ORDER OF WAR: CHALLENGE

Order of War wasn’t a groundbreaking RTS by any means, but it released to generally favorable reviews. Although Challenge is based off the same engine and mechanics, it is a stand-alone title with purely multiplayer gameplay and no ties to its predecessor. This could be good news for someone looking to score a competitive RTS on a budget, but this option also strips two important elements from the series – missions and artificial intelligence.

Challenge relies on a classic formula of the genre – command troops to capture control points, which yield additional types of troops and the resources to purchase them. Whether you choose to play as the Americans, Germans, or Soviets, you will have a stable of 15 troop-types, including a wide range of tanks, long-range artillery, and infantry. With enough resources, devastating support troops such as dive bombers can be called in to wipe out sections of the battlefield.

Challenge uses paper-rock-scissors mechanics to keep combat balanced and diverse, in theory. In every battle I played, the victor employed the same tactic – position heavy artillery to protect control points and flood the terrain with tanks, bigger tanks, and a few more tanks for good measure. The varieties of tanks and artillery have ranges, speeds, armor-ratings, and firepower that need to be accounted for, but I almost wonder why infantry units are included in the first place.

It’s obvious that the infantry units were created with the story-based missions of the original in mind – missions that saved the original from complete, critical meltdown. I made every effort to put my valiant foot soldiers to work. They have the ability to go through forested areas that are impassable to tanks, making them perfect for ambushes, as the tutorial points out. I tried that tactic. My men and the substantial forest they were hiding in were vaporized in seconds by a single tank. So much for that plan.

Order of War offered skirmishes against the A.I., which was a valuable tool for testing out strategies and learning the ropes. With that option gone, there is no way to learn the ways of the battlefield through anything more than trial and error. While you’re busy figuring out the best troops for the situation, your opponent looms overhead, ready to lay waste to your learning pursuits.

The lack of A.I. rears its ugly head even after getting a good grip on the mechanics. My favorite gameplay modes are the two-on-two matches, but there is nothing to back you up if your teammate leaves the game or gets booted. The latter happens far too frequently to be a coincidence. Two-player is fine, but every second of four-player is a roll of the dice.

The greatest strength of Challenge, other than the cheap price-tag, is a stockpile of 12 maps, room for two and four players, cooperative missions, and six modes. My favorites include the two-player rounds of Survival against waves of enemies (the only instance of A.I.) and the four-player Free-for-Alls.

Order of War: Challenge is a full-featured multiplayer experience that offers a few hours of budget-friendly entertainment, at the cost of depth. As the novelty of commanding a convoy of tanks wears thin, it becomes apparent that Challenge doesn’t have anything to offer that RTS-fans don’t already possess in Company of Heroes or Dawn of War II.

Review Scoring Details for Order of War: Challenge

Gameplay: 5.0
This is a basic, nuts-and-bolts RTS. It’s relatively easy to get into, but lacking advanced features, such as upgradeable troops, that give other games depth.

Graphics: 7.0
Challenge is a surprisingly attractive game. It gets a little awkward when tanks roll over your own troops, but entertaining nonetheless.

Sound: 7.0
Voice-acted commands in English, German, and Russian add layers of realism to the heavy sounds of gunfire and explosions.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 5.0
A stand-alone, multiplayer-only game is appealing for many, but less so when the mechanics are based on single-player missions.

Overall: 5.5
Order of War: Challenge feels more like a foundation than a complete experience. It’s polished and has plenty of options for setting up games, but questionable troop-types and the lack of advanced, tactical features keep Challenge in the shadows of other RTS games.