Men of War

Men of War makes the 1939-45 havoc proffered by other real-time strategy games - even Relic's classic Company of Heroes - seem drab and predictable. Its fragile and flammable scenery, extravagant physics, resourceful AI and awesome scale and intricacy combine to create chaos so brutal even Hieronymus Bosch and the Chapman Brothers would blanch.

For those new to the Best Way approach (this is the third high-quality WWII tactics title built with the developer's remarkable GEM engine), play revolves around the spectacular antics of incredibly versatile soldiery with incredibly big pockets. Whether the force at your disposal is one man or fifty, every grunt has his own capacious RPG-style inventory and will happily operate any vehicle or artillery piece, however foreign or complex. If you choose to, you can guide troops around the battlefield with traditional clicks, secure in the knowledge they'll return fire or seek cover if threatened. Alternatively, if you fancy getting a little closer to the gore and glory, you can try your hand at something called Direct Control.

Direct Control allows for that extra bit of finesse. It also dissolves at a stroke that emotional distance between player and unit we tend to take for granted in strategy games. In short: it's ace.

One of the few things I disliked about Best Way's last effort, Faces of War, was the feverish intensity of many of the missions. The action came so thick and fast there was often little opportunity for Direct Control, fancy tactics, or gratifying loot-gathering. Men of War's four meaty mission sequences feel far more balanced. Yes, there are engagements so vast and bloody they leave you twitching like a shell-shocked hare, but these tend to be intelligently interspersed with more measured mayhem. For every "Hold this sector at all costs" bloodbath, there's a slower "Reconnoitre that village" or "Rescue those prisoners" jaunt. A few of the scenarios are so slow and stealthy they almost feel like Commandos outings

One quality Men of War does share with the Commandos series is exquisite, highly detailed maps. The European and North African environments that dominate the campaigns feel, for the most part, like real locales rather than scenario-driven shorthand. They're packed with bespoke structures and pleasing detritus. Because everything from a rusty harrow to an abandoned field kitchen can be utilised as cover, all this picturesque clutter really matters.

And, blimey, some of the maps are huge. The German campaign begins with a historically-based fallschirmjager drop on Crete. A gruelling succession of hamlets and hillocks must be contested before, finally, the last area of the battlefield - the crucial Maleme airstrip - is revealed. By the time you storm the control tower and vanquish the Matilda tanks lurking in the furthest hangars, you feel like you've conquered a continent.

In the unlikely event you ever tire of solo slaughter, there's always the option to explore the superb Gamespy-supported multiplayer. All twenty-five of the campaign episodes can be enjoyed co-operatively. Considering how stiff the opposition often is, this is a wise concession. Having a friendly force advancing beside you, ready to lay down suppressive fire, or supply a toolkit or morphine ampoule at a critical moment, turns a great game into a fantastic one.

But then, Men of War doesn't need a slick Hollywood narrative to succeed. It does its stunning storytelling on the hoof and on the battlefield. It writes its dramas in blood, and fire, and bullets. Buy this game and you're buying a thousand spontaneous war stories. Buy it and you are buying that rare thing - a military RTS that doesn't have to bow and scrape in the presence of the magnificent Company of Heroes.