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Order of War (PC) artwork

Order of War (PC) review


"First off I should say that I find “Order of War” quite a versatile thing. I mean it will be ok for many types of gamers: newbie in RTS, hardened players and history buffs. I consider myself an ordinary gamer with interest in shooters, RTSs and WWII. Maybe this is the reason why I love this game: for me it’s a great mixture of tactical RTS peppered with some shooter features. The game is really addictive and fun to play, probably due to its dynamism and simplified controls. Still however, devel..."

First off I should say that I find “Order of War” quite a versatile thing. I mean it will be ok for many types of gamers: newbie in RTS, hardened players and history buffs. I consider myself an ordinary gamer with interest in shooters, RTSs and WWII. Maybe this is the reason why I love this game: for me it’s a great mixture of tactical RTS peppered with some shooter features. The game is really addictive and fun to play, probably due to its dynamism and simplified controls. Still however, developers’ simplistic approach doesn’t hurt the game’s main distinguishing advantage – its scale. Yes, the game looks really epic. Graphics is not bad, especially when considering that the game is so huge. The fact that developers also omitted any management and production looks quite justified: no time for management when you’re commanding hundreds or even thousands of units. The atmosphere during such massive scale battles is really epic and impressive: everything is exploding, shooting and cracking but not smoking. I mean there’s no fog of war and this is sad.

Movies between the missions are extremely beautiful, top notch ones. Cinematic camera is the game’s one-of-a-kind feature. Still some scenes captured are senseless, but some really deserve the gamers’ attention. This is simply unforgettable feeling to observe how your units annihilate the enemy through the eyes of a camera man. The game’s soundtracks deserve some extra mentioning: I really wanted to listen to this inspiring music! It’s simply irreproachable.

The game offers much space for tactics, there’s no only-one-correct way to pass this or that mission. Moreover, OOW is historically correct game(except the fog of war, sure). The game’s multiplayer mode is very exciting and gives the chance to play as Russians (I hope they will add some more maps).

Game’s weaknesses: no fog of war (though developers justify this by the game’s tactics concerns) and stupid infantry. I wish they could dig in.I gave this game 9 and I believe it deserves it, very decent thing.



Woodybeaver's avatar
Community review by Woodybeaver (November 04, 2009)

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zigfried posted November 04, 2009:

I didn't like this review. It has a lot of grammar mistakes and doesn't tell me how this game is similar to or different from other RTS games. Sometimes I didn't understand what you were saying. It's also really short. You need to spend more time on your writing. Based on this, I'm not at all convinced that it deserves a 9.

//Zig
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Woodybeaver posted November 05, 2009:

I understand that you think that you are a professional reviewer, but I'm not - I'm a gamer. I don't bother that my review is too short for you or has grammar nuances. This is a USER review, I'm simply sharing with you my thoughts about the game that I've played recently. You didn't understand why this game is different from others? Let me say it again for you:

- it is much more massive in scales than others
- it has no micromanagement so the player may focus completely on warfare
- this is the first WWII RTS that used cinematic camera feature
- this game allows playing as Germans
- it offers much space for tactics, there's no only one correct solution to win
- and so on and so forth

Everything is clear now?
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zigfried posted November 05, 2009:

It's not about "professional" versus "user" review, it's about writing well. When I read any review on the site, including user reviews, I expect a certain level of competence.

- it is much more massive in scales than others

Your review does not say it's more massive in scale than others. What you do say is that it has "scale" because it looks "not bad" and you can control hundred or thousands of troops (which is a good point), even though the lack of fog of war is "sad" and the developers omitted "management and production". But then after saying management was omitted, you say that you command hundreds or thousands of units! How can you command units if it's impossible to manage them? What do you really mean here?

- it has no micromanagement so the player may focus completely on warfare
- this is the first WWII RTS that used cinematic camera feature
- this game allows playing as Germans

Your review does not say any of these things. They would be good things to write about (and the first point would help explain my question about "managing units"). You do say the cinematic camera is the game's one-of-a-kind feature, but that could simply mean that the camera is somehow different from other cinematic cameras. I've played non-RTS WWII strategy games with cinematic cameras, so what you've written in the review does not make me think "this is the only WWII RTS with a cinematic camera". There are also a lot of definitions of what makes a camera "cinematic". Explaining more about it would be useful... and since it sounds like one of the game's strong points, it would help justify the final score. As for the Germans bit, you never say that in the review.

- it offers much space for tactics, there's no only one correct solution to win

This is true of every RTS I've ever played. It's true of every strategy or tactical game in general that I've played. I don't know why you're saying this is special. I suspect that what you mean and what you've written are two different things, or perhaps you just need to explain this point better. Are there multiple goals that can end a mission? Are there multiple worthwhile tactics, as opposed to just one worthwhile tactic? Again, how is this really different from other RTS games?

As for grammar "nuances", here are some of the significant grammar errors you made:
I consider myself an ordinary gamer with interest in shooters
Still however, developers’ simplistic approach doesn’t hurt
Graphics is not bad
Movies between the missions are extremely beautiful, top notch ones
Still some scenes captured are senseless
This is simply unforgettable feeling
The game offers much space for tactics, there’s no.....
OOW is historically correct game
I believe it deserves it, very decent thing

In a review this short, that's a lot of mistakes. And they're more than "nuances".

All reviews posted on the site are open to feedback, whether it's a staff or user review. You're free to say that you "don't bother that my review is too short for you or has grammar nuances", and I'm free to call you out for writing a bad review.

