Men of War: Condemned Heroes

This is the sequel to Men of War: Red Tide, but now you're playing as an infamous WWII unit... the Soviet penal battalions. Formed of soldiers convicted of crimes or incompetence, the penal battalions were sent on suicide missions and promised freedom if they returned alive. This game keeps its focus on the Eastern Front.

A unique instalment in the legendary RTS series, and one that's strictly for fans of micromanagement! Just like all of the games in the Men of War series, what really blows us away is the quality physics engine and the variety of vehicles, weapons, and missions. And all underpinned with respect for how World War II history actually played out.

Our favourite part? The strict respect for history as it really happened. This time, the game focuses on a little-known aspect of WWII that has never before been explored in video games, that of Soviet penal battalions.

These were combat units formed by Stalin in 1942 and made up of soldiers and officers who had been convicted of crimes, then sent to straight to the front line of the fiercest battlefields. Tasked with suicide missions, those who returned alive were granted their freedom (a practice that is still used by Russia today, in 2023).

Soviet commanders viewed these units as pure cannon fodder. Poorly equipped and caught between enemy machine gun fire and the guns of the Russian political police (who were there to stop them from retreating), they were often sent to face certain death in hopeless battles or across enemy minefields, sacrificed to clear a path for the tanks.

The missions here will see you fighting the Germans on the Eastern Front, so the game's only factions are the Nazis and the USSR.

You won't be doing much laughing in this Men of War game.

And be warned: there's no tutorial at the start of the game.

Our advice? It's best to have already played another game in the series before you start, because it is immediately apparent that the gameplay mechanics are extremely demanding, even if the controls are simple enough. You click on a soldier or select a unit, then click again to give them an order to move or perform an action. You can set your unit's posture (standing, crouching, or lying flat), their behaviour (move, fire), check their equipment, and treat their wounds...

We liked the ability to play as a particular soldier and control them with the keyboard. It often provides an easier way to beat the AI!

In Men of War, you need to think of everything. This is a game that's all about strategy and tactics, played in real time with no resource management!

Health, ammo, armour, and the destructible environment are all factors you'll have to take into account. Your men aren't immortal and health packs are essential to completing your missions. Likewise, running low on ammo means pilfering corpses before throwing yourself back into the fray, and you can even die through carelessness, crushed beneath a wall!

This is a game for the most hardcore Men of War fans out there. For the rest, there's always Assault Squad...