I've been looking for a good FPS for a while now, CoD, either MW2 or BOPS, don't do it for me anymore, and for a variety of reasons, I don't enjoy BF:BC2. While I do plan on picking up BF3, I thoroughly enjoyed CoD2, and have been reminiscing about the brilliant Russia levels. I was wondering if this game could cure my cravings, mind you one of the reasons I don't enjoy the modern CoDs is because of their arcadiness, so the realism of this game doesn't intimidate me. 
 
Can anyone who played the original give me some perspective about this game compared to other FPS, like the CoDs or BC2, or even Operation Flashpoint?

haven't played the original but as I understand it, it's a pretty realistic multiplayer shooter. My cousin who's a massive PC fan speaks of Red Orchestra in VERY high regard. take from that what you will :)

You don't enjoy MW2, Black Ops or BC2? Maybe take an FPS break, mahn.

I think I once played a UT2k4 mod or something that was called Red Orchestra. It was realistic, maybe.

The original was famous for being extremely difficult due to its high level of realism. There was no instant gratification what so ever. On top of that though, because it was so hard none of the CS kittys would stick around for very long and the community that did stick around was surprisingly mature and helpful.

My fondest memories of FPS gaming comes from the original RO. I've waited a while for this and I can't wait.

Ending fan boy rant... now.

im playing the beta at the moment, or well ive installed it atleast, and so far what i have to report is that it's broken.
All i can say since i have not been able to get into more than 4 matches after about 5 hours of trying and repeatedly crashing is that i don't reccomend buying it at launch. 
 
What i've learned so far, the game seems as realistic as it gets for a close quaters ww2 fps, outside the glitches and some weird animation stuff that im sure they will fix at some point.
deaths are swift, the controls are unintuitive and your objectives and teams are hard to find.
But war is not easy either so i guess thats fine, but just know what you're getting into.
This is all coming from someone who have played realistic military shooters forever from hidden and dangerous  to ghost recon(was once pretty hardcore), to op:flash and most recently arma 2
 
i would give it atleast a couple of months before a buy, but it seems to have some potential.

Game keeps crashing with 'rogame.exe has stopped working' :( the little I have played has been great but still glitchy.

it has a very badass title and ive never heard of it

My take from the beta so far.  

• It feels like the original RO with better graphics
• You can die from bleeding to death and need to bandage yourself up
• You can take cover like in single player of killzone 2
• Easier to use the machine gun than RO 1
• Melee is improved
• Slow paced action
• You need 3 people to operate the tank
• Team communication is crucial
• No crosshairs

There are ground vehicles only. No aircraft.

RO2 is meant to be a highly realistic game but they're also going for ease of use. So while they went for realism first, they also tried to think of the easiest way to make it play in an intuitive and smooth way... for someone who is expecting realism.

For example, just as in real life, a tank cannot be operated by a single person. There is a driver, a gunner, and a commander. They all have to work together in order to make the tank operate. At the same time, just as in real life, tanks are very powerful machines that can take down houses and kill people at over a kilometer away (longer than any sniper). But an unlucky hit from an anti-tank gun could kill your driver, or gunner, requiring someone else to take their job in the tank on the fly.

Machine gun barrels can overheat, requiring them to be changed for cool ones. You can bleed and die from wounds, there's no regenerating life. No crosshairs, only ironsights or scopes (depending on the weapon).

It's a good game for people expecting realism, like I said. If you're expecting a game with regular FPS qualities, you might look elsewhere - this is what makes it stand out.

3D Scopes. I only know 3 games that have that by default. Red Orchestra takes to of those slots.

Running and gunning is still possible in Red Orchestra 2, depending on the class you play, like an assault class with a SMG and grenades. The cover system, health, etc. are not that great a departure from what people are familiar with in other shooters, it is just a little bit more demanding due to its realism - hipfire is extremely difficult, crouching or going prone are quite important, teamwork, etc. etc. It has a sprint button too so that helps prevent the game from being too slow or too sniper-dependent. 
 
On the whole it seems like a well-balanced realistic shooter that makes a few concessions to those who aren't WWII grognards. It's not as brutal (at least not right now) as the first RO was.

@Giantstalker said:

There are ground vehicles only. No aircraft.

RO2 is meant to be a highly realistic game but they're also going for ease of use. So while they went for realism first, they also tried to think of the easiest way to make it play in an intuitive and smooth way... for someone who is expecting realism.

