Review: Rising Storm

Many are familiar with the series of the Red Orchestra , since 2006 bearing the idea of "hardcore with a human face". Despite the meticulous adherence to military realities (death from one or two bullet wounds, reliable weapons and equipment, the influence of morale on the soldier's actions and many other aspects), the work of Tripwire Interactive did not turn into a sad action with the fighters shaking for their virtual life, not protruding from behind the shelter. On the contrary - there was still no such spectacle full of events at the time of the entourage of the Second World War. 

They also fell in love with the second part, which became a little more "poppy", but retained the spirit of the original. And it seems that nothing prevented the developers from forging the iron on - know yourself rivet cards, add weapons and equipment, introduce new game modes. But somehow it did not work out: with a few exceptions, all innovations were limited to the promises of the authors to release an addition to Heroes of Stalingrad , dedicated to the war in the Pacific. And now, a year and a half after the release of RO2 , Rising Storm finally saw the light.
The transfer of the place of action of the game from the banks of the Volga to the Pacific islands, where the American and Japanese troops agreed in a deadly battle, is quite understandable - abroad, the topic of Stalingrad is not so popular and not so well-known as, for example, the battle for Iwo Jima or Guadalcanal campaign. On the contrary, it seems strange that Tripwire in its time chose the Eastern Front, and not, for example, the popular landing in Normandy (and already all the sick). Now it's time for the American Marines and Japanese infantrymen, whose fights of bitterness were no worse than those that took place in Stalingrad. 

Those who are already familiar with the series Red Orchestra , it will not be difficult to understand the Rising Storm. There are practically no changes in game mechanics: there are still two opposing sides, striving to win on a relatively small map, division into classes, use of shelters, the same "moderate realism" and a huge influence on the outcome of the commander's orders and accuracy of their execution (and not the skills of ordinary shooters to hit the target). 

But the weapons, maps and models of soldiers are now completely different. The American rifle M1 Garand with a characteristic ringing of the fired clip, the Japanese Arisaka Type 38 and 99, the famous Thompson automatic machine, the BAR machine gun, the M12 shotgun ... But, in the end, the rifle in Africa, and the rifle - nothing essentially new compared to the weapon from Heroes of Stalingrad these samples do not.

However, there is also a completely new armament. The Americans have a flamethrower, perfect for smoking enemies from bunkers and buildings, and the Japanese infantry received a new mortar class with a small hand mortar. Thanks to him, you can "cover" the goal through half of the map, not being substituted for bullets. This class is especially effective if the actions of mortar men are coordinated by the commander (however, this is true for all other fighters), indicating where artillery support is needed. In addition, Japanese soldiers can install small booby traps, and their officers have at their disposal katana, from which you can deliver a lot of trouble to the enemy during a melee.

In general, hand-to-hand combat in Rising Stormpaid much more attention than in the predecessor. It is known that during the war in the Pacific, the Japanese often used the tactics of the so-called "banzai attacks" - a sudden assault of enemy positions with the use of cold weapons, which turned into violent melee. The name came from the cry "Banzai!" (Something like our "cheers!"), Which the soldiers shouted during the attack. Initially, such a tactical reception unusual for that war justified itself: a long and heavy rifle in the hands is not the best help in the melee against the bayonet and the sword, which easily cut the barrel of the weapon. Do not forget about the psychological factor - hand-to-hand combat, perhaps more than any other kind of combat requires a soldier strong fighting spirit and physical stamina. However, the Americans soon developed an effective tactic of counteraction,

In Rising Storm, the Japanese have the opportunity to successfully use bayonets, butts and officer katan against the American Marines. It is worthwhile to close the melee button, as a soldier will accept a position for a bayonet attack and cry out something encouraging to the feat for the sake of the Motherland in the Japanese language. The more such obsessives gather in one place, the more powerful will be their onslaught: during the "banzai-attack" the speed of the run increases, the enemy starts to get nervous (this is expressed in the decrease of the "morale" indicator, because of which the screen loses its colors, the player becomes it is more difficult to aim and shoot). Subjects of the emperor, on the contrary, do not notice wounds and can sell their life in a pricey way even in conditions of numerical superiority of the enemy.

But here, as you probably already guessed, the lion's share of success depends on the commander. It is right to determine the strength and direction of the strike, wait for a convenient moment and give the order for a hand-to-hand combat - a non-trivial task even for veterans of the Red Orchestra . You can even lead your own soldiers into battle with a katana at the ready - that's still fun, believe me.

Nothing radically new from Rising Storm to wait is not worth it: the game is good, but it's still the same "Heroes of Stalingrad", corrected for a change of scene. As an addition, RS looks rather weak, especially if we take into account the time for its development - in a year and a half it was possible to add something more essential than other models of soldiers and several locations. But after the release of RO2 it seemed that it was worth waiting a little, and new maps, weapons and "units" would get to us as patches, not add-ons, for which they would save something more important. Instead, the authors were too lazy to correct even noticeable flaws - for example, the camera in the mode of monitoring another player is still incredibly annoying with its "jerky" behavior, and sometimes it is possible to get stuck in textures.

Either way, there is no alternative to RO yet. It's even sadder that the developers are not in a hurry to develop their offspring. We'll have to take Rising Storm as it is, and hope that Tripwire Interactive will still not ignore one of the best multiplayer action movies on World War II. 

Rate:8/10