Order of War

Order of War is a real-time strategy game set in the final phase of World War II in 1944, featuring two campaigns where players command either German forces defending the Eastern Front against the Soviets or Allied troops advancing from the West across Europe. Without traditional base building, the focus is on fast-paced, large-scale battles involving infantry, tanks, and artillery; players capture control points like bridges and intersections to gain resources for reinforcements, aiming to seize all points or eliminate enemy forces, with performance points unlocking upgrades for armor, accuracy, and more across 18 campaign missions and six standalone scenarios.

Order of War: Review

Introduction

Imagine commanding hundreds of soldiers storming the blood-soaked sands of Omaha Beach, or desperately holding the line against an unstoppable Soviet tide on the Eastern Front—Order of War thrusts players into the visceral chaos of 1944’s pivotal battles, where history’s greatest land war reached its brutal climax. Released in September 2009 by Belarusian developer Wargaming.net and published by Square Enix, this real-time strategy (RTS) title arrived amid a crowded WWII genre dominated by Relic Entertainment’s Company of Heroes and Massive Entertainment’s World in Conflict. Yet, Order of War carved a niche with its emphasis on cinematic spectacle and company-scale engagements, eschewing base-building for pure frontline carnage. My thesis: While it masterfully captures the epic scale of late-war offensives, delivering accessible thrills for RTS newcomers, its lack of tactical depth and innovation renders it a competent but ultimately forgettable entry in gaming’s most overmined historical sandbox.

Development History & Context

Wargaming.net, founded in 1998 by Victor Kislyi (who conceived Order of War‘s core idea), had built a reputation in Eastern Europe with turn-based strategy titles like the Massive Assault series—cerebral, network-focused games emphasizing grand strategy over real-time frenzy. By 2009, the studio sought to pivot to RTS, drawing inspiration from World in Conflict‘s reinforcement system and Company of Heroes‘ cover mechanics, while amplifying scale to depict “company-level” battles with up to 1,000 units. Key figures included producer Nick Katselapov, technical director Anton Macovskiy, and art director Pavel Stasevich, with a 111-person credit list boasting talents like lead animator Dmitry Goncharov and scriptwriter Chris Keeling.

Square Enix’s involvement marked a bold Western expansion for the Japanese RPG giant, risking its Final Fantasy prestige on a genre alien to its portfolio. Technologically, the game leveraged middleware like NVIDIA PhysX for physics, FMOD for audio, SpeedTree for foliage, and Bink Video for cutscenes, targeting mid-to-high-end PCs of the era (e.g., GeForce 7600 minimum, dual-core 3.2GHz recommended). This was the DirectX 9/10 transition period, where large-scale RTS demanded beefy GPUs to render sprawling maps without hitching—Order of War pushed boundaries here, but pathfinding issues hinted at optimization struggles.

The 2009 landscape was RTS-saturated: Company of Heroes (2006) had redefined WWII tactics with destructible environments and squad-level micromanagement; World in Conflict (2007) popularized no-base-building “assault” RTS; Men of War offered gritty realism. Order of War entered as an underdog, released September 17 (AU), 18 (EU), and 22 (NA), priced at $40-50, with demos teasing its spectacle. Wargaming envisioned a “cinematic RTS” for consoles (unrealized) and newcomers, but PC purists eyed it warily amid genre fatigue.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

Order of War‘s story anchors in summer 1944’s dual offensives: Operation Overlord (Allied Normandy invasion) and Bagration (Soviet annihilation of Army Group Center). Split into American (Western Front, 9-10 missions) and German (Eastern Front vs. Soviets, similar length) campaigns—plus six standalone missions—it chronicles the Wehrmacht’s collapse without glorifying Nazism, focusing on desperate soldiering. The U.S. arc opens with paratrooper drops and D-Day assaults, escalating to Siegfried Line defenses and Rhine pushes; the German side counters Soviet steamrollers at the Vistula, blending defensive stands with futile counterattacks.

No named protagonists emerge—players embody faceless commanders receiving barked orders from generals (e.g., an “irritating” U.S. officer decrying casualties). Dialogue is sparse, functional voiceovers: Americans with gravelly bravado, Germans via hokey English accents (criticized as “Tom Cruise Syndrome” from Valkyrie). Cutscenes blend stock WWII footage, 3D renders of Leopard guns and T-34s, and briefing montages, evoking Call of Duty: World at War‘s intensity but lacking emotional depth. Themes probe war’s futility—endless reinforcements underscore meat-grinder attrition, upgrades symbolize pyrrhic adaptation, and “victories” in German missions ring hollow against historical doom. Yet, narrative rails tightly: dynamic objectives trigger mandatory cutscenes, handholding players through primaries (capture points) and secondaries (e.g., destroy bunkers). It’s propaganda-lite history lesson, thematic but shallow, prioritizing spectacle over moral ambiguity or character arcs found in Company of Heroes‘ veteran tales.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