For example, just as in real life, a tank cannot be operated by a single person. There is a driver, a gunner, and a commander. They all have to work together in order to make the tank operate. At the same time, just as in real life, tanks are very powerful machines that can take down houses and kill people at over a kilometer away (longer than any sniper). But an unlucky hit from an anti-tank gun could kill your driver, or gunner, requiring someone else to take their job in the tank on the fly.

Machine gun barrels can overheat, requiring them to be changed for cool ones. You can bleed and die from wounds, there's no regenerating life. No crosshairs, only ironsights or scopes (depending on the weapon).

It's a good game for people expecting realism, like I said. If you're expecting a game with regular FPS qualities, you might look elsewhere - this is what makes it stand out.

All i had to see was 20 minutes of beta gameplay, and I immediately bought it

I will be having Battlefield 3 for crazy action and arcade-ish fps elements. Red Orchestra 2 is looking like the PERFECT game for having a good tactical and realistic game night <3

Also, commander mode, tons of team-related screens, a commo rose, etc.... fuck this game looks great

I think a good way to describe this game is Day of Defeat (WW2 game) with more realism (and a few vehicle maps).  I'm talking about HL1 mod version of DoD when it was more realistic than the version we have today.

@cryptic_code:  My favorite type of game is the middle ground between arcade and realism. I hate Call of Duty multiplayer, but i also have no interest in Arma 2. 
 So my question is, is RO2 a realistic shooter only or is there some sort of normal mode and hardcore mode, like BC2? Is there a less-realistic mode where some crazy fun can be had, or is it only a realistic and a crucial, unforgiving competitive shooter?   Sure, BF3 will be there for me to have crazy action, but I also don't wanna buy RO2 if it's dead serious the entire time.   Also, are there jets and vehicles or is it focused on infantry?

@raiz265: I got in the beta and experienced all of that, this game is so amazing it's hard to believe! A realistic Battlefield game in WW2, sounds like a dream.

I picked up my new PC last night, installing the beta now and gonna max it out :D

the game seems to emphasize more realism, meaning damage is pretty high, you get shot you'll probably going to die right away.

@cryptic_code: Tanks can be controlled by one player but you still need at least 2 or 3 NPCs in your tank. When all of your crew is alive you can jump between each position quickly. If one of your crew dies no one will be manning that position. If you want (or need) to man that position you will have to physically move the dead body and take his place (you see all this happening inside the tank by the way). You spawn in your tank and you die in your tank. You can never leave it. If your tank is too disabled to be useful you can "skuttel"(i think?) your tank, meaning blowing it up! When you choose to be a tank commander a pop-up will ask you if you would like other players to be able to join your tank. So you could potentially have all positions filled by players if you wish.

If you get BF3 and this.. you are all set

I've been in the beta since launch and am really enjoying the game. The weapons feel right, calling it hardcore/frustrating/hyper realistic is an injustice which may wrongly put people off. The game rewards accuracy, but everyone is equally inaccurate so it doesn't feel frustrating when you get one shot. Every time you run from cover to cover it is a calculated risk, the maps are brilliantly designed for this, seemingly random cover is perfectly spaced such that each dash feels just risky enough.

For those of you who haven't played take a look at this next screenshot.

The building I'm in is capture point D, currently in Russian hands (I'm German), the graphic shows there are equal number of Germans and Russians in the building so we can't capture it. The building is 3-4 stories high, you can climb around a lot of the remaining rubble, some of the stair wells are remaining. So I know there are Russians there I need to find, you get this very personal tense battle with a group of players in this building while a massive 50 player battle is going on outside.

Those were shot from a 50 player server, pretty much full at the time, of which each 25 man team only has 1 sniper which is exactly the right number to benefit the game.

Best shooter, or PC game, I've played in years. For what it's worth on my rig I've only had a handful of bugs, and only about 3 crash to desktops which is to be expected in a beta, you are safe buying this at launch.

I'll tell you about this game. It is the best PC exclusive online shooter since Battlefield 2. While showing its mod roots in some janky parts Tripwire got the core gameplay exactly right. You have to give it a little time. At first you will probably hate the game for its clunky UI and for being damn hard, especially if you're not used to realistic tactical shooters. I myself came from a long run playing TF2 so switching to RO2 was quite a change. But once you get your bearings, the fun starts. For example, killing an enemy who is trying to take cover behind a wall at an 80 yard distance and using an antiquated bolt action rifle without a scope or other 'perks' = feels like a proper achievement. Simply getting from A to B can be an adventure of itself. Moving around in enemy territory like Seanebaby's last screenshot can be a terrifying yet very pleasing experience. If you're in the mood for a realistic online shooter this is the go-to game, at least until BF3 comes out.