Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront PC

Gates of Hell for PC is a tactical RTS set during World War II and expanding on gameplay of Men of War series. It is a work of Barbed Wire studio, established by authors of modification WW2 Chronicles for Men of War: Assault Squad and Men of War: Assault Squad 2.

Plot

Project Gates of Hell takes us to times of World War II and offers wide view on the conflict. Instead of limiting themselves to one front, creators let us take part in battles from many years and territories, from snow-covered battlefields of Soviet Union, up to sun-scorched sands of North Africa.

Realism was the main priority for the developers. Players can use various armies, all of them carefully recreated on historical sources – both in appearance and their battle prowess. There are over 250 types of vehicles and 200 soldiers in total, and we can make use of more than a hundred types of weaponry.

Game mechanics

PC’s version of Gates of Hell is a war game with real-time battles. It focuses solely on tactical operations, meaning we won’t find gathering resources, technology trees or base building in any form. Our entire attention is focused on commanding our units in battles and fulfilling given objectives, with building being limited to defensive structures, like abatis, minefields or trenches.

The lack of the strategic aspect is compensated by the complexity of the tactical layer. We must make a full use of all types of units, take advantage of terrain and take into account the realistic physics engine that controls behavior and ballistics of objects. Additionally, every environmental object can be destroyed, resulting in more dynamic maps. Players also have more control over units than in typical RTS titles, being able to e.g. change and manage their equipment, use grenades, hide them behind cover or command them to crouch and crawl. What’s more, there is an option of directly controlling a single soldier like in action games.

Game modes

Gates of Hell offers huge single player campaign and variety historical skirmishes to choose from. There is also multiplayer that let’s us compete with others in PvP modes or cooperate against artificial intelligence.

Technical aspects

The team of Barbed Wire started as modders, so they decided to design Gates of Hell with GEM2 engine developed by Best Way studio for Men of War series. They’ve implemented some improvements, resulting in better looking visuals, greater efficiency of artificial intelligence and more realistic simulation of physics.

Last updated on 16 September 2020