Men of War: Red Tide
- November 1, 2009
- Fulqrum Publishing
- 20h median play time
Get on Steam"Men of War: Red Tide" is a sequel to the critically acclaimed RTS, allowing players to command the Soviet Marines, known as the "Black Coats," in over 20 missions during World War II. The game features new units, weapons, and air and naval support options, providing direct control over tanks, artillery, and more in a stunning mixture of RTS and third-person action. Fighting takes place across various environments, requiring strategic planning and tactical execution.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a lengthy campaign with multi-staged chapters that provide a rich and engaging experience.
- It offers a unique inventory management system where players can loot bodies and manage individual unit supplies, enhancing the tactical gameplay.
- The ability to commandeer enemy vehicles and create specialized squads adds depth to the strategy and allows for varied gameplay approaches.
- The AI is often criticized for being unresponsive and poorly programmed, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
- The game has a steep difficulty curve, with many players finding missions excessively challenging, even on easier settings.
- There are significant issues with the control scheme and user interface, making it cumbersome to manage units effectively during intense battles.
- story167 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 84 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The game's story is set during World War II, focusing on the Russian side and featuring missions based on real historical events, which adds a layer of authenticity. While the campaign offers a variety of challenging missions that require strategic planning, many players find the difficulty to be unbalanced, with some missions feeling overly punishing and buggy. Overall, the narrative is engaging but suffers from a lack of cohesion, as missions often feel disconnected from a larger storyline.
“This game uses actual Black Sea Fleet participants' biographies as the basis for its missions, and I can only be grateful that the memory of those who fought is preserved.”
“The campaign is multifaceted and allows for multiple playstyles on most missions.”
“The story focuses on the Russian side, which, in this game, will have various battles with the Germans, Italians, and Romanians.”
“The final mission is quite anticlimactic, leaves a bad taste.”
“The campaign is separated by single missions that do not have any connection to each other, besides some story description.”
“On one hand, it lacks a lot of the polish that the other games have; a lot of things are missing, for example, the main menu music or credits at the end of the story. The story itself seems even more like a collection of missions extremely loosely tied together.”
- gameplay34 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by its challenging difficulty and a strong emphasis on strategy, requiring players to analyze the battlefield and manage individual units effectively. While it shares mechanics with previous titles like "Men of War," it introduces naval elements and maintains a focus on realism, which some players find rewarding despite the steep learning curve. Overall, the gameplay is praised for its depth and complexity, though some critiques highlight issues with unit responsiveness and mission design.
“Combines fun and challenge all in one no matter the difficulty, plus all the water shenanigans this focuses on really spice up gameplay.”
“The gameplay is complex; in each mission, you have to complete a lot of tasks, such as killing specific enemies, destroying specific units, combating all enemies on the map, and reaching a certain point. The story focuses on the Russian side, which, in this game, will have various battles with the Germans, Italians, and Romanians.”
“On the other hand, the game does bring some new gameplay focused on the navy. You get to control large battleships, submarines, assault boats, and small boats, adding some variety and extra strategy options. This time, you control a smaller amount of soldiers in each mission, often having to take whole towns by yourself and fight behind enemy lines, which adds to the game's difficulty. It's definitely harder than the other games but not impossible; the single-player lasted 20 hours.”
“The campaign is incredibly difficult, and I managed to complete it after 27 hours of gameplay, with many missions leaving me with less than half of my starting troops at the end.”
“This is not a healthy game mechanic; this is not true difficulty, rather bad design.”
“The gameplay consists of only managing your squads and units that you receive to finish the mission.”
- graphics16 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
Overall, the graphics of the game are considered somewhat outdated, yet they are deemed adequate for the gameplay experience, which remains the primary focus. While some players note that the graphics and audio do not stand out, others appreciate the detail in specific scenes and find them fitting for the game's context. Despite mixed opinions, many agree that the graphics do not detract from the enjoyment of the game.
“The graphics and the textures are pretty nice.”
“Pretty nice and well-designed graphics and textures.”
“The battles are fierce and the graphics are pretty good in my opinion.”
“The graphics are a bit outdated, which is fine since the gameplay is the main factor of the game.”
“Yes, the obvious critique is that the graphics are a little outdated and the voice acting is poor; however, I think that the variety and intricacy of the game itself totally outweighs that.”
