Recent reviews by Grain Elevator

The next installment of the Red Orchestra/Rising Storm series! A realistic shooter similar to its predecessor, it still uses the dated Unreal Engine 3, but it seeks to impress the audience with new dazzling graphics and the PTSD inducing experiences of the Vietnam War.

Cons:
- Repetitive game play (Play relatively same 3 maps because thats what people vote for)
- No multiplayer campaign map mode (As Red Orchestra 2 has)
- No incentive for teamwork (Players run off solo and do whatever they want, getting kills for a higher score is all that matters to them)
- Few custom map servers (Plenty of custom maps, but only some servers employ any at all)
- Removed cover system/shooting blindly from behind cover (As in Red Orchestra 2)
- Removed bots from multiplayer (Good because now you know your playing against human players, bad for low pop servers)
- Cannot use joystick to fly helicopters (You need 3rd party software like JoyToKey to avoid using mouse & keyboard)
- No TrackIr or VR support (Use your mouse to turn your head when flying)
- No server queue (You need to use Steam server browser queue or spam the connect button on full servers)
- SDK is buggy/unstable and frequently crashes

Pros:
+ Added Helicopters (With a fair damage model)
+ Added Character customizations (Not everyone is identical)
+ No weapon unlocks (Leveling up is purely for prestige/cosmetic purposes, all weapons come unlocked at lvl 1)
+ Slightly upgraded graphics and uses Wwise sound engine now
+ Added new squad system (Squad leader is no longer a class role, anyone can take it)
+ 3D proximity voice chat (Good for talking to someone near you, also used for micspamming)
+ Wide variety of weapons/variants/attachments (Bayonets, Folding stocks, traps/mines/grenades)
+ Variety of call-in support abilities (Napalm strike, Canberra bomber, Artillery, Ambush Respawn)
+ Vietnamese can use existing in-map underground tunnels and climb up certain obstacles



(nit picking)
- Still uses Unreal Engine 3 in 2017
- Several game crashing bugs
- Characters speak loudly when near the enemy (Detrimental when trying to remain hidden)
- Dead bodies despawn in 5 seconds
- Minimal gore (Not as frequent as Red Orchestra 2 dismemberment/blood)
- No singleplayer
- Idle players are not auto-kicked (Server specific issue, but people can idle and take up player slots without anyone noticing (even in spectator mode))
- No other drivable vehicles besides Helicopters (No APC's, Tanks, or Patrol boats)
- 64 players max per server
- Rare, but hacks are used.
+ Can zero weapon sights (Rarely do you use this except for the RPG)
+ Can use bi-pods and surfaces to stabilize your weapon
+ SDK for creating custom content (maps/mods)
+ Realistic load-outs
+ Developer created tutorial videos
+ Can spot targets manually
+ Can shoot through certain materials
+ Freeplay mode (Shooting range to test weapons and learn to fly helicopters)
+ Can vote for maps
+ First person game-play only



It's a decent game for the work the devs put into it, but not worth the full price. During sales there are quite a number of new players which can explain most of the irrational actions people take. But the game is definitely not Squad or Project Reality, you will run into a lot of idiots. There is hardly anything "tactical" about it, it lacks a suitable amount of content and dwindles down into linear objective taking meat grinders.

Put in a few hundred hours and you will still enjoy yourself, even more with friends. But this game is nothing ground breaking, it's just a little outsourced project developed by Antimatter Games. Red Orchestra 3 will need to impress me a lot more than Rising Storm 2.