Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad Review

We live in a world of first-person shooters. With every new game that comes out, there are about 5 others that can be classified as such. The original Red Orchestra broke the mold in 2006 with a hyper realistic game, the likes  of which had never been seen before. I’m happy to announce that Red Orchestra 2 has done it again.

Despite a few tutorial levels, RO remains a mainly multiplayer game. Sure, there’s a campaign, but it’s simply a series of multiplayer battles with AI teammates instead of real ones. For the sake of giving this game the praise it deserves, I’m going to ignore the single-player component, as it serves as more of a training ground than an actual part of the game, that, and the fact that the game can stand on its own without this inclusion.

Players are thrown into servers with player counts ranging anywhere from 24 to 64 players, and mayhem ensues. The two teams consist of the Allies and Axis, yes it’s a WWII shooter. The game modes consist of Campaign, Firefight, Territory and Countdown, all of which sport different objectives. Along with this, the recently added GOTY edition (which was totally free to people who already owned the game) added three separate difficulty modes and a few maps, as some players can easily feel excluded by the games unforgiving game-play and harsh realism. They consist of action, realism, and classic, with the difficulty ramping respectively. After playing all three, I can say that Action doesn’t exactly accomplish what it sets out to do, with better places on the market to get your action fix. But, on the other hand there are no current gen games on the market that give game-play like Realism and Classic do. Add to the top of this an unlock system, which while simple, adds a reason to try out the realism and actions modes, as Classic doesn’t use any form of unlocks. You get what you get. Did I mention the vehicles? RO2 sports an impressively realistic set of vehicles, used in some of the larger maps. But if that’s not what you’re into, the infantry maps provide just as much carnage.

With a team of the right people, and a willingness to work together RO2 transforms from a WWII shooter into an incredible immersive experience. The new suppression system causes you to think about situations differently, and the morale system really shows just how quickly the tide of battle can be turned. Add the cherry on top of true to life gun ballistics and a cover system reminiscent of Killzone 3, and you get the reason why RO2 stands out in such a clouded market.

But it’s not for everyone. I will be the first to admit that RO2 is incredibly frustrating. I can’t recount the number of times I died 30 times in a row before making a kill or capping a point. This isn’t your normal title, and the game-play reflects that in the learning curve. But if you’re looking for realism of any kind, this is the game for you. And after you get the hang of the care you need to take with each step, it becomes a remarkably rewarding experience

This is an experience that you simply can’t miss out on. And for cheap too! The game recently became even cheaper than the original price tag of $40 at just $20. That’s a third of the price of a normal game, and I can guarantee you that if you like tactical shooters, your money won’t go to waste.