I can understand being defensive when your points are questioned. But to actually say that you don't care if the review was too short and that you don't care about grammar "nuances"? This isn't like you wrote a decent review that I happen to disagree with. You wrote a bad review. You NEED to improve -- dramatically -- if you hope to get anything else posted in the future.

If you really don't care whether people understand or believe your opinions, then you should reconsider whether you're prepared to express those opinions. Not just here, but anywhere in life -- the opinions that matter are the opinions that are explained clearly.

//Zig
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WilltheGreat posted November 05, 2009:

ITT: Woodybeaver misses the point.
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Woodybeaver posted November 06, 2009:

Thank you, my sensei)). But I don't really understand what you want from me. Probably, you want everything you read to be flawless and irreproachable. But this is not my problem! I played the game, I liked it and I wanted to share my views on it. I couldn't even imagine that someone like you would start teaching me! If you think my USER review (my thoughts, my emotions just after finishing it) is trash, give a try to this cool game and write your own! This is not a literature-lovers club or is it? If you want to discuss the game, let's discuss the game but not my writing style!
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Woodybeaver posted November 06, 2009:

Talking about management I meant that there’s no building, recharging, repairing production and so on. You command your huge forces without bothering about any kind of management or maintenance or technical support and other stuff like this. You got the idea? Did you get the idea, sensei? Now to cinematic camera… This is a very cool feature (do you like the word “cool”, by the way?). During any moment of the battle, you can switch this function and observe the battle through the eyes of a camera man from different angles. This looks very impressive. I’m completely open to conversation and always ready to answer to your questions ;).
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WilltheGreat posted November 06, 2009:

How you express your opinions is just as important as those opinions themselves.

Also, there's an Edit Post button. I invite you to use it.
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Woodybeaver posted November 06, 2009:

blah blah blah. Why are you so boring? This website is about games, right? People come here to discuss games or maybe I'm wrong? I'm really pleased with all this attention to my modest personality and my writing style, but I would prefer to discuss the game itself. Not me. I think it is reasonable if regarding this certain website and this certain thread.

There's common sense. So I invite you to use it.
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WilltheGreat posted November 06, 2009:

This is a feedback thread for a review submission. Discussing the game would be off-topic, there's a forum for that.
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Woodybeaver posted November 06, 2009:

Oh yeah, I got it. You're here to trash the reviews of others. Alright then, we will not see eye to eye on this if so.
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WilltheGreat posted November 06, 2009:

There is no trashing going on here. What there is is Zig offering a critique, and you flailing about because somebody disagrees with you on the internet. If you are so unable to take criticism then perhaps you should reconsider writing reviews.
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Woodybeaver posted November 06, 2009:

I never considered writing professional reviews. I just wanted to share my thoughts about the new great game I played. Is this forbidden in case my user review is disliked by Zig? I don't think so. My review represents my opinion on a game, I didn't have an intention to create a standard professional review.
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zigfried posted November 06, 2009:

Woodybeaver, whether or not you pursue professional writing doesn't matter to me. I was "teaching" you as a polite way to make a point. I will make the point more explicitly:

HG has a high quality bar for user reviews, and over 6000 reviews successfully meet that high standard. If you submit more reviews like this, they will almost certainly be rejected.

If you want people to see your thoughts, then you will need to improve your writing or post your reviews on sites like Amazon with lower standards. That's fine. You don't have to improve your writing, but you have to improve if you want your reviews posted here.

EDIT: removed the rude paragraph because I'm not irritated anymore, but if you think my complaints are about "writing style" then this really isn't the right site for your reviews. Feel free to use the "rate a game" feature or post thoughts in your blog, though. That way you're not subject to the same content standards as a full-blown review, and people are more likely to talk about the game instead of your writing.

//Zig
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radicaldreamer posted November 11, 2009:

I know I'm late and by now every one here has probably moved on. Yes, this is a website about games, so people discuss games here. However, it is also a website about writing, so people also come here to get feedback and learn how to develop this extremely useful skill. This emphasis on writing is one of the major things separates this website from GameFAQs and Amazon. You can only stand to benefit by calming down and considering some of the suggestions given.
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Woodybeaver posted November 12, 2009:

I am really calm. At least I am glad that you're not indefferent. Thnx everybody for your reasonable concerns and suggestions.
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Woodybeaver posted November 12, 2009:

And one more thing if u don't mind: how can I discuss games on these forums when almost all of them are unavailable?!
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wolfqueen001 posted November 12, 2009:

They're available. That's just what it says when no topic has been posted in them. Just click on the forum title and it'll take you to a blank forum page. Then click "Create New Topic"
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Masters posted November 12, 2009:

Zig is mean. :(
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honestgamer posted November 12, 2009:

Because traffic on the forums isn't as significant as it could be, game-specific forums currently lead to the forum for the related console. For example, clicking on the forum link from Order of War should take you to the PC game discussion forums, where you are encouraged to start a topic relating to Order of War. Then Order of War fans--and PC gamers in general--can respond and worthwhile discussion is more likely to take place. Game-specific forums can return as the forums grow in size.
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Woodybeaver posted November 13, 2009:

Alright then, and what should I do if I want to start the discussion about war RTSs? You know, like Order of War, Company of Heroes, World in Conflict, Men of War and others?
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WilltheGreat posted November 13, 2009:

The same thing.

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