History VideoGame / RedOrchestra

* BottomlessMagazines: An interesting example - the fixed machine guns (for the Russians, a Maxim M1910, and an [=MG34=] on a tripod for the Germans) need to be reloaded, but they have an infinite number of ammunition belts to do it with.

** Taken UpToEleven in Rising Storm 2; while both sides are able to call in artilleryt, he United States/Southern Vietnam forces have access to everything from player-controlled attack helicopters to jungle-scorching napalm strikes, and let us not forget the AC-47 Spooky that flies above the operation area raining fire upon it's targets. Further enforced by the Bushranger update, adding the eponymous helicopter and the Canberra Bomber.

* PoirotSpeak: Used by both Germans and Russians, but there is an option to allow all vocalizations to be made in the native language. Averted in Rising Storm and it's sequel, where the non-English side only speaks Japanese/Vietnamese, except for the announcer who speaks English with a heavy accent.

* ArtificialStupidity: The AI bots that play the combat engineers have a nasty habit of dropping their timed det packs in the middle of a group of friendlies.

* ArtifactTitle: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in regards to the "Orchestra" part at least. The maps originally had no music playing when the game was first released, a later update added music as an option.

** In ''Rising Storm 2: Vietnam'', in addition to the sprinting differences, South Vietnamese troops have backpacks while the North Vietnamese do not. Additionally, while some Vietnamese soldiers can be vaguely brown, only Americans or Australians can be black, and the uniform differences are much more substantial, thanks in part to the character customization feature.

*** Radioman: Acts as a mobile radio station for Commanders, allowing them to call in strikes and other types of support from the front lines. Completely useless if there is no commander on the team since nobody else is allowed to call support/close-air-support in, it requires players to stick to the commander and is essentially an upgrade from the static radio points of previous games.

*** Squad-Leader: Interestingly the squad-leader role has been removed as a specific class and now acts as a 'bonus' on top of a player's chosen class. Becoming the SL is done by either being the first person to join a squad or have it given to you by the existing SL. The interesting fact about [=SLs=] this time is how they function; US leaders work like in previous RO titles (Squad members spawn on top of the SL, letting them act as a spawn point), whereas the Viet Cong [=SLs=] are given a hatchet and may place a tunnel somewhere in the area for the squad to spawn from. Additionally squad leaders receive a pistol and binoculars on top of their class-specific weaponry.

** Taken UpToEleven in Rising Storm 2, while both sides are able to call in artillery the United States/Southern Vietnam forces have access to everything from player-controlled attack helicopters to jungle-scorching napalm strikes, and let us not forget the AC-47 Spooky that flies above the operation area raining fire upon it's targets. Further increased by the Bushranger update, adding the eponymous helicopter and the Canberra Bomber.

** In ''Rising Storm 2: Vietnam'', in addition to the sprinting differences. South Vietnamese troops have backpacks while the North Vietnamese do not.

* PoirotSpeak: Used by both Germans and Russians, but there is an option to allow all vocalizations to be made in the native language. Averted in Rising Storm where the Japanese only speak Japanese, except for the announcer who speaks English with a heavy accent.

* KatanasAreJustBetter: Officers of the Japanese in ''Rising Storm'' have a katana they can use as a melee weapon - to give the trope what it expects, it has the bonus of better inspiring the participants of a Banzai Charge to resist more damage and intimidating enemies to suppress them more severely.

The game itself, as a mod, [[AscendedFanfic was released]] in the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Editor's Choice Edition]]'' of ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004'', (alongside ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'', itself another AscendedFanfic) and sprang from an entry in a mod contest held by EpicGames, with first prize being a million dollars and free [[GameEngine Unreal Engine 2]] licenses. [[PromotedFanboy They won, and founded Tripwire Interactive on the spot]]. There are two mods for ''Red Orchestra'' called ''Darkest Hour'', which focuses on the Western Front after D-day, and ''Mare Nostrum'', which focuses on the battle in the Mediterranean and features Italian troops.

** ''Rising Storm 2'' has the [=M16A1=] and AKM rifles, both of which count as examples as most of the game's battles are based on historical ones that occurred in 1967. While the [=M16A1=] was introduced in early 1967, it is anachronistic in how it completely replaces the original M16 in the game's scenarios. The [=M16A1=] is also modeled with an anachronistic A2-style rear sight aperture. The AKM is an interesting example in that it had been in production for a decade by 1967, but historical records indicate that the North Vietnamese Army did not have access to AKM rifles until 1972, instead using the Chinese-produced clone of the original AK, the Type 56.

