the first game I ever played online was Warcraft 3. The mixture of simulation with real-time strategy just appeals to my fancy, and Men of War: Assault Squad 2 – Cold War is fancy.
The combat is dynamic with a gritty realness guiding each pressing decision. Direct Control mode is immersive–lobbing overpowered grenades at a group of unsuspecting Soviets from a stealthy thicket of crops is exhilarating, pinching American infantry into a wall of iron with my heavy tanks and helicopter assaults feels rewarding, and dropping bombs from jets on top of enemy ammo supplies to strangle their long-bunkered infantry is devilishly fun. I posted snipers in watchtowers and flanked trenches with my flamethrowers to great effect. Each battle is tense, the violence is visceral, and the whole combat begs an immediacy that lasts about 15-30 minutes.
Not many games that go for intense realism pull off either a realistic or compelling feel to their gameplay because games are just that: exaggerated, simplified, and constrained designs of a few core concepts. However, Men of War: Assault Squad 2 – Cold War manages to hit both those notes, successfully relying on its harshly realistic gameplay mechanics to design compelling replayability.
The only time I ever felt de-immersed from the experience was the questionable movements by the AI. Sometimes they would funnel one-by-one into the teeth of my fortifications until their whole squad dies, and other silly mistakes were common. Even with the sometimes wonky AI logic, the challenge is still demanding, especially at Hard and Heroic difficulty.
A Bad Taste
Despite all the glory of Men of War’s core engines, the version I played on didn’t let me experience most of the promised campaign features. I was most interested in the dynamic single-player and co-op campaign brawls between the US and the Soviets, but at the end of every first mission my game would crash and none of the game’s memory saved. After un/reinstalling the game and my drivers, and troubleshooting in every other conventional method, I was still unable to lurch past the first mission.
As my attempts at retrying the campaigns turned into more frustrations I did, however, notice that the maps would switch around along with the enemy’s loadout and strategy. Neither were entirely randomly-generated, so I suppose the “no two campaigns will be the same” marketing of this standalone expansion will be just a few manually-bounded levers like maps and enemy loadouts rotating through limited options, not from the random procedural generation of maps or mission types.
What comes with Men of War: Assault Squad 2 – Cold War as opposed to Men of War: Assault Squad 2 seems just as stripped back as it is expanded upon. There are only two game modes in online play–Annihilation Mode and Assault Zones–and there are now only two playable factions.
The Cold War Flavoring
Even with my disappointing taste of the added gameplay content of the Cold War expansion, I adored its overall aesthetic. Punchy, bright artwork juxtaposes well with death-laded battlefields. The looming red-versus-blue spheres of influence as a grand battle map for the campaign really lets you live out your alternate-world commie or yankee fantasies.
I also loved what I could hear the soldiers yelling–of course, I couldn’t really make out what the russians were saying, because it was in Russian, but I imagine its similar to the American’s yelling out, “This one is for Uncle Sam!”
Modability
The future of Men of War: Assault Squad 2 – Cold War rests on the proven shoulders of the Men of War modding community. They have all the more opportunity to do so here with the upgraded engine from Call to Arms.
Final Verdict
I won’t consider my pre-release copy’s flaws with overall product being offered, and even at that I can’t say that Men of War: Assault Squad 2 – Cold War expands much further beyond or even in the right direction from Men of War: Assault Squad 2. That’s not to say it’s not worth playing, but for its $25 price tag I would rather play a modded version of the original game.
Pros
- Everything from Men of War: Assault Squad 2
- Fantastic core gameplay
- Hyper-realistic grand strategy
- Direct Control Mode
- Cold War aesthetics driving narrative appeal
- The promise of custom co-op campaigns
- Mods, mods, and more mods
Cons
- Lack of single-player and online game modes
- Lack of playable factions
- Inconsistent AI logic
Score: 7/10
Check Out the Men of War: Assault Squad 2 – Cold War Steam Trailer:
Men of War: Assault Squad 2 – Cold War releases today for PC via Steam.
Steam Review
Recent Michigan State University grad and current Game Studies researcher who plays fantasy RPG's to escape, Smash to compete, and Stardew to chill. Also have a +1 to rage/toxicity resistance due to the many hours sunk into WoW, R6, and LoL.
More Stories
Play the Free Steam Demo Now for Be the Ruler: Britannia
Mutant Football League 2 Heading to Steam Early Access May 31
Grounded Fully Yoked Edition Review for Nintendo Switch