Greetings, Commanders!
The time has come and Men of War II is back with the third and final time to get hands on with the game, prior to its release. But giving you the opportunity to enjoy the game is not the only reason we are running the Beta - we need to learn what you think of the latest changes, so we can polish and tweak the game before its full launch.
We cannot stress this enough - your feedback from the first Multiplayer Tech Test in March and the subsequent Open Beta in May has been absolutely invaluable, and in this Final Open Beta, we would especially like to learn what you think about the two big features developers prepared solely based on your suggestions and comments - a new Match Setup Mode, called "Classic", and a new setting, dubbed "Realism".
We read all your feedback and each and every single player can have an impact on the final version of the game. We hope the changes implemented throughout the 3 playtests have proven our dedication to making Men of War II as enjoyable for our fans as possible.
Therefore we implore you, please, once you have played the Beta, share your thoughts with us here in the comments or Steam discussions, or come join the official Men of War II Discord server where you can not only chat with our team and other fans of the game, but also find team-mates for multiplayer matches or try to take on the Fulqrum Publishing team throughout the Final Beta.
And now, without further ado, let us introduce the biggest new features this Beta brings - both available through the custom lobby:
"Classic" Match Setup Mode
The "Match Setup Mode" is used to switch between "PvP" (the standard Men of War II playstyle, where you can choose from a wide selection of battalions), "Combined Arms" (which we introduced in the previous Open Beta, where each nation has a single battalion you can heavily customize) and now, "Classic" - which has been highly requested by the community and is reminiscent of the previous Men of War games.
Match Setup Mode selection in the Lobby Settings menu
When starting a "Classic" match, you will not be asked to select a battalion, just the nation whose army you want to play. This is similar to Combined Arms, however, there is nothing to customize before the match starts here. Once in the game, you will have all units from your nation's army available through a selection menu on the right-hand side of the screen.
You are not limited by timed echelons in calling in units either, however, each unit type has its own individual timer (so you cannot call in heavy tanks right from the start of the match, for example), and you cannot call in units without any limitations, as each of them costs a certain amount of "Manpower", which you regenerate at different paces throughout the match.
Important note about the "Classic" Match Setup
A crucial fact to remember about the "Classic" setup - the main reason for this Final Beta is for us to get your feedback on it. Developers will be changing its balancing before the final release based on your comments and suggestions. In fact, there are already 2 versions prepared and will be switched on Saturday (we will inform you here and on Discord ahead of time). It would be extremely appreciated if you played both and share your opinion with us using this form - filling it out won't take long and it will help us immensely!New "Realism" Game Setting
We have introduced a whole new category in the Lobby, and that is "Game Settings" - which can now be switched between "Competitive" (the experience you are familiar with from previous Men of War II playtests) and the newly added setting called "Realism".
Game Settings selection in the Lobby Settings menu
This affects many gameplay features, some noticeable outright (such as different indicators on units), some more subtle (such as the inability to see if your unit has been fully detected after firing), and some major changes such as each unit having a different maximum firing range. When playing with the Realism setting turned on, even heavy artillery has to move closer to the front and will not be able to fire across the whole map.
The full list of effects when switching to the "Realism" setting:
- Removed health bars for vehicles.
- Changes in weapon settings - changed damage and range, higher chance of critical hits.
- New vehicle destruction system.
- Increased unit repair time.
- Added a more realistic vision system for units, allowing them to physically hide behind objects.
- The average range of vision has been increased.
- Removed some indicators and tooltips in the interface.
- Adjusted dynamic characteristics of all vehicles.
Join the test now by clicking “Request Access” on Men of War II Steam page and the "Men of War II Playtest" will be added to your library, which you can install and run immediately. If you have already participated in the Multiplayer Tech Test and/or the Open Beta, you already have it in your library and can simply install (or update) it and play.
To sum up, here is the full list of content available in the Final Beta:
Final Beta Content:
2x Game Settings
- Competitive
- Realism
3x PvP Match Setup Mode
- PvP (typical Men of War II experience using the battalion system)
- Combined Arms (single customizable battalion for each nation)
- Classic (all units from the player’s nation available in a match)
4x PvP Game Mode
- Front Line
- Assault Zones
- Combat
- Incursion - only available in PvP match setup (“Battalions”)
1x PvE Game Mode
- Line Defense (listed in the lobby menu as "Special Battle Mode")
8x Maps
- Airfield
- Bazerville
- Borovaya River
- Carpathians
- The Coast
- Farmland
- Winter March
- Suburb
3x Single Player / Co-op Missions
- Ambush
- Battle of Coisson
- Towards Freedom
Changes & Fixes:
- A new enhanced lighting engine with new skyboxes and better quality of existing content.
- Bunkers, pillboxes and observation towers can now be built as defensive structures on all maps.
- Additional match settings in the lobby: players can choose the weather and time of day for each battle.
- Added medical transport for each nation and a Soviet self-propelled heavy howitzer SU-152.
- New animations for various units and situations, such as artillery reloading and infantry dying in water.
- New buildings added to maps, including a supply depot, infirmary, fuel station, etc.
- New models for artillery shells, grenades and bombs.
- Various new sound effects.
- Improved pathfinding for vehicles.
- Balancing and refinement to single-player missions and multiplayer modes.
- Performance improvements.
- Bug fixes, general polish and small tweaks.
