Men of War: Red Tide

Large-scale wars have always done best on PC, and Men of War: Red Tide is yet another example of this. Red Tide is a sequel to the unique and underrated Men of War – which is a sequel to Faces of War, and which in turn is a sequel to Soldiers: Heroes of World War II.

Many sequels, but in each release, the series has developed, and in many ways become more realistic and, above all, all the more epic. It should perhaps be mentioned that the game series has so far taken place exclusively during the Second World War and Red Tide is no exception.

The main difference in Red Tide from the previous titles is that the campaign only depicts one nation – namely Russia. In the previous games, the campaigns were divided into several different nations, and to a certain extent it feels a bit boring, but at the same time good because continuity occurs as we basically get to follow the same battalion throughout the game.

The game design follows the same layout as the previous games. You go from mission to mission but with one big difference. Many of the maps expand once you complete certain mission sections. This leads to many missions having several different stages, and sometimes when you think it’s over, you are surprised with another stage. To devastating consequences on certain maps.

By the latter I mean that the game is unforgivably difficult at times. This is because you have a limited amount of soldiers to complete the missions with, and once a difficult mission is completed, your army is often decimated to just a handful of men – and then suddenly a new sequence opens up. Usually, it’s about holding back an attack. This makes for a hugely stressful situation like no other, especially if the Germans deploy their entire arsenal of tanks and an incredible amount of infantry.

Epic to say the least if you survive that is, if not, frustrating as hell. Whether you’re a strategic genius or not, the “save” and “load” buttons will be hot during these times.

Another thing that distinguishes Red Tide, and the entire series for that matter, is its focus on realism and fun gameplay. Instead of base building to pump out soldiers and vehicles, here you only have access to a certain amount of soldiers – which varies from mission to mission.

The unique gameplay makes every soldier matter. Thanks to game design that allows your men to take cover, it’s not uncommon for well-placed soldiers to knock out entire platoons of the enemy. Well-hidden soldiers also have a chance to knock out vehicles with grenades or various anti-tank weapons. At the same time, it’s easy to be massacred yourself if your men are spotted in the open by a massive tank with its machine gun rattling. Firefights can quickly switch from really successful to extremely fatal and that’s what makes the game so exciting. Strategy is of the utmost importance to success, and a failed one is often met with a “game over” screen.

Below is a Faces of War movie I shot a while ago. The differences are many from that game to this, but the video shows how the battles are fought and gives a good idea of ​​how it plays out. The firefights themselves are not that different.

The only real negative I have to say about Red Tide is that the game lacks a multiplayer mode altogether. Too bad in my opinion – because the previous games have allowed one to play the whole campaign with a friend. Very few games have offered such a good co-op experience as the other games in the series.

Well, all in all, I can’t do anything but recommend the game to anyone who wants a unique and very fun gaming experience in the form of strategic thinking.

/Thomas

This is an old post that I wrote in Swedish back in 2009. It has now been translated, mostly for nostalgic reasons. You will find the original in Swedish on page 2, if interested.