Thankfully, Men of War goes back to the original game's sense of balance and once more allows you to rip off enemy hardware with reckless abandon, and also doesn't force you to suffer through constant cutscene triggers. Well, for the most part; several missions in the game do involve migrating your team to other areas of the map or using cutscenes to show points of interest, but the effect of this is much less annoying. Beyond this, it's the same old tried-and-true gameplay formula of using the units you've been allocated to carry out all sorts of varied objectives, such as stealing a submarine, or scouting the defenses around a fort (and then choosing where to plant explosive charges which will be set off before an assault later on in the mission). Several missions also involve multi-layered defensive objectives, challenging you with holding several lines of defense which gradually fall-back in the face of overwhelming numbers.

If you really want to get maximum enjoyment out of the game however, you need to go straight for the co-op mode. A downside to this game's level of detail is that it leaves way too much to micromanage during a larger-scale battle. Trying to keep tabs on the weapons, ammunition, and other supplies your soldiers carry during a given defense operation is often an overwhelming challenge.

Switch the game into co-op mode however, and it suddenly turns into this fun exercise in strategy and co-ordination, as you delegate tasks between yourself and your party to tow in artillery cannons using trucks, set up minefields, or simply fight over who gets to take control of the tank teams, smashing through buildings and running over infantry, light vehicles, and anything else unfortunate enough to get in their way. The co-operative mode forms the unquestionable crux of this game's brilliance, and if you've been looking for the perfect game to bring to a LAN party, this is it.

Of course, any game has its share of little foibles, and this one is no different. Despite the improvements, the AI governing automatic control of your units still is just as prone to charging head-first into enemy gunfire as it is taking cover when needed—and while there is an integrated map editor included, I couldn't find any local documentation on how to use it and had to go hunting around online to get a proper clue on how to make it work.

Ultimately, if it sounds like I'm biased towards this game simply because it has provided me with some awesome co-op play, it's because I am. I want developers to see that these kinds of games work brilliantly in a co-operative environment, and that we want to see more of them. It's not a perfect game by any accounts, but it's by far one of the better titles in my collection, and one I'm proud to recommend to fans of either action or strategy games. Do yourself a favor and ferry this game over to an impromptu LAN party the moment you pick it up - you won't regret it.

Questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you .