- Men of War: Assault Squad
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Men of War: Assault Squad 
Developer(s) DigitalMindSoft Publisher(s) 1C Company Designer(s) Christian Kramer Series Men of War Engine GEM2 Version 1.85.3 (April 22, 2011) Platform(s) Microsoft Windows Release date(s) February 25, 2011 [1] Genre(s) Real-time tactics / strategy Mode(s) Single-player / Co-op / Multiplayer Media/distribution DVD-DL, download System requirements - OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
- Processor: 2.6GHz Processor
- Memory: 1GB
- Graphics: DX9c-compatible GPU
- Hard Drive: 4GB
Men of War: Assault Squad (Russian: В тылу врага 2: Штурм), is a real-time tactics / strategy game set in World War 2. It is a standalone expansion pack for the 2009 game Men of War.
Contents
Development
In the development of Assault Squad it was decided to focus more on the infantry part of the game. It adds 15 new missions, improved graphics, Japan as a new faction, and a couple new units. There was also a temporary name, where A4 defines the build name (Men of War is A3).[2]
On April 27 2011 DMS released the first official DLC for the Men of War series. The MP Supply Pack Alpha features five multiplayer maps for Men of War: Assault Squad.[3]
Before release the game had an exclusive testing phase via payment. After several months of testing DMS offered an open beta if the Men of War: Assault Squad Steam group reached 10,000 players. The target was reached and the game was released in an open beta. After the first beta ended, DMS offered another open beta before release if the Steam group reached 20,000 players. The second beta was opened and stayed available until the game was released.
Gameplay
Assault Squad is primarily a real-time tactics game, but veers more toward strategy than its predecessors due to the absence of any "fixed force" (i.e. no reinforcements) scenarios. It is driven by an intricate simulation that tracks ammunition and fuel, inventories for each and every unit, cover and line of sight, tank combat with penetration and deflection of shells, field of view, and much more beside.
While Assault Squad is geared toward multiplayer, the new co-op Skirmish mode can be played offline without a partner.
Like earlier games in the series, Assault Squad includes a "direct control" feature that allows the player to take control of any unit on the field. This allows fine control during firefights, such as priming grenades before throwing and aiming for specific parts on a tank.
The multiplayer uses the Gamespy client and has a built in Elo rating system. Multiplayer matches can take place on dozens of maps and between the games five factions. New multiplayer maps are being released as DLC.
Infantry Combat
Each soldier in Men of War is a self contained unit controllable by the player using a traditional real time strategy control scheme or through direct control. Every soldier has an inventory consisting of ammunition, weapons, and equipment. While a rifleman might have single frag grenade, elite troops like Rangers or Panzergrenadiers, might have a pair of anti tank grenades and several anti personnel grenades as well as advanced equipment like anti tank rifles or dynamite. Equipment and weapons can be collected from dead soldiers or the ground, or transferred between units.
The game features sophisticated cover based combat as well as deployable sandbags and support weaponry. Infantry can take cover and as the environment will block line of sight and projectiles, laying in ambush or fortifying strategic points like bridges or town squares gives a tactical advantage.
Each of the five factions has different squads of infantry as well as several support infantry such as flamethrowers, snipers, minelayers, and anti tank specialists.
Tank Mechanics
Assault Squad features a realistic impact system to tank and vehicle armor. Every gun in the game has its own individual penetration values and characteristics. How they interact with armor when fired depends on range, angle, strength and many other deciding factors.
Example of a Tiger 1 angling away to deflect a shot, on left the hit indicator is green, showing a good chance of penetration, right shows a bad chance.
Unlike other games, tanks have no health point bar, but instead are separated into parts. A shell to the turret, if penetrated, will severely cripple it and will disable its ability to rotate, if the gun is damaged you will be unable to fire, and a shot to the engine can result in an engine fire that will burn out the tank. Tanks can also be de-tracked, or simply be shot in the main hull and lose crew members.
Depending on the size of the shell fired, and a little bit of luck, you can damage the tank enough and the crew will evacuate the tank, the tank owner might be able to repair the tank depending on the amount of damage received. A shot to the ammo or fuel however can result in an explosion.
Critical reception
The game has a 77.62% rating on gamerankings.com[4]
PC Gamer gave it an 81 on pcgamer.com[5]
Metacritic currently has average of 77/100 based on 20 critic reviews. [6]
References
- ^ DMS. "Release date". DMS. http://www.digitalmindsoft.eu/?fi=9233.
- ^ "Outfront Series". Digitalmindsoft Community Wiki. 2009-08-19. http://www.digitalmindsoft.eu/wiki/doku.php?id=outfront_series.
- ^ "Men of War: Assault Squad". Digitalmindsoft Community News Page. 2011-04-27. http://digitalmindsoft.eu/?fi=10070.
- ^ "Game rating". http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/997420-men-of-war-assault-squad/index.html.
- ^ "PC Gamer rating". http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/04/01/men-of-war-assault-squad-review/.
- ^ "Metacritic page". http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/men-of-war-assault-squad.
of War series Men of War series Faces of War Soldiers: Heroes of World War II Soldiers: Heroes of World War IIOther games Outfront: Saboteurs · Outfront: Saboteurs 2 · Outfront: Saboteurs 3Categories:- 2011 video games
- Windows games
- Real-time strategy video games
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