Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Parsely]

Call to Arms is an RTS that recently went free-to-play. Originally it was a 20 USD purchase on Steam. It is yet another iteration on the Men of War series.

Some of my gameplay of Call to Arms.

The most prominent mechanic of the Men of War series that sets these games apart from other RTS is the ability to take direct control of your units to do precise actions. It's a physics based game, so there are no hitscan weapons; in this sense it could be compared to Supreme Commander. Combat is on the scale of a company-level skirmish with detailed structures that your soldiers can fight in and around. The AI can be a little confounding at first but once you learn its quirks its simple enough to work around. All units also have an inventory in which all their equipment is represented on a grid.

There are almost no resource gathering mechanics except in some game modes. You have points that slowly accumulate during the match, and you spend those on different kinds of units. Some game modes give players points for losing units, and there are others where boxes can be held and captured in order to receive a flow of points. In every game mode the goal is to inflict maximum losses on the opponent while minimizing your own. There is no base building though logistics do come into play here and there as units can run out of ammo or tanks can burn all their fuel, or become disabled and need repairs.

Vehicle combat is also very interesting. All vehicles have detailed locational armor and are crewed by individuals who perform different functions in the vehicle. This was more detailed in Assault Squad 2 but it's still present in Call to Arms. If a Humvee is shot through the hood with a weapon that has sufficient power, such as a .50 caliber machine gun, its engine will be disabled and the vehicle will become immobilized. Tanks can have their guns destroyed and treads disabled. An M1 Abrams is an expensive and deadly piece of equipment, but it can be destroyed by an experienced player using RPG teams.

---

The main draw of this game for me is the lethal and nuanced combat and the sheer amount of control I have over my units. Grenade placement and timing and taking direct control of vehicles and anti-tank infantry are some of the most important things to learn in the game.

The voice acting is hilarious and the soldiers say things that make no sense. The physics are hilarious and I love seeing things and people get flung about.

There is a steep learning curve as the game is quirky both in terms of mechanics and UI that can make competitive play intimidating, but well worth playing once you get the hang of it.

I don't know how to feel about this game after spending 20 dollars on it and suddenly having it go free to play and have DLC be announced. Like, of course game development costs money and these expenses need to be met somehow, but none of this shit was announced ahead of time. There was never a hint of this game going FTP, and the devs haven't responded to the negative reaction that the playerbase had in a very calm and rational way. That said, I'm glad this game is now free, that I might find some more people to have friendly matches with, and perhaps encourage to get my favorite game in the series, Assault Squad 2.

All in all I recommend this game for people who enjoy RTS and are looking for a unique and fast-paced experience.

[Shadowlord]

Wow. 48% review score for the last 30 days.

[Parsely]

People are very, very upset about the free-to-play thing and the way updates have been going.

[choppy]

I will have to download this. I am kinda glad i held off on buying it though.

[Retropunch]

I love Assault Squad 2 - it's an incredible game with just the right amount of complexity to make it feel like you're really in command, without swamping you.

However, the whole Call to Arms thing seems awful - Pay2Win after not even releasing the game people paid for, and reading their response to the negativity just reinforced that they seem to gone bad.

Avoid, but get AS2.

[Parsely]

Call to Arms is a fine game to play, but the people making it deserve none of the credit. Plays differently from Assault Squad, which is a far better game. Give it a shot if you're considering getting a Men of War game, but for god's sake don't spend any money on it.

If you like it, buy AS2 and bathe yourself in the ocean of fantastic mods.

[Retropunch]

If you like it, buy AS2 and bathe yourself in the ocean of fantastic mods.

What would you say are some of the best mods for it? I've never really delved into that part of it, just because I enjoyed it so much as is.

[Parsely]

If you like it, buy AS2 and bathe yourself in the ocean of fantastic mods.

What would you say are some of the best mods for it? I've never really delved into that part of it, just because I enjoyed it so much as is.

World at War! It adds like 6 new factions and changes the balance a lot. It's like playing a full blown expansion. And they're constantly developing it. There is also a thriving tournament scene for it.

German Soldiers Mod is another fun one. It makes AS2 even more lethal than it already is by making most gunfire OHKO and boosting weapon ranges to realistic levels. I had a blast playing the sniping single player scenarios with this mod. A lot of people still play this one multiplayer.

There are tons of mission mods, but my favorite is Neverending Battles (which might only be available for AS1 unfortunately but I'm not sure). It has a few huge maps where you're given a time limit to set up a defense in depth, and then the Germans start coming in huge waves. It's amazing, and my favorite co-op mod.

I seem to remember playing some kind of mod map 1v1 with choppy where there were NPC enemies already on the map, or something? There are a lot of original maps that do cool stuff.