Without a doubt, this game was developed for die-hard fans of the FPS genre. If you've played any previous releases from Tripwire Interactive (Rising Storm, Red Orchestra, or Killing Floor) then you'll instantly know what you're in for with Rising Storm 2: Vietnam. More casual shooter fans may not like the realistic mechanics and rigidity that this title contains. But, gamers who enjoy mastering a skill set, enjoy memorizing maps and want to fight in a Vietnam War set piece will love this game.

Expect a lot of gunplay, three different modes, and a steep learning curve. There is no campaign mode or any type of single player content outside of a firing range and some tutorial videos. Rewards are present in the form of cosmetic changes you can make to your character's uniform.

The multiplayer modes consist of Territories, Supremacy, and Skirmish. In Territories, you'll play as either Attackers or Defenders. Attackers have to capture specific contested zones on the map. Once captured, new zones will pop up for them to capture as well. Defenders have to hold off the attacking soldiers from capturing zones for a certain amount of time in order to emerge victoriously. It's a simple and straightforward mode.

Supremacy is similar to Territories in that they both focus on control of specific zones on the map. Think of this mode as a "tug of war" between two teams. Both teams are trying to capture certain objectives and generate points. Points are generated while the zone is connected to your team's home base. Breaking supply lines between objectives allow you to deny points to the enemy. Hold objectives and earn more points than the enemy to win in this game mode.

Skirmish involves objective control as well (we're starting to see a common theme here). It's a fast-paced game mode designed for 8-24 players. Each time has a limited amount of respawn time on the clock. Controlling objectives on the map increases the amount of time your team has to continue respawning. You can win by holding all objectives for a full minute. Or you can hold enough objectives to force the enemy's spawn time to reach 0 and lockout. At that point, you can wipe out the enemy soldiers and claim victory.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam has no story. It's a first-person shooter set in the Vietnam War. All weapons, vehicles, uniforms, and cities are surprisingly accurate to the time period. Without a campaign mode, you jump right into the action through the multiplayer modes. Watch a few tutorials to help you get started, but otherwise, you can immediately hop into battle and test your mettle.

Let's start with a few of the positives. The sound of this game is top notch. The firing of machine guns, sniper rifles, or heavy artillery from helicopters feels heavy and impactful. Every bullet sounds dangerous. Footsteps and characters breathing heavy also add emersion to this volatile atmosphere. The soundtrack included in tutorial videos and promotional clips for this title put you in the right mindset for killing in the jungle. ("In A Gadda Da Vida" anyone?).

Besides the sound of this game, all the improvements that we mentioned in the "What to Expect" contribute to this game being enjoyable at times. For instance, maneuvering the Loach helicopter through the sky and laying down suppressing fire with the pilot's minigun is a really satisfying feeling. We just wish that more of the game was enjoyable and not a repetitive experience.

FPS games set in Vietnam have been very enjoyable games for fans of the genre. That's because the combat is generally pretty versatile. You have tanks, a wide array of weapons, aircraft bombings, jeeps driving through jungle terrain, claymores, diverse and well-constructed maps, and an overall feeling of dirty and bloody warfare.

However, from our experience, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam isn't so much a shooter set in Vietnam. It feels more like a dying simulator set in the cities and jungles of Vietnam. There are several reasons why this is the case. First, the maps are poorly designed. Aesthetically they look great and combined with the sound of guns firing and teammates shouting it can feel chaotically immersive and adrenaline pumping. But, when 64 players are on the map of the zone in which actual combat takes place is quite small. Not to mention, you can't go for flanks on enemies because the game will not allow you to walk into zones controlled by the enemy faction. The screen starts to change color and it warns you to turn back or it will force you back to the neutral areas.

Second, friendly fire is a big issue. As we just mentioned, though maps are a decent size, combat takes place in a relatively small portion of the battlefield. You can be hit by stray bullets from your teammates. They can accidentally run in your line of fire when you're aiming for a headshot with your sniper rifle. Or they mistake you for an enemy soldier when you're running towards them during a retreat strategy.

The biggest reason for friendly fire is that there is a minimal differentiation between U.S. Armed Forces and the NVA and Viet Cong. The shapes of their helmets and color of the uniforms are extremely hard to recognize in the midst of battle. If they're a good distance away or hiding in the brush, you're going to need a few seconds to distinguish which side they're fighting for. In those seconds that soldier will probably not hesitate and shoot you if he sees you. Friendly fire or not, some people just shoot the first thing that enters their scope. Your team will lose points everytime friendly fire takes place so your team members will not be pleased if you continually shoot them by mistake.

The third reason why this game feels like a dying simulation is because of the amount of time you spend running to contested zones on the map. Once you spawn, it takes you a good minute and a half to spring to where the fighting is taking place. Along the way, you might be shot at by your own soldiers. Once you reach the battle zone, you better stay under cover as possible because bullet damage is very realistic.

Any stray bullet, from friend or foe, can kill you instantly if it hits you in a vital area. If you manage to survive the skirmish for a bit, be wary of heavy artillery fire coming from the helicopters up above. Though the enemies have decent aim, allied forces can shoot you down just the same if they don't check the map before laying down machine gun rounds from the skies up above. These annoyances wouldn't be so bad on their own, but every time you die you have to run back to the contested zone. It's common to play a solid 8-10 minutes where you haven't gotten a chance to fire your weapon a single time and yet have died 3-4 times already. It feels like you run to zone just to die and then rinse and repeat.

At first, we thought this was all happening because we hadn't played any previous games from Tripwire Interactive, such as the Red Orchestra series. However, we poked around and discovered that people at the top of the leaderboards die quite often as well. They decrease the amount of friendly fire by constantly checking the map and making sure no enemy units are nearby. But, that is a skill you have to develop as almost no other FPS games force you to do this. Also, you can easily be shot by the enemy when you're viewing your map. It's a needless hassle that takes some of the enjoyment out of the game.

Over the course of time we spent with Rising Storm 2: Vietnam we came to appreciate what this game does well and who its catered to. This game is a breath of fresh air because it isn't a dumbed down FPS game like titles that have been released recently. It takes a large amount of skill and a heavy investment of time to truly shine in this shooter from Tripwire Interactive.

It's definitely a more tactical and experienced-based type of warfare than most casual fans are willing to put up with.

We feel that it would have been so much more enjoyable if it had implemented a few features such as a replay system, and a way to tell enemies apart from allies in a more efficient manner.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is not for everyone. It's aimed at hardcore FPS gamers who want a game that takes a lot of time and skill to master and enjoy. If you enjoy Red Orchestra or other Tripwire titles, then this is a game you should definitely check out.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read our thoughts on this game. Have a great day and we'll see you in the next article!