Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad

Developer(s) Tripwire Interactive
Publisher(s) Tripwire Interactive
1C Company
Distributor(s) Valve Corporation
Composer(s) Sam Hulick
Engine Unreal Engine 3[1][2]
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s) 13 September 2011[3]
Genre(s) Tactical shooter, first-person shooter
Mode(s) multiplayer

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad is a World War II-themed tactical first-person shooter video game developed and published by Tripwire Interactive. It is a sequel to Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45. The title focuses heavily on the Battle of Stalingrad.[4] The game was released on 13 September 2011.[3] The developers have stated that the game is a Windows exclusive and have no plans to bring it to consoles. The game contains many new features, including a new first-person cover system combined with blind firing, first person collision detection, as well as an entirely new system of statistics tracking and player development.[5]

Gameplay

Red Orchestra 2 is a realistic first-person shooter. Guns behave realistically, with bullet drop and spin taken into account. The game also takes away many of the elements of a traditional HUD, like an ammo counter, forcing players to remember, or manually check, the approximate number of rounds that are left in the gun's magazine. When reloading a weapon, the character checks the weight of the new magazine and determines if it is heavy (full or close to full) or light (empty or close to empty).[6] The game's first-person cover system allows players to hide behind all objects in the world to avoid gunfire. While in cover, players can peek out to take more accurate shots or fire blindly. However, the shape, size and, composition of the object changes its effectiveness at protecting the player. Smaller objects may not cover the player's entire body, and some may not stop bullets. Health does not regenerate over time or by use of medical equipment, but non-fatal wounds must still be bandaged so no more health is lost through blood loss.[7]

There are tanks in Red Orchestra 2. The interiors of each tank are fully recreated with either a human or AI manning each station. The level of detail was described by Tripwire's president John Gibson as rivaling or exceeding tank simulation games.[8] Because of the extensive work required to recreate each vehicle, which Tripwire estimates to take three months each, the game launched with two tanks: the German Panzer IV Ausf. F2 and Soviet T-34. In April 2014 the Game of the Year addition was released with a new game mode search and destroy, new maps and two armored personal carriers were added into the game for the German and Soviet sides respectively. These are the German Sd.Kfz. 251 and the British Universal Carrier with a mounted DT machine gun used by the Soviets.[9] These additions gave infantry more protection and a quick alternative for moving around the battlefield. Two more tanks, the German Panzer III Ausf. M and the Soviet T-70 along with the MG42 German machinegun were added in the Armored Assault free DLC.[10]

Development

In June 2011, Red Orchestra 2's developer, Tripwire, announced they would be taking an aggressive, three-pronged approach to proactively deal with cheating. Red Orchestra 2 would be using a combination of three anti-cheat services; VAC along with Punkbuster and a related service called PBBans.[11] Server operators can choose to use any or none of these services. Tripwire later clarified that Punkbuster for Red Orchestra 2 will have three levels of protection so server operators can optionally make it more or less aggressive in kicking players.[12] A Beta was initiated early on the development process with several phases. First, the Family and Friends Beta for family members and friends of the Tripwire Interactive staff. Then the Beta moved on to include long time clans from Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 and clans new to the game. After this stage, the Beta was opened for anyone that had pre-ordered the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game, which gave the added bonus of participating in the final stage of the Beta.

Mods

Some mod teams were given early access to the SDK and have been developing mods. These mods include Iron Europe: 1914-1916, a mod about World War I, In Country: Vietnam, a mod about the Vietnam War, and Karelian Front, a mod about the Continuation War. There is also the CGT mod that adds classic gametypes such as Capture The Flag and Search & Destroy to the game. The full SDK was made available in January 2012.[13]

Music
Sam Hulick's Main Theme
30-second sample from the theme of Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Composer Sam Hulick, one of the principal composers for the Mass Effect series, was chosen to score the game.[14] The game features dynamic music system, which will cue different music depending on the state of the battle. The Russian and German sides will have their own separate soundtrack.

Rising Storm

Rising Storm was released on May 30, 2013, for a cost of 20 US dollars or regional equivalent. An optional Digital Deluxe edition is available for an extra 10 dollars, and a Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad ownership bonus discount of 25% are available on the Steam store. A 15% preorder discount was also available. Owners of the original Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad received free access to the elite rifleman class, whilst buyers of Rising Storm were given the original game as well.

Rising Storm features in context of the Pacific war between the US and Japan. Both sides have distinct weaponry and abilities so as to create an asymmetric gameplay. The Americans have access to high firepower weapons such as semi-automatic rifles, machineguns and flamethrowers. The Japanese are instead equipped with bolt-action rifles, hand-held mortars, mines, katanas and the ability to banzai charge: causing the enemy to be suppressed for the duration of the charge.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings78.89%[15]
Metacritic76/100[16]
Review score
PublicationScore
GameSpy4.5/5[17]

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad has received generally favorable reviews. Aggregated scores on Metacritic gave the game a 76/100.[18]

PC Gamer awarded the game a 78/100, mentioning the overall satisfactory state of the multiplayer and the suspense within it. However, the single player and the variety of bugs at launch were criticized.[19]

IGN: PC gave the game 8/10.

References

  1. ↑ "The RO2:HoS Fact Thread". Retrieved 2011-03-11.
  2. ↑ "RO2:HoS website". Tripwire Interactive. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Official forums". "Release Date delayed". Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  4. ↑ Breckon, Nick (May 4, 2009). "Red Orchestra Sequel to Feature First FPS German Single-player Campaign". ShackNews. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
  5. ↑ Interview on exhibition.
  6. ↑ Porter, Will (March 29, 2011). "Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad - Preview". Eurogamer. p. 1. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  7. ↑ Lahti, Evan (January 11, 2011). "Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad hands-on". PC Gamer. p. 1. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  8. ↑ Smith, Quintin (September 2, 2010). "Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad: Vehicles". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved July 3, 2011. Beyond this we have added a whole new level of functionality and interaction to the tanks. The first thing that we’ve done is what we call a virtual interior. The player can actually look around in the interior and very easily interact with the interior. Want to look out of a view slit, just look at the slit and press a button. Want to stick your head out of the hatch, look up and press a button. It is all very streamlined and allows the player to do a lot of things but very simply. We’re actual giving players very near to a tank simulation’s level of functionality, but streamlined so it is easy to use and accessible.
  9. ↑ http://www.tripwireinteractive.com/news/rising-storm-game-of-the-year-edition-now-available-on-steam!.aspx
  10. ↑ Porter, Will (March 29, 2011). "Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad - Preview". Eurogamer. p. 2. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  11. ↑ Wilson, Alan (June 21, 2011). "RO2 Anti-cheat". Tripwire Interactive. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  12. ↑ "PBBans supports Red Orchestra 2". Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  13. ↑ http://www.heroesofstalingrad.com/2012/01/10/full-ro2-sdk-now-available-and-updates/
  14. ↑ Wilson, Alan (June 10, 2010). "Composer Sam Hulick chosen as Heroes of Stalingrad Maestro". Tripwire. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
  15. ↑ "Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad". Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  16. ↑ "Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad". Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  17. ↑ "Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad". Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  18. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/red-orchestra-2-heroes-of-stalingrad
  19. ↑ http://www.pcgamer.com/review/red-orchestra-2-heroes-of-stalingrad-review/
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