Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad plus Rising Storm

[CeeKay]

apparently it's being prematurely announced by PC Gamer, so I may have to look up the issue.  I really like Enemy at the Gates, and the Stalingrad levels from the Call of Duty series, so a whole game set during the siege could be pretty fun.

[CeeKay]

official announcement:

Heroes of Stalingrad will take the Red Orchestra franchise into the next generation of gaming. Cutting edge graphics and audio built on Unreal Engine 3, inventive features and streamlined realism will deliver an unrivalled WWII experience. Focusing on the Battle of Stalingrad and the surrounding operations, both German and Russian, from July 1942 to February 1943 the game allows the player to experience one of the most brutal battles in all of human history. For the first time ever in a first person shooter gamers will be able to experience WWII from the Axis side in a German single player campaign. As always with the Red Orchestra franchise, we will aim to deliver unrivalled accuracy and attention to detail, along with gritty, vicious combat in multi-player, co-op and solo modes. Again, we have listened to the fans and have designed a whole set of new features to make the game more accessible and easy to get into – all while delivering the tactical shooter realism fans of the original game loved.

There is more information available in the June 2009 issue of PC Gamer both in the UK and US, which will be on the news stands in May. The Heroes of Stalingrad forums are also now open – head to www.HeroesofStalingrad.com for the teaser website and access to the forums. We will be releasing more information about the game over the next weeks and months, so keep checking back! Tripwire Interactive are taking the time to get the game right, so the release date will remain “when it is ready” for the time being.

the German campaign should be interesting, I wonder how big an outcry it will cause.

[CeeKay]

the game is supposed to be shown off next week at Gamescon.

[CeeKay]

they were talking up the game last week at GDC.

[CeeKay]

also, there's going to be a community modder made expansion for the original game.

[CeeKay]

6 new screenshots.

[CeeKay]

Heroes of Stalingrad is now officially Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad.

[CeeKay]

RO2 system specs!

[CeeKay]

new RO2 Preview at PC Gamer.

[Turtle]

I really enjoyed Red Orchestra when I played it, but technical limitations of it being a mod held it back.  Will definitely be picking this up to see how they're going to make realistic gameplay not a chore to play.

[CeeKay]

Stalingrad interview: http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/7508/GRTV%3A+Red+Orchestra+2+Interview/?sid=2df66274fda9bd7aa81ef939cf787159

[CeeKay]

some Stalingrad single player gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=017MPxDdv98&feature=player_embedded

[wonderpug]

I never played the first RO... does this game tend to attract players more inclined toward voice chat and teamwork?  In other shooters, teamwork is great to see when it happens but I can still do fairly well for myself solo if my team is full of lone guns or incompetent people.  From what I'm reading about RO2 it sounds like I'm going to get picked off the instant I stick my nose out from behind cover unless I have teammates capable of coordinating covering fire.

Also, in the beta so far do there seem to be an even higher prevalence of snipers than usual, due people trying to mimic the Zaytsef/Konig history?

[Vindel]

I never played the first RO... does this game tend to attract players more inclined toward voice chat and teamwork?  In other shooters, teamwork is great to see when it happens but I can still do fairly well for myself solo if my team is full of lone guns or incompetent people.  From what I'm reading about RO2 it sounds like I'm going to get picked off the instant I stick my nose out from behind cover unless I have teammates capable of coordinating covering fire.

Also, in the beta so far do there seem to be an even higher prevalence of snipers than usual, due people trying to mimic the Zaytsef/Konig history?

Eventually they player base will become more of a teamwork crowd. As in the first RO teamwork is essential to win. No Rambo's here, well you can but you will not last long. Right now in beta there are people complaining basically that they can't go all CoD in the game and people telling them to just leave the game because you can't. It is more of a run, get to cover, peek out and move to cover. If you run and gun you are done lol.

