Red Orchestra 2 - Heroes of Stalingrad [high-realism war sim MP shooter]

Anyone else excited for this? It's coming out mid-September; already prepurchased on GMG for $27 (regular price is $40).

The maker is Tripwire Interactive, a very enthusiastic semi-indie developer team; they are the people behind Red Orchestra 1, and of course, Killing Floors.

I haven't read up on too much about the game but here's a few things I know:

- huge battlefields reconstructed entirely based on actual Stalingrad (from current-day measurements as well as WWII aerial / ground shots)
- cover / suppression systems, bullets can pierce various environmental materials based on caliber and angle
- ruthless damage system, if you are hit in the head/heart it's instant death, if you are hit in other vital organs / nut-shot, it's a slow bleed to death, if your limbs are hit you can bandage (only a few bandages per round)
- realistic tanks! based entirely on actual tanks used in the battle of Stalingrad and up to 3 players can operate in one single tank (driver / spotter / sheller); taking down tanks requires good understanding of its weakspots
- harrowing sound effects, when you shoot down an enemy, hear their painful cries of death, or track down a wounded enemy barking in pain
- 2 independent single-player campaigns, one for each side (germans/soviets), gets new players acquainted with how RO2 plays.
- probably a lot other cool things.

 

Sounds cool. How's the DRM compared to BF3?

 

It allows for extensive modding, also its a fully Steamworks game like Killing Floors, so edit: that's the extent of DRM. However I can't see too many people hating Steamworks DRM for an almost exclusively multiplayer game - the bonuses like a tonne of achievements, VAC security, and playing with Steam friends.

If you watch one of the interviews by TotalBiscuit with RO2's lead designer this Gamescom, he actually says that they want to encourage player involvement in the modding scene as much as humanly possible.

Honestly though, Tripwire Interactive is one of the most loved devs in the current scene. They stay faithful to PC gamers and only profit from the actual games plus some optional character skins, DLCs are always free and there's plenty of them.

 

Steamworks is the DRM. So yes, it has the one of the most widely known DRM. Game is locked to the Steam account, meaning even if you buy it retail, you have to install Steam. This is the definition of what a DRM is.

But you can look forward to great support from them. They guarantee 3 years of support after game release, with all game content patches and updates for free. Meaning the only DLC you may be charged for are not game content related, maybe a new skin for your soldier or skin for guns etc, things that don't have any impact on gameplay. All things related to gameplay such as new items, new maps, new modes etc will be free. One time pay.

You can also look forward to modding. Tripwire will ship the SDK and everything you need to mod straight out of the box on Day 1. TripWire has already sent the SDK to the most well known RO1 modders a LONG time ago. The best of the mods these modders produce will be polished by Tripwire and given to the public for free as a DLC/Update. Think of Valve. Valve sees a modder. Polishes up the modders work. Then sells it for profit. Tripwire does the same, but it's free. If modders manage to even create an entirely new game mode etc mod, Tripwire will polish that up and release is as a update/new content. Again Valve would sell that separately and charge another $30-50 for it. And people think Valve are so nice.

 

Thanks for the correction. Yeah I never actually read into what DRM encompasses and always thought it has something to do with not allowing modding / etc.

Well I mean, the only instance of Valve selling a mod of its own game is Gmod, but that's only $2~$5 depending on the time of the year. What are they selling for $30~50?

 

Team Fortress is a mod that Valve did not think of or develop initially. L4D/L4D2 personally think are mods of Half Life 2. And Counter Strike was a mod of Half Life which Valve did not think of or develop either. All of these games have been sold separately from Half Life and Half Life 2 and some with a full price tag like Team Fortress/L4D/L4D2.

 

The original CS and TF2 were indeed mods based on the old HL engine, however one can argue that the newer titles are more than mods, they are independent games using the same Source Engine; I don't see much if any model/environment recycling at all.

 

How have you NOT heard of RO? Not trying to troll, but the PC gaming community has been looking forward to this for forever.

It really is a superb game. Tripwire also makes Killing Floor, if anyone wants some other games confirming the quality of the company.

 

Hmm, i already made a thread for this game, but what the heck... Im looking forward to it alot too! I really liked the first one! Though i found that if you´re good enough it could get quite easy...

 

This sounds fantastic. Thanks for the heads up, I'm a big fan of WWII Sims and never head of this.

 

It seems the forum search function is dysfunctional; I did a quick search "red orchestra 2" before making this thread and didn't find anything.

Anyway it's nearing release date, and the thread you made isn't being bumped or seen so, I guess this new thread is justifiable.

 

The gore in the game looks good...hehehe. I will check it out!