After the mild-sucess/reception of Steel Division: Normandy 44′ most were surprised when Steel Division II was announced. Tease after tease nothing was shown for months until a couple of days ago.

As expected SD2 will take place in the eastern front during operation Bagration all across the summer of 1944. 18 New division will be deployed at your disposal with more than 600 units to choose from.

A couple of things stood out to me while watching the nearly 20 minute long video. The game is still focusing mainly on positioning advantage and thus, the one to spot first usually takes the kill. Now height difference is taken into account when calculating line of sight.

Stress is playing an important role on the battlefield once more, close shots, ambushes, air strikes, artillery, overwhelming enemy superiority are all factors of stress that can be crucial when deciding the outcome of a battle.

SD2 Also appears to play slower than Eugen’s previous titles, and that has putted me off time and time again. The first Steel Division is great but it was extremely fast paced for someone like me to enjoy it from extended periods of time. The game offered tons of tactical possibilities but limited their applicability by lack of time. Fortunately Eugen decided to add a slow-time button.

In SD2 the pause button is finally there players will no longer feel pressured to launch 20 smoke screens in less than 30 seconds otherwise you might lose the match. If you’re a clickfest disliker then SD1 might not be your thing but SD2 could. We’ll see.