Men of War: Condemned Heroes
- April 11, 2012
- Fulqrum Publishing
- 14h median play time
The MoW formula still satisfies, but familiar units and a stale setting leave this swansong feeling superfluous.
Get on Steam"Men of War: Condemned Heroes" is a tactical World War II-themed shooter. Players command a squad of condemned soldiers in desperate situations, offered redemption through completing dangerous missions. The game features new tactical options, such as the ability to break through walls and use destructible environments to your advantage. It is a challenging and immersive addition to the Men of War series.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Challenging gameplay that requires strategic thinking and resource management, appealing to hardcore fans of the Men of War series.
- Well-designed graphics and audio, with a focus on historical accuracy and immersive environments.
- Unique concept of controlling a penal battalion, providing a different perspective on WWII tactics.
- The game is plagued with bugs and crashes, making it frustrating and sometimes unplayable.
- AI is poorly designed, often leading to frustrating gameplay experiences where units do not respond effectively to commands.
- Missions can feel repetitive and uninspired, with many objectives revolving around clearing enemy positions without much variation.
- story197 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story in "Men of War: Condemned Heroes" is criticized for its lack of depth, featuring minimal dialogue, poor cutscenes, and a disjointed mission structure that fails to create a cohesive narrative. Players often find the missions repetitive and generic, primarily revolving around capturing or destroying objectives without any engaging story arc. While the game attempts to depict the struggles of penal battalions during WWII, it falls short of delivering a compelling or immersive storyline, leaving many players disappointed compared to previous titles in the series.
“This game tells the story of the penal battalions during World War II, leading them through some of the most desperate and suicidal missions on the Eastern Front.”
“Historically speaking, the men in these penal legions received impossible suicide missions; they were expected to die as a penalty for their various crimes. Their accomplishments were seldom acknowledged, and if they were able to somehow miraculously survive their missions, they could be pardoned.”
“The gameplay is complex; in each mission, you have to accomplish various tasks, such as killing certain enemies, cleaning fields off enemies, destroying units, reaching points, and capturing points. The story focuses on the Russian side, but not the normal one: the captured heroes’ one.”
“The storyline of the missions feels like you're playing Assault Squad, with minimal dialogue, terrible cutscenes, and no tie-in from mission to mission. Definitely not the same as Vietnam or Red Tide here.”
“In terms of the content, the missions are all very much the same. It is solidly built on its engine, but has little-to-no story, offering generic 'go here, capture this, destroy this' missions, seemingly at random.”
“No voice acting, briefings, no cutscenes, no story arc. It should not be sold as a multiple campaign story spanning from 1942-1945 standalone game.”
- gameplay29 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a unique blend of stealth mechanics and mission-based objectives, offering a complex and challenging experience that may feel repetitive at times. While it diverges from the traditional assault squad style, fans of the Men of War series will find familiar elements and solid mechanics, resulting in a rewarding experience despite some frustrations with AI and pacing. Overall, it provides a fun and engaging gameplay experience, particularly for those who enjoy strategic planning and execution.
“A lot of the gameplay revolves around stealth, and if you learn how that works you'll realize the game isn't actually that hard.”
“The gameplay is complex; in each mission, you have to accomplish tasks like killing certain enemies, cleaning fields off enemies, destroying some units, reaching a point, and capturing a point. The story focuses on the Russian side, but from a unique perspective: the captured heroes’ one.”
“But the game is interesting and still fun to play, with fast-paced gameplay, where you can go behind enemy lines and knock out German tanks, SPGs, anti-tank guns, and powerful anti-tank grenades.”
“Either way, if you are used to Assault Squad style gameplay of controlling a combined arms force, this isn't it.”
“Shitty game with terrible AI. I was expecting it to at least have that armor penetration mechanic Assault Squad has, but it doesn't, despite it being from the same years (even released a few months after that game).”
“The gameplay is complex; in each mission, you have to accomplish some tasks, such as killing certain enemies, cleaning fields of enemies, destroying some units, reaching a point, capturing a point, etc. The story focuses on the Russian side, but not the normal one: the captured heroes' one.”
- graphics18 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 28 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are generally praised for being well-designed and visually appealing, with nice textures and detailed character models. However, some players have reported significant issues, including freezing and graphical glitches in later missions, as well as criticisms regarding the reuse of assets from previous titles. Overall, while the graphics are considered a strong point, they are marred by technical problems that detract from the experience.
“Well-designed graphics and textures.”
“The graphics and the textures are pretty nice.”
“The game is very pretty graphics.”
“Edit: the last few missions have serious freezing and graphical glitching problems, and they are hard as hell.”
“Some gaming magazines/sites rated this game poorly, mainly because of AI flaws, physics errors, or 'copy & paste' graphics from previous instances.”
“The game has some serious graphical issues that detract from the overall experience.”
- optimization11 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with users noting significant performance issues, particularly in city maps that can reduce frame rates to 30-40 fps regardless of hardware. While the user interface and game mechanics are well-optimized, there are several non-game-breaking bugs and a general lack of fine-tuning compared to previous titles.
“The user interface is well-optimized, with no bugs and well-synthesized information.”
“The mechanics are sophisticated, being pretty nice and everything moves well-optimized.”
“The game runs well-optimized, providing a smooth experience overall.”
“There were a few non-game-breaking bugs, such as: 'infinite mortar ammo' and 'massive stuttering due to AI howitzers firing (not video related)' which are pretty much exactly what they sound like.”
“Performance is terrible; no matter how good your machine is, some city maps will drag the best CPU down to 30-40 FPS.”
“The game also runs a little less optimized than its previous titles.”
- music10 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews; while some players find it stunning and dynamic, others criticize it for being extremely repetitive with only a few tracks. Overall, the audio quality is generally appreciated, but the limited variety detracts from the experience for some users.
“In this game, the music is stunning and dynamic.”
“Pretty nice audio and nice music.”
“The music is nice.”
“The soundtrack is extremely repetitive, with a total of about 3 tracks.”
“For me, it can also be regarded as a part of my military history research's beginning; it reminds me of a song called 'Kombat' sung by a Russian band called The Lube.”
- stability9 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is widely criticized for its instability, with numerous reports of bugs causing sudden crashes and making it unplayable. While some players appreciate the challenging missions, the overall experience is marred by persistent technical issues.
“But this is such a buggy mess, unplayable...”
“- Buggy like sudden crashing of the game and exiting for no reason.”
“I love Men of War games, but this game so far just seems too buggy and difficult.”
- grinding6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while some missions are straightforward, others can be long, difficult, and frustrating, often exacerbated by bugs. Despite these challenges, the gameplay remains engaging and rewarding, particularly when successfully strategizing with a team.
“Half of the missions are not particularly difficult; however, the other half can be very difficult, long, and tedious.”
“It can be tedious and very frustrating, but the gameplay is as good as any mow game, and the levels are rewarding when you take an entire position with 8 men and your wits.”
“While the difficulty doesn't spike as hard as Red Tide, it does have issues with bugs that make it more tedious than it otherwise would be.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is characterized by diverse settings, including open fields, villages, cities, and forests, creating a rich and immersive environment for players.
