Stalingrad and the surrounding areas saw some of the worst fighting of the war. The ruins could be abandoned, or hold the enemy, forcing all into close-quarters combat. A group of houses might be burnt to the ground, only the chimneys still standing. Pavlov's House, one of several historical locations in this, which saw struggling over, and from, one floor to the next, had only frames(doors, etc.) left, making it look like an apple core. The 7 hour single-player of this gives context to these(and is, otherwise, essentially some desperately needed off-line practice; there are no characters or "plot", it's all about the importance of the sections and the killing and dying over them), contains actual letters from there, and briefs you with a combination of footage from the situation and "attack plan animations"(with propaganda... disgusting, since it's exactly what they saw back then).
The tutorials prepare you for many situations, including several rare ones. Like many of such, however, they are too scripted, not offering free exploration of the elements with optional "training wheels", they don't tell you in any detail what worked and why or vice versa of what you did, etc. Because of this, there is an inordinate amount of things you have to pick up on by diving in, and many will just give up on it, and this could have been avoided. This is one of the things that were greatly improved on from the original, but not quite enough. Another is the streamlining of mechanics, including, and most decisively, controls. You have to memorize far fewer keys, and several now do different things based on the situation, such as one switching between semi/fully automatic, replacing a heated barrel on the highly effective(when placed right, since it can't be moved beyond the 90 degree angle in front of you) machinegun, etc.
I won't be reviewing the Rising Sun portion of this, as it is only a demo. There are now more than the one mode, "Domination". They have you capture/defend objectives, outside of Search and Destroy, where you plant/defuse a bomb Counter-Strike style, and Firefight, which doesn't tell you what to do, making it even more intense than it already always is. Round length and amount of respawns pivotally vary: Territory has 30 minutes and countless(and Campaign is this but the winners vote on next area and which side to be on, letting a team conquer the whole Eastern Front), Countdown has 3 minutes per spot to take(and half-time swapping) and 2 extra(!). All of these are a distinct experience from the rest, and there are plenty of servers, which you actually get to choose between, also for the three rulesets.
From least to most mainstream, these are Classic, Realism and Action. Thus this addictive gem is open to FPS players(and certainly, if you aren't at least formidable at that, this is not for you) in addition to serving the niche who want a simulator/interactive documentary of this part of our too-recent memory. Upgrading, of the following, by "experience points" is now present. Weapons, where you can carry 1 2-handed, 1 1-handed and 1 grenade type, and include SMG's, rifles(some assalt, some sniper, etc.), pistols, etc. and can, in time, be equipped with a silencer, extended clip, bayonet or the like. Classes, all of whom have set roles, and mostly as little as 1-2 per, can, after a while, get new additions to your arsenal. This means that whether you've played 10 minutes or 10 hours "matters", you won't have tried all the content available in the former, as it is, for example, in Left 4 Dead. Seniority and rank also follows.
This is extremely close to actually being there. Nearly all of the minimal input you get is from your senses, translated into visual indicators. What you hear, see, touch – how much you're carrying, how hurt you are, etc. Almost nothing betrays that this is not real, only just enough that it's playable. The graphics are amazing, and will hold up for years to come. Bloom, motion blur, etc. start out overpowering, and remain important to hiding, or determining where someone else is. One of the first challenges of this, as has been pointed out, is telling friend and foe apart. Color? What about lighting? Symbol ? Tiny. The atmosphere is gripping and unbroken. Every level is well-designed with flanking, vantage points and the like. The map now has a shortcut via the Tactical View, that adds POI to the sparse HUD.
Vehicles include: the APC, vital to moving almost a dozen soldiers from one place to the next in very little time, provided you can keep it from being destroyed, as it is a frail thing. And the tank, where the 3-4 people in it each have their purpose drive, use the cannon(that turns slowly and noisily, reloads over a couple of seconds, and where every shot has to count, so keep in mind weak points of other iron beasts, and take penetration and angle into account when trying to pry open that armor), man the MG or command it. That last one can literally order, in detail, where to go and/or attack, and that goes for on foot, as well. Heck, put him in front of a radio, and he can call in strikes of artillery, mortar and rockets(provided he, or someone else with binoculars, have painted a target for it), reinforcements, and aerial recon, which will show any enemy unit on the map, making him one of the two players in the game of chess that this is. Using the widget, you can give other specific orders, and all of these are easy to use.
