A long awaited new addition has made landfall with Men of War II‘s offline mode, but the Steel Rain update includes even more.
Remember “Hard Rain”?
From Fulqrum Publishing and developer Best Way, Men of War II brought the real-time strategy title back for round two just last year. But as usual in the modern era, there was a lot more to come for the game, post launch, including some free updates.
One of those was to include an offline mode, something that we’re figuring most players had been looking for. That’s finally here with the update titled Steel Rain, which allows players to play all they want, without the need of an internet connection.
There’s more though, as Men of War II now has an 8-pack of new units to command, and the ability to control the title’s speed while in a single player game. According to Fulqrum, this should give an even better simulation of all out warfare, if your PC can handle it that is.
Offline Mode
Men of War II’s Offline Mode is the flagship feature of this update and has been heavily requested by the game’s community since its launch. Players can now switch between playing the game online (default setting) and offline, and of course, if they start the game without an Internet connection, it will run in offline mode automatically. Just move the cursor to the cog wheel “Settings” icon in the upper-left corner, where players will find an indicator telling them which version they are playing at the moment – green for online, red for offline.
The Offline Mode features any single-player mission or campaign (including Conquest and Raid), and players can set up a “multiplayer” lobby to play custom matches with AI bots. Currently, progress made in a campaign while playing offline cannot carry over to the online mode (and vice versa). Players have voted in a community poll to release the update in this state, while the developers continue to work on enabling the progress to be shared.
New Content and Gameplay Mechanics
But that’s not all! A whole host of new content has been added to the game – including 8 new units, all focused on rockets and missile launchers. To make the best use of the new units, each nation has received a new battalion: the 3rd Mortar Regiment. These have zero logistic timers for mortars and Rocket artillery, and -50% Battle rank Modifier for Mortar units, and -25% for Rocket Artillery units.
Another addition to Men of War II is the ability to control the game’s speed in a single-player. This feature is available in any game where the player is alone. Including in Conquest, Raids, and even a custom lobby with bots.
There has also been the addition of a “turbo mode” in single-player games, in which the game world will be calculated as quickly as the computer’s performance allows, significantly improving the quality of simulation, especially on powerful PCs.
And, of course, that still isn’t all – with this update bringing a range of multiplayer and match-making improvements, visual and audio improvements, and more! For the full list of updates, check out the game’s news hub on Steam.
Fulqrum Publishing press release
Men of War II is out now for the PC, via Steam and Epic Games Store. There’s a hefty 25% off sale happening right now too, so if you don’t have a copy yet, now seems like a good time to pick one up.