Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
Tripwire Interactive

My squad mates and I were running through some trenches which snaked their way from the lower areas below Hill 937 to the foot of the hills themselves. We were playing as the United States Army and were going up against the full force of the People’s Army of Vietnam which were tasked with defending the objective. The only problem we had is that the enemy had a distinct elevation advantage and could shoot down at us before we even saw where the shots were coming from.

After navigating through the treacherous trenches we began flanking around to the eastern side of the hill. Our squad leader was coordinating with our team’s commander and both were planning to drop a massive artillery barrage on a fortified point on the hill.

Although we tried to stay as undetectable as possible by hiding within the surrounding area’s ample jungle foliage, a couple of our pointmen were spotted and shot to death. We hunkered down at a spot at the bottom of the hill and bided our time—scoping out the eastern face of the hill and tracking enemy movements.

Another squad of U.S. grunts ran up the hill and bore the brunt of the enemy’s formidable defenses. At that point, the commander order our squad to move out and scramble up the hill, as he was about to drop the artillery barrage on the enemy. We soon found out why Hill 937 was called “Hamburger Hill” because we ran a little too fast and ended up running headlong into the barrage ourselves. I watched in horror as my squad mates were literally blown to pieces as the first shrapnel shells began to decimate the area.

Tripwire Interactive’s Rising Storm 2: Vietnam can be quite a brutal game. As you can see, not only are there many instances of friendly fire disasters that can happen, but the enemy can kill you with just one well-placed bullet as well. Unlike the Call of Duty of Battlefield series’, in RS 2: Vietnam you can’t take twenty bullets before you go down. You also can’t jump around like some deranged bunny rabbit because this game’s jumping mechanic is much more of a slight skip.

This sense of realism also seeps over into the highly-detailed maps as well as the meticulously designed character and weapon models. Everything just feels Vietnam-ish, like you’re playing a game version of any of your favorite war movies that covered that era. While this may turn off some gamers who are more of the run-and-gun types, RS 2: Vietnam has attracted a hardcore following of gamers who think more strategically and take their time when attacking or defending points.

RS 2: Vietnam recently received a huge update that introduces a full-on campaign mode. It’s very similar to the previous Rising Storm titles in that it features an overhead strategic map with provinces that each side can take turns attacking and defending. The campaign itself covers most of the Vietnam War, and spans eleven years from 1965, all the way to 1975 when the U.S. finally went home.

This new mode also introduces a whole new slew of maps, weapons, redesigned kits and older maps, and lots of other goodies. For those who have never played RS 2: Vietnam, the game offers (from the Steam page):

64-player battles

6 different armies to play, each with their own weapons and abilities:

United States Army and Marine Corps

North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) and National Liberation Front (Viet Cong)

Australian Army

Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)

Over 50 weapons, covering everything from rifles and pistols to flamethrowers and rocket launchers

4 flyable helicopters – Huey, Cobra, Loach and Bushranger

Asymmetric warfare – VC traps and tunnels vs. US napalm and choppers

More than 20 maps

3 distinct game-modes

Proximity VOIP

And hundreds of character customization options.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is a gripping combat game that has become even better with the introduction of update 1.1 (Campaign Update). Try it out for yourself.

SCORE: 84%

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam features great graphics that make its shooter gameplay truly shine. However, you want to have a pretty beefy gaming PC or gaming laptop in order to play it at a decent framerate. So, you may just want to invest in a decent gaming rig: