Faces of War – Men of War franchise – Information for newcomers

How FoW is related to Men of War and where to start?

 
For some reason developers or publisher decided that they should give English versions (original versions are Russian) a different name. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if not for one huge problem – Many players don’t know which game is the first one and where to start. 
 
So here is the list in order of release. 
 
1. Soldiers: Heroes of World War II (Russian: В тылу врага, or Behind Enemy Lines) 
2. Faces of War (Russian: В тылу врага 2, or Behind Enemy Lines 2) 
3. Men of War (Russian: В тылу врага 2: Лис пустыни, or Behind Enemy Lines 2: Desert Fox) 
4. Men of War: Red Tide (Russian: Чёрные бушлаты, or Black Jackets) 
5. Men of War: Assault Squad (Russian: В тылу врага 2: Штурм, or Behind Enemy Lines 2: Assault) 
6. Men of War: Vietnam (Russian: Диверсанты:Вьетнам, or Saboteurs: Vietnam) 
7. Men of War: Condemned Heroes (Russian: Штрафбат. Also Penal Battalion) 
8. Men of War: Assault Squad 2 (Russian: В тылу врага: Штурм 2, or Behind Enemy Lines: Assault 2) 
 
There are there games in spin-offs series “Saboteurs” or “Silent Heroes”. They are not on Steam however. 
 
 

What kind of game this and why it is one of the best WWII games

 
Games in Men of War franchise (or Behind Enemy Lines) are tactical WWII games known for things like highly destructible environment (fences, buildings and even ground), separate inventory for each unit (not only infantry, but also vehicles and some boxes), stealth system (you can crawl, use silenced weapons), Fuel system for vehicles (vehicles have use fuel and you have to refuel them), damage system for vehicles based on parts (you can destroy barrel/turret and tank will lose the ability to shoot or you can destroy tracks/wheels and it won’t be able to move), lack of restrictions based on unit type/class (it means that any unit can carry any gun, grenade and even wear enemy helmet. There are two weapon slots in FoW. He can also steal enemy vehicle. No gimmicky and forced arcade play styles), limited ammo (not a thing in some RTS), different types of ammo. 
 
To be fair and accurate, MoW is exactly a tactical game with RTS elements. Some even consider few tactical elements as RPG thing. 
 
 

Why you should or should not play it?

 
As explained above this a tactical game with a lot of freedom. If you prefer this over arcade classic RTS experience (C&C, CoH, DoW) with fixed play styles, base building and powers, then MoW is for you. There are negatives of course. 
 
1. Controls/UI. It’s a lot harder to take control of your army in this franchise than in RTS games. Even harder to do that effectively. With increase of difficulty and PvP the game is not very attractive for newcomers and to be honest, I don’t blame you. 
 
2. Micromanagement. With great freedom comes great micromanagement requirement. Change stances, move each unit to different locations, check ammo and so on. 
 
3. Optimization. You can have fps drops even on modern PC. Bad or outdated engine. I don’t know. More recent RTS games are more stable. It’s not horrible but you are warned. 
 
4. Graphics. MoW AS2 improved it a bit at the cost of fps… 
 
Also i should note good modding capabilities. Players replaced models, sounds and more. There are few popular overhauls and even ported campaigns from older games. 
 
 

Factions

 
It depends on game and game modes. Here are major factions. 
 
United States – Appears in all main games, modes and campaigns (Sometimes as part of Allies) 
 
 
Commonwealth/UK – Appears in all main games, modes and campaigns (sometimes as part of Allies). Combination of UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand or as Great Britain separately (not sure about English version name). 
 
 
Soviet Union/USSR – Appears in all games, modes and campaigns. 
 
 
Germany/Wehrmacht – Appears in all main games, modes and campaigns. 
 
 
Japan – First appeared as playable faction in MoW AS1. No campaigns. 
 
 
There are minor factions that appear in games in some way. In Red Tide campaign there is Romania and Italy. 
 

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