Forum

Game: Red Rochestra 2 - Heroes of Stalingrad
Developer: Tripwire Interactive
Release Date: September 13, 2011
Platforms: PC
Rating: M for Mature

*Note: My graphics are set to medium due to my medicore rig. The game looks much better on higher settings.*

I was looking for a new game to buy 2 weeks ago and this game peaked my interest. A PC exclusive semi-realistic WWII multiplayer shooter set in the eastern front? Sign me up. I picked up the Digital Delux Edition on Steam for $40 because I got a 20% discount for owning it's predecessor, Red Orchestra Ostfront 41-45 which I got for free off of some Logitech giveaway on facebook and never played. The reason I bought the Digital Delux Edition was to get access to the beta, and it was a good move. The beta provided a lot of fun and let me try out a game that i really didn't know much about. Now that the game is fully released, here is my review.



GAMEPLAY
Red Orchestra 2 (abbreviated RO2 from now on) is based on the Eastern Front of WW2, mainly in Stalingrad, in a conflict between The Soviet Union and the invading German forces. it is a purely multiplayer focused games as single player is just multiplayer with bots. It's different than any other shooter I have ever played. I like to say that it is comfortably in between battlefield and ArmA 2. The game is very realistic but not enough to spoil the fun. RO2 is mainly a multiplayer games allowing up to 64 players in a server. The game launched with 10 maps that is a nice mix between infantry, infantry and tanks, and just tanks maps. they have implemented a unique cover system that I think works rather well. The game also features a great supression ssystem where when there is enemy fire around you your screen blurs a bit and goes black and white. This happens if you are being surpressed by enemy fire or an explosive goes off near you. One shot usually kills unless you get hit in the arm or leg. Also, bolt action rifles aren't useless like in most other WWII FPS games! They usually kill on one hit and are very accurate. One of the great features of the game is a class limit. That means you don't get a team full of snipers as there is usually only 1 or 2 snipers slots available on most maps. that also means you won't have everyone running around with the SMGs either. This makes it more realistic as the majority of the weapons in WWII were bolt action rifles. The maps seem very well designed and thought out. There are 3 types of game modes. The first is firefight which is your typical and lame rack up kills game mode. I have yet to see a server that runs firefight. The second, and most widely used game mode, is territory. It is kind of like conquest but on a smaller scale. territory can either be one team attacks and the other defends, or both teams are attacking each other's territories. It is fun as it takes teamwork and competent teammates to win. The last game mode is Countdown. It is a single life game mode with the commander being able to only call in 2 waves of reinforcements. It is an attack and defend game mode. The attackers fight until they either capture the area or the timer runs out. There is a series of areas to capture and when you team either captures them all or the time runs out, the other team has a chance to attack and either beat you faster or just capture more areas to win. The game overall is difficult to get a grasp on as you cannot run n gun and you can die very easily. Once you get the hang of it though it is very fun and rewarding.


An image of the suppression system working.

GRAPHICS
Now I am not able to play this game at anything more than medium so this is based off of screenshots and videos of the game I have seen. The graphics are average. Nothing special but nothing terrible either. Player models look good but the textures seem to be lacking in some places.



SOUND
The best sound I've heard in a game since Bad Company 2. The music is great and the sound effects themselves make the game feel very atmospheric. Nothing like hearing German shouts inside a house you are trying to defend or hearing the Russians yell as they advance. The sounds are very realistic as they get very loud when in a house and kind of drown out outside. Also, they did away with the stupid "whoosh" sound people put in FPS games for when bullets fly by you. Bullets don't make a whoosh sound in real life.



BUGS, GLITCHES, & POOR PERFORMANCE
I know what you're thinking. Why did he make a separate section for them? Because there are a lot and it needs to be addressed. The game has a ton of small bugs and glitches as well as serious performance problems on AMD hardware. The game crashes a lot for some users and runs poorly in general for AMD users as well as some Intel users. there are a lot of bugs but I have full faith in Tripwire to get the game patched up and running almost flawlessly.

CONCLUSION
RO2 is clearly not for everyone. If you love the fast paced run n gun gameplay of Call of Duty or battlefield Bad Company 2 you may want to stay away. If you are looking for a semi-realistic WWII shooter then this game just might be for you. I found this game to be great fun and I am glad I took the risk to buy it. The game is solid but points definitely have to be knocked off for the bugs and performance issues. All in all, I'd give it an 8.5 so far. Maybe a 9 once everything gets sorted out.