Putting my neck on the line a bit here, I've not really posted any kind of opinion on these forums regarding the Beta of RO2 but the more I think about the game the more some issues are playing on my mind. Feel free to disagree with me, down-vote the thread, and throw personal insults. This is just my opinion, which happens to be shared by some others, and I hope TW at least note my points without thinking I'm here to bash their hard work.
I'm a long-time player of Red Orchestra, I bought Unreal Tournament back in 2004 specifically to play the mod way before retail release of Ostfront - and I've loved the series to death since.
The one thing that undoubtedly made RO appeal to people was its realism, and I'm pleased to see many realistic factors added to RO2. I love that weapons handle more realistically now, and there are extra features like bandaging and bleed-outs. RO1's take on weapon performance was always a little too hardcore and ironically, unrealistic - think about the inaccurate MG's, massive recoil-pitching on SMG's and Semi's, and the very slow reload times for all weapons. But it didn't matter, the fact it was hard convinced people it must be realistic - and to be fair it was far more realistic than anything else available on the gaming market. It was a slow, tense affair in which a players' brain-power counted for as much, if not more, than point and click ability.
Smiling then, as I found the weapons to behave much better and more importantly more believably realistic in RO2. But then all of a sudden, a smile is replaced with a frown as silly features such as never-ending ironsights stability and weapon readiness speed have been implemented into what SHOULD be a life-like game. I wouldn't mind so much but these things drastically alter gameplay, and the devs who have been bashing CoD kids for so long have changed the very core of what made RO1 great.
Speed. It's what is for me, spoiling my experience thus far in RO2. Running around like an athlete with full kit until absolutely shattered with heavy breathing, but then being able to bring up very steady ironsights with slow and relaxed breathing is a fine example of what I'm getting at. The rate at which you can raise your weapon after sprinting is almost instantaneous and encourages rushing at any opportunity without the need to think too much. Reload times are fine, and are a vast improvement on RO1 - but other areas where speed and NON-fluidity matter are taking us away from realistic behaviour and is giving us a Call of Duty saga where running and gunning is the name of the game. Where's the clumsiness? Panic? Fatigued weapon handling? Why are we all apparently athletic super-humans who can hold a heavy weapon seemingly forever with next to no sway?
Don't get me wrong, RO2 has a LOT of potential, but there's a lot of the game that just isn't realistic and has altered gameplay quite significantly. I'm not one of these people who doesn't like the zoom feature, or the fact weapons are now accurate as they should be, but the overall pace of the game is simply too fast. Some aspects seem to have been over-complicated - the map for example is now awash with real-time information, and the Key with all map icons is almost as big as the map itself - WHY? Why have all of these icons when all you need do is keep it real simple? The mini-map is also realtime and has for me, served little or no purpose except to confuse me into thinking it's the RO1 compass and has me looking for a compass point to tell my friends the direction the enemy is coming from.
The scoreboard is also a mess, and in my (admittedly, simple) mind looks like a bit of a cluster**** of letters and colours. It says a lot when a scoreboard designed almost 8 years ago provides information faster, and in a way that is easily read. Other features like 'Lock-Down' really destroy the fluidity of gameplay and gives the attacking team an often impossible task. Having to attack the dug-in defending enemy, needing to take two caps within 5 minutes is very harsh and simply ends in entire rounds lasting 5 minutes! Surely nobody wants to see a feature like this? It doesn't encourage the attackers to attack - somebody got it wrong.
Still, I'm happy with the base of RO2 - it's damn pretty, the models and animations look great, you can still down an enemy at hundreds of yards with a rifle-round, and it has atmosphere. The audio is top-notch and is a huge improvement on the original game, the voice acting is good and bugs aside, RO2 on the whole is impressive.
I hope beyond everything that TWI realises they can further improve upon the game without deterring newbies who have only experienced arcade-like shooters, and make some tweaks to the gameplay which brings back a little more of the feel RO1 gave us.
I havn't forgotten this is a Beta, but I hope TWI havn't forgotten what made them so popular in the first place. It's great you're able to make the game the way you want it, but it'd be nice if you'd consider the thousands of loyal fans at the same time.
