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Review: Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
by Chris Hawke
14.9.11

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad has the best pistols of any game I've ever played. And for me, that's a big thing. When you're stuck with a bolt-action rifle, and a swarm of Nazis are bearing down, you need a Plan B. Usually, in games, pistols are next to useless; peashooters that dribble pellets of soft cheese at your enemies. They're weak, boring and might as well not be there. But in Red Orchestra 2? Sidearms are king.

Whipping out a Luger P08 never felt so good, nor contained so much sexual innuendo. You bring the iron sights up to your eyes, able to see the whole battlefield at a glance; as you slowly tread around a corner, some feckless Russian storms right into your line of fire. You plug three sharp, curt, quick bullets into his stomach. But one would have been enough. He slumps to the floor, draped in a fitting shade of red.

And that's just the pistol.

Red Orchestra 2 is the fully-fledged sequel to Tripwire's Unreal Engine 2.5-powered Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45, which came out in 2006. With the limited resources it had, the game was wildly ambitious, pitting 64 plays in the most authentic Second World War action around. Despite the shoddy graphics and clumsy UI, it was a powerfully realistic, immersive experience, but only for those PC gamers willing to put in a great deal of time. This time round, Tripwire have taken unprecedented care with Heroes of Stalingrad. And it shows.

The graphics are nothing short of stunning. Textures are as crisp as they are hauntingly brutal, character models so close to the uncanny valley that they almost fall in, and it boasts all the extra trimmings, like light shafts and excellent bloom and blur effects. I'm happy to go on record and say that the sun-kissed Grain Elevator map is more beautiful than anything Modern Warfare 3 will be able to muster, and it at times borders on Battlefield 3 levels of beauty. Static screenshots simply don't do it justice. When in motion, Red Orchestra 2 is something else; words cannot describe in enough detail. It'll push your PC a bit, so be willing to drop down if you get a choppy framerate, but even on the more conservative settings, you'll be in awe.

Of course, the graphics mean nothing. Why? Because there is no game so thrilling passionate about putting you in the boots of a solider. 'Immersive' and 'realistic' are words I'm bound to throw around a great deal, but they have never carried more gravitas than with Red Orchestra 2. There is no HUD to speak of - a tiny mini-map to help you find you way is all that will occasionally lure your attention away, and even that can be switched off in certain servers. When you shoot a player, there is no hit marker; you have to hold your breath for a few seconds, watch to see if they're dead, and - if you're lucky - a message will pop up only a few moments later to give you confirmation of a kill. This is such a small detail, but one that has a huge effect; you have to take care with your shots, and the extra delay gives rise to exhilarating seconds of watching, waiting for any movement. There is no red 'Shoot Me!' text over enemies, as it's up to you to discern between the grey-brown uniforms of the Nazis and the brown-grey coats of the Soviets. This is not a game that holds you by the hand; you're out on your own, and it's up to you to win or lose. It's a hugely liberating feeling, if a tad daunting, but with a bit a perseverance and a few team-kills, you'll get used to it.


This creativity and uniqueness stretches even into the game modes and maps you'll be playing. Each map I've played have all been well-crafted, from the close quarters of Barracks, to the epic war of attrition in Red October Factory. There are natural choke points, deadly sniper holes and, in the larger maps, wide open plains in which you'll cower at the might of opposition storming your positions. There's a choice of three modes, but the mode that's all the rage, Territory, has the Nazis and Allies competing to capture as many of the five or so 'control points' as possible. Every twenty seconds, dead players respawn, which gives the impression of enemy reinforcements. It really does make a difference - instead of players constantly drip-feeding in, you can experience game-altering surges of Soviets in a sudden swell of success, and there's nothing more terrifying than twenty Nazis streaming past your sniper nest.

Each class only has a limited number of people in them; only two marksmen are allowed, only six Assault Riflemen, only six squad leaders, and so on until the remaining few have to plump for a bog-standard rifle. It speaks volumes about where Red Orchestra 2's true passions lie: not in getting you the pink MP40 you've always wanted and letting you raising hell, but rather focussing on teamwork and tactical play. If you find yourself with a machine gun, you have to take it upon yourself to find a good hiding spot and mow enemies down, whilst as a sniper you'll have to hold back and pick people off at distance. Amazingly, it works; people really do adapt to their roles, and on a good server with good players it all fits together so perfectly.

