The environment is totally destructible. Trees, fences, walls, buildings, and vehicles can be blown to bits or rolled right over with a tank. The resulting debris can provide cover for your troops, but a few mortar rounds can turn your safe house into a vacant lot. The battlefield is ever-changing, requiring up-to-the-minute adjustments in strategy, totally engaging the player.

Your units do tend to obey your commands well enough, despite some of the pathfinding issues. They will take cover, shoot when necessary, and work together as a team to disable enemy war machines. They will even use med kits to renew their health when appropriate. Due to the large number of units, you will still have to be mindful of a few of the slower ones, not to mention having to hide the bodies of the ones that didn't make it, much the same way as in Splinter Cell.

Online modes include cooperative play as well as Capture the Flag variations. You typically won’t be committed for longer than an hour at any session. Since the game has been out in Europe for a while, there’s no shortage of players online. Technically, the games play identically to the single-player campaign. There are some response issues as with the single-player mode where some commands don't register, but generally there is no latency or slowdown.

The environments are not incredibly detailed, but they do blow up real good. Huge explosions send debris flying in all directions. The framerate is steady with smooth and realistic animations. Soldiers have faces with expressions, and vehicles display moving mechanical parts. The closer you zoom in though, the uglier it gets. Cutscenes are a welcome site, as they indicate that you’re actually progressing. The voiceovers are terrible. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe, so I did both. The music is generic as are the sound effects. Thankfully, the sound can be turned off before it turns you off.

Men of War is not going to appeal to the casual gamer. Only hardcores will be willing to attempt to crack this nut – it almost cracked this nut.

By Cole Smith
CCC Senior Writer