Also, thank goodness this is the same as the first. But there are limits on how many classes can be on the field of battle. For instance, you may only have 1 or 2 MG's out at a time, usually only 1 - 3 snipers, 5 - 8 light SMG's, 1 field general and the rest are infantry with the stock rifle. So a little more real then everyone running with SMG or Heavy MG's or snipers. I like this about the game. Hope this helps a bit.

[wonderpug]

Also, thank goodness this is the same as the first. But there are limits on how many classes can be on the field of battle. For instance, you may only have 1 or 2 MG's out at a time, usually only 1 - 3 snipers, 5 - 8 light SMG's, 1 field general and the rest are infantry with the stock rifle. So a little more real then everyone running with SMG or Heavy MG's or snipers. I like this about the game. Hope this helps a bit.

If all the slots for a special troop type are filled, how do I go about trying to gain the next free slot?  Do I just need to keep manually checking if a position has opened up or is there some more sophisticated mechanic involved, like a way to get in a queue for the next free spot or whatever?

I appreciate how the game mechanic helps ensure teams stay balanced, weapon-wise, but every game I've played that had that enabled on some servers I've inevitably encountered scenarios where a specific class is needed for the team to overcome some situation, and the people occupying the slots are just dicking around or just aren't good enough in the role. 

[Vindel]

Yes, you have to check to see if a weapon slot is available, from what I have seen anyway. The only slot that has no limits in the infantry that run with saythe Kar 98 or the Garand....

[wonderpug]

Garand?  I thought the game was just Russia/Germany conflict.

[Vindel]

Garand?  I thought the game was just Russia/Germany conflict.

OOPS, hahaha that's right. It was the first rifle to pop into my mind after the Kar DOH   

[Vidiot]

I never played the first RO... does this game tend to attract players more inclined toward voice chat and teamwork?  In other shooters, teamwork is great to see when it happens but I can still do fairly well for myself solo if my team is full of lone guns or incompetent people.  From what I'm reading about RO2 it sounds like I'm going to get picked off the instant I stick my nose out from behind cover unless I have teammates capable of coordinating covering fire.

Also, in the beta so far do there seem to be an even higher prevalence of snipers than usual, due people trying to mimic the Zaytsef/Konig history?

Are you sure they are snipers?  One lucky shot with a SMG or normal rifle will take you down.  You need not only cover but covering fire if you want to assault a position.

[wonderpug]

I haven't played any Red Orchestra games ever.  As part of my due diligence before handing over 35 whole dollars I am double checking whether or not the game will be even more excessively filled with snipers than a typical FPS infestation due to the history of the real Stalingrad battle snipers.

[Turtle]

Don't buy this game if you dislike getting killed from enemies you never knew were there. That's what will happen most of the times you spawn, even at a high level of play if you have lots of skill, you're still going to get shot from unseen enemies more than ones you're in direct confrontation with.

With the way the guns are balanced, the only difference between the sniper rifle and a normal bolt action rifle is that the sniper rifle has a scope.

[wonderpug]

Don't buy this game if you dislike getting killed from enemies you never knew were there. That's what will happen most of the times you spawn, even at a high level of play if you have lots of skill, you're still going to get shot from unseen enemies more than ones you're in direct confrontation with.

I have no problem with really high lethality and a lack of killcams.  I was wondering if 10 out of every 12 players were going to be people saying "I'm Zaytsef!" holing themselves up in a corner and ignoring objectives.  As a rule, for other shooters I believe the typical ratio is 5 out of 12. 

[Turtle]

Eh, we'll have to see. There are a lot of new players and a lot of really old players in the beta.

The systems that might have helped organize the chaos and get people to move to objectives don't seem to be in place, or maybe aren't in the game at all as far as I could tell. There's a weird command system tied to the commander and squad leaders, including a kludgy spawning on the squad leader. But so far it's hard to tell how it's supposed to be used and there's no real reward for following it.

If you want teamwork all the time, join a clan, as it stands, with release so close, they're not going to have the teamwork incentive and organization systems in place at launch, if they ever get it implemented.

There are generic Honor rewards (basically XP) for doing stuff in and around the objectives.

