The levels of RO2 present you with some of the most hostile battlegrounds you will ever fight on. Nowhere is safe. While moving around you are in danger from rifle and marksmen stationed in the windows of buildings. And since there are so many windows and so many buildings with multiple levels, those players are also in danger from other players that may also be in windows in other buildings. But you can’t just camp and stay still because no matter where you are, someone can find a position that they will be able to kill you from. Odds are if you fired your weapon and killed a player, another player saw the flash from your muzzle and now knows where you are. I’ve killed many an enemy like that.
In order to move about the maps without getting killed constantly, you will need to use all of the movement options available to you. You can run, jump, sprint, crouch, run while crouched, lean, go prone, dive into prone, and vault in order to reach your destinations. Moving across open areas will typically take you some time since you will be moving from cover to cover to avoid having your lights knocked out. You may want to watch how much running you’re actually doing though. You have a stamina meter and the lower it is, the harder you breathe. This affects your shooting, making it harder to aim.
Another thing that affects your shooting is your soldier’s heart rate; or at least I think that’s what it is. Sometimes you will see a second meter appear above your stamina meter. It was never fully explained what its name is, but I can tell you that the lower it gets, the more distorted you screen becomes, you develop tunnel vision, and the only thing you can hear is your heart pounding. There are several events that will drain this meter. If bullets are wizzing past you, it will drain. If artillery is dropping around you, it will drain. Also, if you see a team mate close to you get killed, it will also drain.
This adds new meaning to laying down cover fire. Players can use machine guns and blind fire to build up their enemies’ anxiety to perhaps help a team mate move to an area covered by said enemy. Also, since that meter doesn’t refill as soon as the danger passes, it would be in your best interest to perhaps move away from the gun fire so that you can get you meter recharged in case enemies are on their way to you.
It appears the unique damage system has made it to the full game intact. Accuracy has never been so important in any game. Depending on where you hit your opponent will determine if they die immediately, a slow death, or just take damage and keep on truckin’. Another item that made it over fully intact is the EXCELLENT sound design. I’m not talking just music. I’m talking weapon sounds, voice overs, the variety of voice overs, movement, environmental effects, and interaction with objects. Everything is crisp, clear, and sounds authentic.
Graphically, the game looks fantastic. Character models, buildings, weapons; everything looks clean, polished, and really helps you feel the sorrow of war. There are a few noticeable bugs to be mentioned, though. I did notice some graphical glitches where background items would flicker or disappear sometimes. Also, the cover system sometimes would get stuck in odd positions and I would either be unable to come out of cover to shoot or unable to go back into cover to avoid fire.
The biggest bug I ran into was with the server browser. This one was very annoying because sometimes when I would come out of a game the server browser wouldn’t show any servers. The only way to fix this was to close the game and reopen. I ran into problems with VOIP cutting out or players just sounding absolutely terrible. I also heard other players talking about their steady shot key not working. Luckily, though, Tripwire is known for great support of their products so I have no doubt these issues will be addressed.
Overall, Red Orchestra 2 is an excellent, award-worthy first-person shooter. It’s definitely not for the casual crowd, and probably only true lovers of the FPS genre will appreciate what the game has to offer. It reminds me of when FPS’s actually had learning curves instead of just turning it on and winning. The time you spend playing RO2 will not only be rewarded with rank, but also with skill that new comers to the game will not be able to match. It’s been a long time since someone made a shooter that made you think before you acted, and made you pay for your mistakes. I know I’m not alone on this, but with every part of my being, I truly thank you Tripwire.
