Soldiers: Heroes of World War II is a real-time strategy game with objective-based missions. Instead of simply needing to conquer the opposition, game levels often pose specific challenges to the player's squad of soldiers, such as rescuing prisoners, capturing enemies, destroying supply lines, and other guerrilla-style goals. Players can take control of the Russian, German, or Allied forces, each with its own story line and campaign.

Soldiers features more than 100 usable vehicles, including warfare-worthy cars and trucks, personnel carriers, and tanks based on real-world counterparts. Environments are highly deformable, and nearly any building, bridge, or terrain feature can be altered or destroyed with enough firepower. The game's engine even accounts for the actual weights and velocities of ammunition in the game, producing authentic bullet trajectories based on realistic physics.

While Soldiers can be played using a traditional point-and-click method of issuing commands, the game also allows players to steer their characters directly, as in an action game, for more immediate and precise control. The game's AI is designed to present a worthy challenge, leading enemy units to hide and ambush, attack in formation, and retreat when the odds turn against them.