That said, other elements are really smooth, like bracing on everything works pretty well, although the first person cover isn't that useful since it locks you in place, and leaning out of cover is a canned animation that exposes way too much of you.

[Vidiot]

I haven't played any Red Orchestra games ever.  As part of my due diligence before handing over 35 whole dollars I am double checking whether or not the game will be even more excessively filled with snipers than a typical FPS infestation due to the history of the real Stalingrad battle snipers.

Sorry, I thought you said it seemed like there were a lot of snipers in the beta.

Pretty much what Turtle said.  You are going to make more points sniping around an objective than anywhere else.  That said there is a huge advantage of hiding in cover and taking shots rather than charging in.  You need teamwork to charge or you will just get cut down.

In general the maps don't seem to have super awesome sniper nests where the sniper can just hang out the whole game (and if they did anyone with a rifle would take them down after the first kill).  From what I have seen so far, this isn't BFBC2 where the sniper is a speck across the map, in this case the sniper is probably some guy on the other side of the road in a window.  As such if you just hang out a while he is going to fire a shot and reveal himself.

[Turtle]

Actually, it depends on the map. The larger maps for larger games, there are plenty of places you can sit and snipe and you'll be at a distance where no one can really see your muzzle flash, and everyone's too busy killing everyone else.

I did manage to kill a sniper by tracking his muzzle flash, then ranging in with my normal rifle and killing him in one shot from over 400 meters. But, that's a rarity, and by that time he and the rest of the enemy team had killed my entire team and infantry were pouring over my position.

[Razgon]

IF you can get a good team going, there is a huge potential for teamwork winning the day here. Basically, many of the maps are set up so that a good support system is key. By that I mean machine gunners, and sniper to cover from behind while infantry and squad leader advance, often under the cover of the Squadleaders smoke grenades.

A lot of people have voice activated that I saw, but not many used it yet. As Turtle noticed though, the squad and commander system seems a bit wonky still, but hey, this is Beta.

Its a hugely lethal game though, and you have to plan your advance accordingly - Also yes, expect to die, but expect to learn from your deaths as well. You cant guard yourself against everything of course, but 70 percent (yes, I totally made that up) of your deaths could probably have been avoided, if you had known the map, scouted out enemy positioning and generally kept low instead of sprinting like Laura across the open field.

[Vidiot]

IF you can get a good team going, there is a huge potential for teamwork winning the day here. Basically, many of the maps are set up so that a good support system is key. By that I mean machine gunners, and sniper to cover from behind while infantry and squad leader advance, often under the cover of the Squadleaders smoke grenades.

A lot of people have voice activated that I saw, but not many used it yet. As Turtle noticed though, the squad and commander system seems a bit wonky still, but hey, this is Beta.

Its a hugely lethal game though, and you have to plan your advance accordingly - Also yes, expect to die, but expect to learn from your deaths as well. You cant guard yourself against everything of course, but 70 percent (yes, I totally made that up) of your deaths could probably have been avoided, if you had known the map, scouted out enemy positioning and generally kept low instead of sprinting like Laura across the open field.

Not anymore. 

[Harkonis]

was playing on a team with no squad leaders, no commander, no tank commanders and only Caine and I on anti-tank versus a team fully using their command units, calling in arty on us and 2 tanks.  Man it sucks to be on the other side.

[wonderpug]

I only had about 10 minutes to play last night, but the one round I got to play was indeed the most realistic WWII recreation I have ever played. 

I was a Russian, I didn't really know where I was or what I was fighting for.  The next thing I know, I've been handed a rifle I don't know how to use and then I see 31 of my comrades running forward.  I followed along, scared to stick my head near a window, and scared even to fire my weapon at anything because I didn't really know what the enemy looked like.  I pressed forward, not wanting to get reprimanded for being a coward, and finally came across someone I thought was an enemy.  I raised my rifle, still not sure if I was doing the right thing, and then I got killed from behind, never having fired a shot.

