"As long as you take it for what it is, Red Orchestra is almost perfect... (almost)"

Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 is a highly realistic World War 2 First Person Shooter focusing on the Eastern Front with the Russians and Germans. It is to the FPS genre what a flight simulator is to air combat games. If you don't like realism, read no more, the game is not for you.

That being said, for all the realism (and it does get quite in depth to the point where most things in real life work in the game) the controls are very similar to an ordinary FPS game. This allows you to jump into the game and have mastery of the controls - assuming you're familiar with the genre - very soon after you start, while the real learning curve comes from playing the game in the realistic way it was designed.

This is also one of the most polished games I've ever played, on the level of something like Half-Life 2. All of the minor issues with the original Unreal Tournament 2004 mod have also been addressed too.

Graphics: 7/10
This game uses the same Unreal Engine 2.5 as base graphics engine that the mod version which preceded it used. Given that limitation, it should come as no surprise that the graphics do look somewhat outdated in the overall sense. However, detailed modelling, textures that push the engine harder, and a very realistic and gritty style all add to the overall effect of the graphics.

One of the largest problems with the previous mod version was the draw distance, and the fact that you were often shooting at grey silhouettes. This problem has been fixed, with one possible exception. The Motion Blur and Bloom effects can blur your view out at about the same distance as the old fog. Without these features, the game looks as clear as you would expect. Unfortunately they're enabled by default and also cause some performance problems. Without these two features, I could probably give the graphics an 8.

On the whole, the technical side of the graphics is outdated, but the developers made the most of the technology and boast some impressive visuals for such an old engine. Two more notable things that just make the game that much better are realistic gibing, and when you die you see your hands drop your weapon as they fall to the ground in front of you. Plus there's also a complete animation set in this version of the game...

Gameplay for Realism Gamers: 10/10
Gameplay for Arcade Gamers: 5/10
If you like realism in your games, or if you liked the mod, then this is more or less the "perfect" multiplayer shooter for you. As a footsoldier, your movements are very precise and fluid this time around. I especially like how you crouch down even lower (conveniently just underneath all the sandbags and ledges in the game) when you stop moving, and pulling up your weapon moves you back up a few inches, allowing you to aim, shoot & duck behind cover. The weapons are even more precise than the movements. All weapons have iron sights (or scopes) and you usually only want to use them in this state. If you shoot from the hip, your bullets will go exactly where the barrel is pointed with help of the extremely realistic bullet modeling. On the subject, the bullet model allows for slight bullet drop and delay making those long range shots extra realistic and adding to the depth of the gameplay. All within standard FPS genre controls. It's worth noting that the developers have changed the bolt action rifle system in this game. After you shoot, you can now either move in for a bayonet stab (or melee smash) or you can choose to work the bolt immediately after by clicking again.

When you get in a tank, it's a similar story in some ways, though not in others. The developers again have given you as much realism and depth as they possibly can within simple and standard FPS controls. You have a driver and a gunner, and in some cases a machine gunner. The turrets turn the speeds they're supposed to turn. The shells only penetrate the armor when it would in real life, and reload the realistic speed. All aspects of the weaponry are as realistic and satisfying as possible within the still simple controls. Unfortunately for the driver, he sometimes doesn't have it so good. The movement controls are somewhat clumsy, although there's no doubting the acceleration and momentum of the tanks is realistic. The driver's view through inside of the tank can also be restraining at times, especially for new players.

When it all comes together, it's awesome and satisfying, but for players not used to realism, it probably won't ever work right for them. And you can really tell it's good when all complaints are struggling even to nitpick at it.

Physics: 8/10
To be honest, I've never really noticed much of anything at all about the physics. This means two things at once. It never does anything truly impressive (maybe the arm thing when you die) but it also doesn't do anything wrong.
Solid physics. Nothing spectacular. Unless you wanted to know about the bullet physics. Those are almost too realistic. And tracers go flying everywhere when they bounce off objects.

Sound: 9/10
Again, there's nothing that stands out very much in the sound. But these are even more solid than the physics. I do take notice at times. All guns and other weapons sound realistic as well as explosions. The way they're all presented to you is almost like another physics system though. The game takes the position of the sounds in the game relative to you and distorts them to sound the way they should from all the right distances, angles, speeds, etc. For a game scenario as an example, when there's an MG42 that suddenly starts shooting at you and you hit the dirt, you can hear the bullets wizzing by over your head and hitting the dirt all around you, and you know you're within an inch of death. And it's constantly working in ways like that.

Net Code: 9/10
Very solid. Not perfect, but you won't be lagging unless you've got absolutely no bandwidth to spare or your ping is stratospheric. The VoIP works great too, continuing the Steam game domination of the feature.

Overall: 10/10
There's not much else out there to satisfy your realism urges in this genre. For what it sets out to do, Red Orchestra is a great game with a high level of polish. The gameplay has been nearly perfected already, but patches will surely fix any minor issues players may still have with the game. With a price you'll find hard to beat, there's not much of a reason for you not to own this game if you enjoy realistic shooters.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/27/06