Hats off to you guys for giving me 7 years of gaming heaven, I really hope this game will eventually give me the same.
*awaits masses of down-votes*
I'm a long-time player of Red Orchestra, I bought Unreal Tournament back in 2004 specifically to play the mod way before retail release of Ostfront - and I've loved the series to death since.
The one thing that undoubtedly made RO appeal to people was its realism, and I'm pleased to see many realistic factors added to RO2. I love that weapons handle more realistically now, and there are extra features like bandaging and bleed-outs. RO1's take on weapon performance was always a little too hardcore and ironically, unrealistic - think about the inaccurate MG's, massive recoil-pitching on SMG's and Semi's, and the very slow reload times for all weapons. But it didn't matter, the fact it was hard convinced people it must be realistic - and to be fair it was far more realistic than anything else available on the gaming market. It was a slow, tense affair in which a players' brain-power counted for as much, if not more, than point and click ability.
Smiling then, as I found the weapons to behave much better and more importantly more believably realistic in RO2. But then all of a sudden, a smile is replaced with a frown as silly features such as never-ending ironsights stability and weapon readiness speed have been implemented into what SHOULD be a life-like game. I wouldn't mind so much but these things drastically alter gameplay, and the devs who have been bashing CoD kids for so long have changed the very core of what made RO1 great.
Speed. It's what is for me, spoiling my experience thus far in RO2. Running around like an athlete with full kit until absolutely shattered with heavy breathing, but then being able to bring up very steady ironsights with slow and relaxed breathing is a fine example of what I'm getting at. The rate at which you can raise your weapon after sprinting is almost instantaneous and encourages rushing at any opportunity without the need to think too much. Reload times are fine, and are a vast improvement on RO1 - but other areas where speed and NON-fluidity matter are taking us away from realistic behaviour and is giving us a Call of Duty saga where running and gunning is the name of the game. Where's the clumsiness? Panic? Fatigued weapon handling? Why are we all apparently athletic super-humans who can hold a heavy weapon seemingly forever with next to no sway?
Don't get me wrong, RO2 has a LOT of potential, but there's a lot of the game that just isn't realistic and has altered gameplay quite significantly. I'm not one of these people who doesn't like the zoom feature, or the fact weapons are now accurate as they should be, but the overall pace of the game is simply too fast. Some aspects seem to have been over-complicated - the map for example is now awash with real-time information, and the Key with all map icons is almost as big as the map itself - WHY? Why have all of these icons when all you need do is keep it real simple? The mini-map is also realtime and has for me, served little or no purpose except to confuse me into thinking it's the RO1 compass and has me looking for a compass point to tell my friends the direction the enemy is coming from.
The scoreboard is also a mess, and in my (admittedly, simple) mind looks like a bit of a cluster**** of letters and colours. It says a lot when a scoreboard designed almost 8 years ago provides information faster, and in a way that is easily read. Other features like 'Lock-Down' really destroy the fluidity of gameplay and gives the attacking team an often impossible task. Having to attack the dug-in defending enemy, needing to take two caps within 5 minutes is very harsh and simply ends in entire rounds lasting 5 minutes! Surely nobody wants to see a feature like this? It doesn't encourage the attackers to attack - somebody got it wrong.
Still, I'm happy with the base of RO2 - it's damn pretty, the models and animations look great, you can still down an enemy at hundreds of yards with a rifle-round, and it has atmosphere. The audio is top-notch and is a huge improvement on the original game, the voice acting is good and bugs aside, RO2 on the whole is impressive.
I hope beyond everything that TWI realises they can further improve upon the game without deterring newbies who have only experienced arcade-like shooters, and make some tweaks to the gameplay which brings back a little more of the feel RO1 gave us.
I havn't forgotten this is a Beta, but I hope TWI havn't forgotten what made them so popular in the first place. It's great you're able to make the game the way you want it, but it'd be nice if you'd consider the thousands of loyal fans at the same time.
Hats off to you guys for giving me 7 years of gaming heaven, I really hope this game will eventually give me the same.
*awaits masses of down-votes*