The game also has a single-player campaign, but since I sprang straight in to the multiplayer element of the game, it gives you a good idea as to where Tripwire's attention was focussed. The campaign is split into 'Axis' and 'Allies', yet - whilst having a commander in the Reich rouse you to Lebensraum is a surprisingly fresh and novel experience - Tripwire hardly pull any heartstrings or shock you with twists and turns. In fact, it could be argued that the single player is totally devoid of emotion. You learn the ropes easily, but then you're thrown into all the multiplayer maps successively, with objectives for you and your AI buddies to storm towards. There are cutscenes which tie these objectives together with some very appreciated editing and war footage, but there's little to no story to speak of, and no emotional connection with the characters. Some might be disappointed with this, and whilst it certainly means you should look towards other games for your plot-heavy single-player, Red Orchestra 2 knows that it's more fun when shared. The AI is just about capable, and there's a very neat little feature where you can respawn directly into another class upon death. It means you can hone skills for multiplayer, while also giving you a different feel to the gameplay; one minute you're rushing ahead as an elite rifleman, while other times you'll hang back with a sniper rifle. Certainly, when you and a friend take on the computer in co-op, it provides a playground of sorts to test skills and create strategies. Single-player simply acts as respite between online bouts; a quicker-to-complete, more simple experience that allows you some alone time.


The game is not without fault. Occasionally, you'll spawn without a weapon in your hand, or character animation will freeze during a reload animation, rendering you useless. These are but waves in a small ocean of clipping issues, broken physics, and being-able-to-see-through-walls-if-you-look-at-them-at-the-right-angle. There was a very real chance that these could be horrible smears on otherwise polished and shining game, but honestly, you'll forgive and forget quickly. There's just too much to like for those small things to get in the way.

There's so much to love in Red Orchestra 2. Weapons are not fixed to the centreof the screen, and are fully 3D models which exist and react organically within the world: you can take cover, push your rifle to the edges of a window frame and easily pepper an enemy location, all whilst the camera remains static. Not only is it massively advantageous in gameplay, it also looks incredibly cinematic. On every weapon, you can adjust the sights to help hit targets at distance, whilst on sniper rifles, you can switch between a scope and iron sights, making it a viable close-quaters option too. Nowhere else can you stumble across two players discussing the historical authenticities of a PPSh-41. Red Orchestra 2 is simply one of a kind.

Battlfield 3 will bring us shooting. Beautiful shooting on an epic scale, yes, but shooting none the less. Modern Warfare 3 will bring us chaos on a disc. Both those titles are distinctly different, yet still go through the same old routines. But Red Orchestra 2 is unexpected; it's unpredictable and totally unique, taking a refreshingly mature approach to game design. If you're getting tired of the same old FPSs, Tripwire's latest is a masterpiece and nothing less. And whilst everybody places their bets on Battlefield 3 to trump Call of Duty, spare a thought for Red Orchestra 2. It just might surprise you.

9/10 [?]

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- Chris Hawke
Exclusive Interview: Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
by Chris Hawke
28.2.11

Gamer's Guide to Life.com electronically sat down with Alan Wilson, Vice President of Tripwire Interactive, to discuss the upcoming World War II first-person shooter, Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad.


Why isn't Heroes of Stalingrad appearing on PS3 or 360? Technical limitations, or lack of time?

It may well do in the future; we develop on PC, so PC comes first! As, when and if we do a version for consoles, it will be designed for consoles, not just a quick-and-dirty port.


Can you give us a concrete release date?

Yes – and we will when we are ready to! To be honest, it is one of the advantages of being independent; we can release the game when we believe it is ready, rather than to fit in with some large publisher’s 200-games-a-year release schedule.


First person collision detection is something rarely seen in FPSs. Do you think it sets the game apart from others?

We don't really tend to sit down and do the whole "we've got this feature and they haven't" thing – we develop what we think the game needs. But the system in there for detecting weapon collision with surfaces is just one more element that helps to keep you very much in the 'first person' view. Same goes for the cover system, and blind fire – it is a 'first person' cover system and blind fire is, actually, blind.


Do you feel you are directly competing with any other shooters?

Of course; it gets raised all the time. Well, not completely, as people like to buy more than one shooter, if you are sensible about these things. People like variety, as well as familiarity... We get the obvious comparisons with everything from Medal of Honor and Call of Duty, through to the Battlefield games and ArmA.


What did you learn from Killing Floor?

To remember to have fun, and also some reminders about making a game approachable. There were the old accusations (founded in truth) that the original Red Orchestra was hard to learn, hard for people to get into. Many times we heard people saying that the first few hours were just plain hard, but after that it got brilliant. So, we don’t want another game where you have to feel like you are ploughing through a few hours of pain to get to the fun.


How long will Red Orchestra 2's single player be? Will there be a proper, character-focused story?

We don’t actually go for the "proper, character-focused" bit. We are more interested in telling the story of the whole battle, the history. Vignettes of what happened to individual soldiers give us a snapshot of what it might have been like. Trying to tell the whole story of the Battle of Stalingrad through one person’s eyes just wouldn’t work. As for how long, we haven’t really timed it yet. We’re looking for six to eight hours, though.


What improvements and changes have been made to multiplayer?

We’ve done a tonne of work on it, not surprisingly. Apart from all the bits such as a full first-person cover system, blind-firing, climbing and mantling, weapon deployment, I think we’ve talked about multiple game-types. As well as the 'tactical HUD on demand', to make it simpler to figure out what is going on.

The basic Territory game type is an enhanced version of the original Red Orchestra Objectives mode. We’ve also talked about the new Countdown gametype: this is a single-life gametype, but played for a series of objectives on a full-size map, with each objective time-limited. If the attackers take the objective, everyone respawns and goes after the next objective. If the defenders hold the objective, swap sides and go again. It actually gives you a reason to cheer for your team to win, if you are dead; not just the old "hurry up and die so I can respawn" thing. Then there is Firefight, which is our own take on the classic Team Deathmatch. More to come on that another time!


Are you pleased with the end product and community of the original Red Orchestra?

We were really pleased with the game on release, back in 2006. And the community has always been phenomenal; amazingly welcoming and helpful to noobs over time, unlike some. I think there has always been a shared camaraderie with Red Orchestra players. But over the last few years, as we’ve been putting out free content for Red Orchestra and working on Red Orchestra 2, we did begin to think of things we wished we’d done differently the first time. Some of it we couldn’t – it would have been a massive amount of work to get bullet penetration of materials in and actually working well, for example. Starting from scratch again on Red Orchestra 2, we have that in now.

Just in general, some things were more difficult than they needed to be in the game, in terms of the mechanics. Weapon deployment could have been easier, for example. But a lot of this has been learnt from the community. On the forums we can look and see what things matter to people, not to mention the ideas that they come up with. Keep them coming!


How realistic is the game? Can you soak up lead, or is one bullet enough to kill?

This is Red Orchestra. You aren’t superman. You can’t soak up bullets. One to the head or vital organs will kill you. Another reason for not going the character-driven story route, of course. This is why we are interested in the unit, squad or platoon. Individuals may die – will die – but the squad will keep going. Unless you manage to get everyone killed, obviously.

But yes, realism is important to us – fully-functional bullet/projectile physics in flight, penetration of objects, realistic wounding, armour penetration and damage models. Does this make the game more difficult? Well, we don’t think so; it is fairly obvious that if you put a round in someone’s skull, they should go down. I prefer that to "how many rounds do I need to pump into the guy?" And, as we aren’t doing the character-led scenario, the player can simply take over another warm body from his squad if he dies in game.


What stages of the Battle of Stalingrad will be playable? Will there also be other famous battles available?

There will be 10 maps from the Battle of Stalingrad at launch. Many of these will be famous, iconic locations from the battle, recreated as accurately as we can. Some we have mentioned include the Grain Elevator, Station 1, Pavlov’s House and Fallen Fighters’ Square. We also have a separate mod being created as we speak: Rising Storm. This is aimed to be available a few months after Red Orchestra 2 itself, as an add-on. It will provide a full campaign in the Pacific, with the American and Japanese forces all playable. There is also a Vietnam mod in the works: In Country.


Will there be destructible environments?

Yes. Well, we’re not going to have the players dismantle the entire city, but artillery and explosives will certainly be capable of destroying houses, walls and so on.


How large are area maps? Can you enter any building?

Our maps are usually fairly large. For Red Orchestra 2, they will probably vary from 300 metres to more than two kilometres. Most buildings in the play area will be enterable, although obviously some of them are going to be pretty heavily rubbled!


Are there plans for a Killing Floor 2, or Red Orchestra 3?

Nothing announced. But sequels pretty much depend on the success of the previous game. Killing Floor sold around 500,000 units in about fifteen months on PC, so it would be rude not to do a Killing Floor 2. Hopefully we’ll be saying the same about a Red Orchestra 3 next year! But no actual plans to reveal at this time.


Will the game be moddable? Will it ship with Steamworks?

Yes, the game will ship with a full SDK, as we always do. The community always ends up creating some amazing content and we love that. We’ll probably end up sponsoring mapping contests and so on again. And yes, we’ll be using a lot of the Steamworks features.


Can you explain to us the 'new system of statistics tracking enabling player development'?

We’ll keep the fine details of this as a surprise, but in principle you’ll be able to increase your skills as you play, as well as using an honour system to rank people. The differences as you increase your skills will be very subtle, though. This isn’t Killing Floor, where a Level 6 Sharpshooter can pick the wings off a fly with a 9mm at 100 yards! There will be some benefits to higher honour in terms of the availability of specialist roles and weapons, as well as an enhanced look to the battle-hardened soldier on the battlefield.


How many vehicles are there in the game, and can you tell us a bit about them?

We’ll ship with two, the Panzer IV G and the T-34 76 Model 1942. There will be more along later, including transport vehicles. Tanks can be crewed by up to 3 people, with real A.I. filling in the other slots. So you can tank with a couple of friends, or stay solo and command the A.I. crewmen.

This time, all the crew positions will always be filled - unless one of the crew is dead, of course. And they will be realistic. Full 3D interiors that you can look around, crew animated (see the trailer for examples), all the vision devices usable. A detailed damage model, including a complex penetration calculation system and modelling of damage to individual components within the vehicle.


What's the maximum number of players that can be in a single match?

We're aiming for 64 at the moment.


A big thanks goes out to Alan Wilson and the Tripwire team.

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- Chris Hawke
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