The single-player portions of Men of War comprise 19 missions spread across Soviet, German, and Allied campaigns and a 'bonus' campaign of offcuts.

It has also been described as 'dissolving the emotional distance between player and unit'. 'Direct Control' can be used to perform advanced actions such as targeting individual vehicle components, navigating precisely around cover, and cooking a grenade. Movement is controlled with four directional keys and a stance toggle, while the unit aims/faces toward the on-screen mouse cursor and fires when the player clicks his mouse button. Men of War allows a player to directly control any soldier or manned vehicle/gun that he owns. Perhaps in recognition of this, players can change the speed at which time passes. These rules lead to gameplay that has been described as 'organic.where others are artificial' and praised for generating 'stories as distinct as they are dramatic', but criticised for at times demanding intense micromanagement.

Nearly anything can be destroyed, and destruction is physically simulated with solid debris.

Bullets and shells are blocked by solid objects.

Buildings have fully modelled interiors that soldiers can freely navigate.

Each vehicle has components that can be damaged and repaired instead of an abstract health value.

Each vehicle and emplacement is operated by soldiers who can enter and leave it at will.

Items can be picked up from the ground or traded.

Each soldier and vehicle has an inventory which holds weapons and a finite amount of ammunition and supplies.

The game's most notable feature is its simulation-driven world. Unit recruitment features in multiplayer, but is rarely enabled in single-player. It focuses entirely on military tactics and special operations and does not feature base building, research, or resource gathering. Men of War is a real-time tactics game in which players complete military objectives.

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