At its core, Order of War loops around rapid assaults: capture control points (bridges, intersections) to accrue reinforcement points, summon company-sized units (40-50 infantry, 5 tanks/artillery), and overwhelm foes. Victory demands all points or total enemy wipeout—no base-building, fog of war, or scavenging minimizes micromanagement, enabling “fast battles” with unlimited ammo. Units counter rock-paper-scissors style (infantry vs. soft targets, tanks vs. infantry/artillery, air/artillery for breakthroughs), flanker bonuses rewarding basic tactics over Company of Heroes‘ nuanced cover play.

UI shines in simplicity: bottom-right unit roster, top-right purchase menu (tanks ~$500-1000 points), weapon-range toggle for kill-zones. Radio trucks ferry units across kilometer-spanning maps; upgrades (armor, accuracy, sight) persist campaign-wide, earned via medals for kills/objectives. Cinematic camera auto-jumps hotspots, blending strategy with spectacle—innovative for immersion, flawed when masking pathfinding glitches (tanks clipping allies).

Progression incentivizes efficiency: high body counts reset units per mission, pushing aggressive play. Multiplayer (2-4 players, LAN/Internet) mirrors skirmish (AI deathmatch), but six maps lack variety. Flaws abound: zoomed-out views obscure tiny icons, enemy HP invisible hampers feedback, AI spams endlessly on higher difficulties (Normal/Veteran/Hard). No retreat/repair deepens “gun-fodder” feel—player reviews lament “click-drag-yawn” zerg rushes. Still, 10-20 hour campaigns reward scale: Omaha Beach’s 1,000+ casualties feel epic, Bagration defenses frantic.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Europe 1944 lives through vast theaters—Normandy beaches, ruined towns, Eastern forests/rivers—rendered with SpeedTree foliage, PhysX debris, and layered water effects. Art direction evokes Hollywood war epics: dawn invasions glow, urban fights churn mud/smoke, tanks gleam authentically (recognizable Panthers, Shermans). High-res demands power (hundreds storming beaches tax GPUs), but adjustable settings ensure accessibility; zoomed-in models dazzle, though animations falter (static troops under fire).

Atmosphere thrives on chaos: explosions thunder, tracers arc kilometers. Jeremy Soule’s score swells with orchestral marches—brassy heroism for Allies, dirge-like tension for Germans—amplifying urgency. FMOD-delivered SFX immerse: shell-whumps vibrate, MG chatter overwhelms. Cinematic vistas (Siegfried Line sieges, Vistula floods) contribute grandiosity, but repetition (similar maps) dilutes wonder. Overall, sensory overload sells “private war,” battlefield feeling “alive” despite UI abstraction.

Reception & Legacy

Launch reception split hairs: MobyGames 72% critics (39 reviews, highs 85% Game Vortex for graphics, lows 50% PC Gamer UK for shallowness), Metacritic 69/100 (36% positive, 62% mixed). Praised accessibility (“RTS-lite” for newcomers, per 1UP’s 83%), spectacle (“visual powerhouse,” GameZone 82%), campaigns (10-20 hours, replay via upgrades). Critiqued simplicity (“no brainpower,” player review), copying (World in Conflict meets WWII, lacking CoH depth), multiplayer (shallow, servers later shuttered). Sales modest (~71 Moby collectors), bundled in compilations like Top Strategiespiele: Vol. II.

Legacy dimmed: 2010’s Order of War: Challenge expansion (multiplayer-focused, Metacritic ~70) imploded when Square Enix killed servers (2013), wiping Steam libraries—sparking DRM backlash, first such purge. Wargaming pivoted to World of Tanks (2010+), eclipsing it. Influences subtle: popularized cinematic cameras (echoed in later RTS), reinforced no-build trends (Total War evolutions). Today, Steam holds Mostly Positive (72/100, 661 reviews), cult appeal for spectacle fans, but overshadowed by CoH2 (2013), Steel Division (2017). Commercially niche, culturally a DRM cautionary tale.

Conclusion

Order of War excels as spectacle-driven RTS, its massive battles and accessible loops capturing 1944’s desperation amid technical polish and historical fidelity. Yet, tactical shallowness, derivative design, and post-launch fumbles cap its ambition—solid for casuals craving D-Day epics, wanting for veterans seeking CoH‘s nuance. In video game history, it occupies a middling plateau: a flashy footnote in WWII RTS evolution, reminding us spectacle alone can’t conquer genre fatigue. Verdict: 7.5/10—worth a discounted dive for scale junkies, but no history-changer.