Crouch-Run Through The Jungle: Rising Storm 2 Vietnam
Bad Moon Rising
We're still combing through the assorted reveals from last night's PC Gaming Show By PC Gamers For PC Gamers Master Race Master Race No Normals Allowed Alright, but one immediate attention-grabber is the follow up to brutalist WW2 multiplayer shooter Rising Storm (née Red Orchestra). It's left me all nostalgic - not because the trailer for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam [official site] has a Creedence soundtrack and a style lifted from the only bits dudebros remember from Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon et al, but because this used to be how it went before Modern Warfare was a twinkle in an executive's eye. There'd be a popular World War 2 shooter, and then once its devs got the itch for something a bit less fusty, they'd excitedly go do Vietnam next.
No release date and few concrete details as yet, but here's some blurb from Tripwire boss John Gibson: "We're bringing our gritty and realistic military shooter gameplay forward to a time when assault rifles ruled the ground, choppers ruled the skies, and every tunnel could hide an ambush," said Tripwire Interactive President, John Gibson, "The iconic setting of Vietnam opens up so many opportunities for exciting asymmetrical gameplay." And here's the all important trailer:
Ah, good memories of blasting Fortune Son while playing Battlefield Vietnam with erstwhile Future Publishing colleagues back in the day.
Movie tropes or no, this is surely an ambitious project for Tripwire and co-dev Anti-Matter games. The move to some relatively modern war machines is a big leap for a series that chases lo-fi realism, plus Vietnam involved profoundly asymmetrical armies and a dramatically more tricksy environment. The big question, of course, is if they're going to let you have in-game radio when you're in a helicopter. Surely they wouldn't license Run Through The Jungle for a mere trailer?
I also wonder if, given the trailer's populist approach, Rising Storm 2 might allow itself to be just a tiny bit more accessible this time around. How would you feel about that, eh?