There is a lot of bloody, violent, disturbing, at times brutal and gory, content in this, and some will switch some of it off – I very nearly did. I recommend this to anyone who wants to "disappear" into the horrifying reality that was inescapable for those millions of troops. 9/10
The tutorials prepare you for many situations, including several rare ones. Like many of such, however, they are too scripted, not offering free exploration of the elements with optional "training wheels", they don't tell you in any detail what worked and why or vice versa of what you did, etc. Because of this, there is an inordinate amount of things you have to pick up on by diving in, and many will just give up on it, and this could have been avoided. This is one of the things that were greatly improved on from the original, but not quite enough. Another is the streamlining of mechanics, including, and most decisively, controls. You have to memorize far fewer keys, and several now do different things based on the situation, such as one switching between semi/fully automatic, replacing a heated barrel on the highly effective(when placed right, since it can't be moved beyond the 90 degree angle in front of you) machinegun, etc.
I won't be reviewing the Rising Sun portion of this, as it is only a demo. There are now more than the one mode, "Domination". They have you capture/defend objectives, outside of Search and Destroy, where you plant/defuse a bomb Counter-Strike style, and Firefight, which doesn't tell you what to do, making it even more intense than it already always is. Round length and amount of respawns pivotally vary: Territory has 30 minutes and countless(and Campaign is this but the winners vote on next area and which side to be on, letting a team conquer the whole Eastern Front), Countdown has 3 minutes per spot to take(and half-time swapping) and 2 extra(!). All of these are a distinct experience from the rest, and there are plenty of servers, which you actually get to choose between, also for the three rulesets.
From least to most mainstream, these are Classic, Realism and Action. Thus this addictive gem is open to FPS players(and certainly, if you aren't at least formidable at that, this is not for you) in addition to serving the niche who want a simulator/interactive documentary of this part of our too-recent memory. Upgrading, of the following, by "experience points" is now present. Weapons, where you can carry 1 2-handed, 1 1-handed and 1 grenade type, and include SMG's, rifles(some assalt, some sniper, etc.), pistols, etc. and can, in time, be equipped with a silencer, extended clip, bayonet or the like. Classes, all of whom have set roles, and mostly as little as 1-2 per, can, after a while, get new additions to your arsenal. This means that whether you've played 10 minutes or 10 hours "matters", you won't have tried all the content available in the former, as it is, for example, in Left 4 Dead. Seniority and rank also follows.
This is extremely close to actually being there. Nearly all of the minimal input you get is from your senses, translated into visual indicators. What you hear, see, touch – how much you're carrying, how hurt you are, etc. Almost nothing betrays that this is not real, only just enough that it's playable. The graphics are amazing, and will hold up for years to come. Bloom, motion blur, etc. start out overpowering, and remain important to hiding, or determining where someone else is. One of the first challenges of this, as has been pointed out, is telling friend and foe apart. Color? What about lighting? Symbol ? Tiny. The atmosphere is gripping and unbroken. Every level is well-designed with flanking, vantage points and the like. The map now has a shortcut via the Tactical View, that adds POI to the sparse HUD.
Vehicles include: the APC, vital to moving almost a dozen soldiers from one place to the next in very little time, provided you can keep it from being destroyed, as it is a frail thing. And the tank, where the 3-4 people in it each have their purpose drive, use the cannon(that turns slowly and noisily, reloads over a couple of seconds, and where every shot has to count, so keep in mind weak points of other iron beasts, and take penetration and angle into account when trying to pry open that armor), man the MG or command it. That last one can literally order, in detail, where to go and/or attack, and that goes for on foot, as well. Heck, put him in front of a radio, and he can call in strikes of artillery, mortar and rockets(provided he, or someone else with binoculars, have painted a target for it), reinforcements, and aerial recon, which will show any enemy unit on the map, making him one of the two players in the game of chess that this is. Using the widget, you can give other specific orders, and all of these are easy to use.
There is a lot of bloody, violent, disturbing, at times brutal and gory, content in this, and some will switch some of it off – I very nearly did. I recommend this to anyone who wants to "disappear" into the horrifying reality that was inescapable for those millions of troops. 9/10