“The graphics look quite aged, but the graphical details that most fighting scenes have are fitting the game really well.”
- music13 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 46 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The game's music has received largely negative feedback, with many players noting the absence of music during gameplay and expressing disappointment over the lack of a soundtrack, even in the menu. While some appreciate the atmospheric silence that complements the game's themes, others feel that the absence of music detracts from the overall experience, leaving it feeling incomplete and lacking polish.
“The music provided a nice background sound without being too intrusive.”
“The music is nice, especially the menu one; it really makes you feel nationalist.”
“Nice audio and nice music.”
“And for some reason there isn't any music.”
“My biggest complaint about the game is that the music doesn't seem to want to play at all.”
“It completely lacks any music and recycles almost everything from the original game.”
- atmosphere8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive and gritty portrayal of Russian infantry battles in diverse environments, such as islands, coasts, and lesser-known battlefields. The absence of music during gameplay enhances the tension, while challenging missions encourage players to engage deeply with the surroundings. Additionally, players are encouraged to explore historical context through veteran memoirs to fully appreciate the atmosphere.
“A great game, worth playing multiple times for the atmosphere.”
“The atmosphere mostly happens in areas with water surrounding them, such as islands, coasts, etc. The battles also happen in villages, towns, forests, fields, military bases (pretty rare), and even other environments.”
“That atmosphere, fighting on battlefields that are less known to 'common folk' than the usual ones like Anzio, Normandy, and Kursk.”
“The atmosphere mostly happens in areas with water surrounding them, such as islands, coasts, etc. The battles also happen in villages, towns, forests, fields, military bases (pretty rare) and even other environments.”
“That atmosphere, fighting on battlefields that are less known to 'common folk' than the usual ones like Anzio, Normandy, Kursk.”
“Oh, and don't forget to read the encyclopedia and memoirs of veterans; otherwise, you lose out on the atmosphere.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game exhibits poor performance during certain missions and lacks support for modern gaming PC features, resulting in suboptimal playability on contemporary machines. However, the user interface is well-optimized and free of bugs, while the game mechanics function smoothly.
“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 suffers from poor performance during some of the missions.”
- stability3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game experiences notable stability issues, with players frequently encountering bugs during missions that can lead to unwinnable situations, necessitating mission restarts. Overall, while the gameplay can be challenging, the presence of these bugs detracts from the overall experience.
“A lot harder than Men of War, but the last mission is insanely buggy.”
“It is a bit buggy sometimes on missions, and it is not uncommon to restart a mission when things go completely wrong and you find yourself in a position where you just can't win.”
“It is a bit buggy sometimes on missions, and it is not uncommon to restart a mission when things go completely wrong and you find yourself in a position where you just can't win.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game offers limited replayability, primarily appealing to fans of older RTS titles and WWII themes, as it is relatively short and lacks substantial incentives for replaying missions. While it showcases strategic depth and tactical control, the overall experience is best enjoyed once rather than revisited.
“It's difficult, showcases what you know from other early Men of War titles (replay value, high-level strategy, in-the-trenches tactics and control, etc.), and it runs on pretty much anything.”
“It is quite fun to finish each mission once, but since the game is fairly short and offers only minimal replayability, it is only advised if you enjoy older RTS and especially Blitzkrieg and WW2 games.”
“This game offers none to minimal replayability.”
“It's difficult and showcases what you know from other early Men of War titles, but it lacks replay value.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely derived from the undirected and amusing English voice acting, which, despite being criticized, is seen as effective comic relief. The introductory chapter videos, however, are noted for their high-quality voice work, contrasting with the overall comedic tone.
“The English voice acting sounds undirected and funny, except for the introductory chapter videos, which sound fantastic.”
“I suppose my one 'complaint' would be the terrible voice acting, but personally, I find it hilarious and effective as comic relief.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and boring, with extreme difficulty detracting from the enjoyment of its otherwise appealing features, such as a variety of vehicles and the ability to capture enemy equipment.
“It's a pity because the game has many good things like dozens of different vehicles or the possibility of capturing enemy equipment, but the extreme difficulty makes it a tedious experience.”
“Started playing this game and within 5 minutes I was thinking to myself, 'this is tedious and boring.'”
