Men of War II Review (GigaChad)
TLDR; This game isn't terrible. Wait a month or so, let the devs work their magic and come back when the game is a bit more polished. Until then, save that money and keep playing Men of War: Assault Squad 2.
Newer isn't always Better
The game isn't bad, but it is definitely different. With over 400 hours combined on MOWAS 1&2 the gameplay changes and overall flow of the game took a bit to get used to, especially when taking into account specific gameplay styles.
DISCLAIMER
I am a PvE player, so my review will focus on PvE aspects of the game.
Here are my main concerns with MOW2
Population Cap: My approach to skirmishes was slow advances with massive armies, always dotting their tracks with MG/Mortar/AT emplacements. Not only did this feel like I was making a REAL tactical decision but it added to the immersion of creating smaller forward bases calling for reinforcements and placing them in defensive positions. Sadly, with the new population cap system limiting the amount of troops you can spawn in that really is impossible, I'm not entirely sure why this change was made in my opinion the previous troop system was much much better.
Always Online: While this isn't always a bad thing, in this context it is. Throughout my friend group the MOW series has been enjoyed as a game we take offline away from server errors and connection issues. Within 15 minutes of playing i was locked out of using my armored division (and still am after restarting) because of "an unknown error when communicating with the servers" and was told to notify the developers. This really sucks when the PvE part of the game deals with these new issues that weren't a possibility in the previous titles.
Flow of PvE Gameplay: In older titles the AI seemed to make fairly decent tactical decisions, with infantry units moving alongside armored units, and maintaining fortified positions on sandbag lines/mortar pits/stationary weapons. But this AI is so erratic that most of their advances make zero sense. The smaller bike units will fly into your defenses and be gunned down immediately, tanks will move up without any infantry support and be picked off before they can even have a major effect on the engagement, and infantry will run through flat fields and be cut in half. This also goes for your AI, they'll take seemingly the most destructive path forward demolishing all cover that spawns in with the map, causing a lot of frustration especially on defense missions.
Positives
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The gameplay itself is pretty decent, there's new features that I'm excited for them to refine and implement better in future updates of the game.
Graphically speaking the game looks great, especially when compared to MOWAS.
Very few in game issues (IMPORTANT.... "IN GAME")
Direct Control feels better than the last games.
The UI when DC'ing armor has been overhauled in all the right ways, displaying weapons and ammo counts front and center instead of on the bottom of the screen.
The game is still fairly fun, if you enjoy RTS games you'll likely enjoy the game.
VERDICT
Wait a few updates and see where the dev team/community goes. And in the meantime, if you're new to the series, check out Men of War Assault Squad 1 or 2. I think that will be a less expensive and better introduction to the IP.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/64000/Men_of_War_Assault_Squad/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/244450/Men_of_War_Assault_Squad_2/