Then I had to log off, so that was the start and end of Comrade Pug's contribution to the Eastern Front.

[Teggy]

I need to get back to this as I did buy it. I played a tiny bit and was pretty confused. Immediately upon spawning I was surrounded by players with red names over their head who were looking elsewhere for some reason. So I shot them, but that didn't seem to do anything. So I thought maybe they were actually on my team. But they had red names. Some didn't have names at all. And I couldn't figure out how to go prone. And I died a few times. Then I logged off.

[Harkonis]

names means they are on your team (for most servers)  red or green doesn't matter in this case.

You are just conditioned by COD to shoot red names.  This is a big problem with gamers these days (get off my lawn!).  Nobody has target aquisition and identification skills.  Everyone just shoots at red names and helps green names.  I'd love to see a parody of COD with no soldier models, just names.

[wonderpug]

I think it would help if there was an easy way to browse the player models.  Just from history and other games I generally know what a German uniform and a Russian uniform looks like, but without more familiarity on this particular game's models (and its variety of hats & helmets) it's tough to be comfortable with target identification.

The server I happened to join I think had particularly hardcore settings.  There was no respawning, no player names on allies.  I think I need to play a few rounds on each map with CoD carebear style settings to get familiar with things before I'm ready for the super-realism style servers.

One question: just before Comrade Pug's death, I got a message on my screen flashing "You are entering a protected area" or something like that.  Did I accidentally venture into the opposing team's spawn point or something?  Verbotten?  Or was it just some cue to tell me I was nearing the bad guys?

[Harkonis]

you were about to be killed for entering a spawn

My server is mostly relaxed settings.

Germans have helmets (except officers) Russians have hats. 

Germans are darker uniforms (except officers)

Germans run with their weapon in one hand, Russians keep both hands on theirs.

Only downside of this type of id is that I tend to kill my own officers when playing as Axis.  They had it coming.

Sometimes I do hate running a server. (only in terms of keeping it populated though)  Once they empty they are such a bitch to get populated because everyone sees it empty and moves on.  If just a handful of people would wait 5-10 minutes, it would fill to cap and stay there all day.

[Turtle]

In maps that take place later in the war, all soviets are wearing helmets.

[Harkonis]

Except officers right?  So best to just shoot all officers.  Most realism evah! 

[CeeKay]

Aren't all officers under standing orders to shoot anyone running from battle?

[Turtle]

Officers will be wearing some pretty distinctive hats. Plus, they'll kill your entire family back in the Russia if you do that.

[Scraper]

Is the server up and if so how do we find it?

[Teggy]

In Stalinist Russia, server finds you.

[wonderpug]

Put a lot more time into this over the weekend and I really like it.  The more unforgiving nature definitely increases the chances of having an unsuccessful run, where you spend minutes making your way to the front only to get shot from who-knows-where, but on the flipside it makes those times you do have a successful run feel all the more rewarding.  I also love love love the more realistically modelled iron sights and bullet drop: when I land a shot on a tiny blip of a head from 150 yards with an unscoped rifle, I just about jump for joy.  The greater odds of someone missing their first shot, combined with the high lethality, also makes for "whew that was close!" dive for cover moments that you don't really get with your typical laser bullet shooters.

I don't really have the same bug complaints that most of the player community seems to be having.  The botched stat tracking seems to be the most egregious bug, but since it's bugged positively for me rather than negatively (the game thinks I have hundreds and hundreds of kills with every class and weapon) I don't care a bit.

The balancing issues seem more annoying.  I haven't spent enough time to judge weapon balance, but it does seem like the map layouts and spawn points need some tweaking.  I really wish they would swap offense/defense roles from round to round rather than just resetting to the beginning with the same teams on the same sides. 

Most of the maps I like a lot.  I think the only one that I hate to play so far is the one with a wide wide open park running through the middle.  It's so dangerous to venture in, and so fun to sit back and pick off the people that do, that nothing really happens.

Glad I bought it, and I hope they patch things up quickly so the community doesn't die off.