''Rising Storm 2: Vietnam'' [[http://www.tripwireinteractive.com/news/rising-storm-2-vietnam-officially-announced!.aspx has been announced]]. It is set in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, departing the World War II setting of the past games. It pits the American military (with ARVN forces stated to be added as post-release content) against the North Vietnamese Army and National Liberation Front (Viet Cong). Expanding on the asymmetrical gameplay of the first ''Rising Storm'', the Americans have access to several types of airstrikes, including napalm, along with helicopters of both attack and transport types, while the North Vietnam forces have several types of {{Booby Trap}}s such as punji sticks and tripwire traps. Their squad leaders also have the ability to dig tunnels in open ground, allowing reinforcements to pour into areas away from the front lines.

*** Grenadier: US-only, uses a grenade-launcher to lob explosives at the enemy and is also able to switch to other grenades if they have them making them potentially very useful for assaults.

*** Squad-Leader: Interestingly the squad-leader role has been removed as a specific class and now acts as a 'bonus' on top of a players chosen class. Becoming the SL is done by either being the first person to join a squad or have it given to you by the existing SL. The interesting fact about [=SLs=] this time is how they function; US SLs work like in previous RO titles (Squad members spawn on top of the SL, letting them act as a spawn point), whereas the Viet Cong [=SLs=] are given a hatchet and may place a tunnel somewhere in the area for the squad to spawn from. Additionally squad leaders receive a pistol and binoculars on top of their class-specific weaponry.

* ExcusePlot: Don't buy ''Heroes of Stalingrad'' for it's singleplayer campaign unless you want to be very underwhelmed. Although that's still a step up from the first game: your only non-multiplayer option was practice mode, which was exactly the same as multiplayer except with bots instead of human players.

* AndYourRewardIsClothes: ''Rising Storm 2's'' progression only gives you more options for your character's NonUniformUniform, ranging from making your clothing more tattered, [[WalkingShirtlessScene removing your shirt]], and a variety of helmets, hats and tattoos.

* BreakMeter: ''Heroes of Stalingrad'' has a a suppression meter shown for yourself. When it depletes, your screen greys out making it impossible to see (and therefore shoot) very much past twenty feet and prevents you from zooming in and focusing while using iron sights.

*** Rifleman: Armed with a bolt-action rifle and anti-personnel grenades, this class is a filler one that always has a limit equal to the team's highest possible player count (in other words, really none). Serving as the JackOfAllStats, they aid more specialized members with whatever's needed - accurate covering fire, guarding flanks, providing more bodies into a capture zone and the like. While their equipment isn't as impressive as other classes, a high-powered rifle bullet in one's torso will easily kill anyone, leaving them to still be feared regardless.

*** Engineer: A very limited class containing some overlap with the Assault class due to also using a submachine gun, the Engineer's real unique advantage is the satchel charges they carry to destroy walls and defences to aid their comrades' attacks, and their anti-tank grenades.
*** Marksman: A usually highly limited class, they use a bolt-action rifle with a scope (they can also use a semi-automatic rifle with a scope in some game modes) to shoot accurately from farther away, though they also have a pistol and anti-personnel grenades. Also strictly better than Rifleman, their long-range scopes combined with their limited numbers make them best deployed to strike at valuable targets (such as commanders, squad leaders and machine gunners) instead of aiding frontline offence or defence with much greater risk to the individual.

* ChargedAttack: Melee attacks in ''Heroes of Stalingrad'' and ''Rising Storm'' can be swung fast to do some damage or have the button held down to ensure a kill with a hit.

** Taken UpToEleven in Rising Storm 2, while both sides are able to call in artillery the United States/Southern Vietnam forces have access to everything from player-controlled attack helicopters to jungle-scorching napalm strikes, and let us not forget the AC-47 Spooky that flies above the operation area raining fire upon it's targets.

* FriendOrFoe: The games' sides have different uniforms and sprint in noticeably different manners (Axis hold their weapon with just their right hand while Allies hold it with both) but the uniforms are of a fairly dull palette and you can die ''really'' fast should you be mistaken that an individual is an ally - some game modes allow you to see your allies on your map but this may require pressing a button first to check which a player may not want to take the time to utilize in a tense battle. Shooting your own side is so common there is a simple mechanic in ''2'' and ''Rising Storm'' for forgiving an ally who has killed you by typing "np" in chat to give them back the points they've lost from killing you - players would be best to try to not take such incidents too seriously.
* FireBreathingWeapon: The Americans of ''Rising Storm'' have a class called "Flamethrower", which predictably uses a flamethrower as its main weapon.

* InstantDeathBullet: An AvertedTrope in ''Heroes of Stalingrad'' - if you are fatally wounded, you may conk out instantly (likely from a BoomHeadshot), but occasionally instead you may still survive some seconds more to continue firing before your character blacks out. As well, being non-fatally wounded requires your character to bandage themselves before they bleed to death (you get two). The kill messages appearing on the top right also coordinate with this, taking a bit longer after a kill is scored as opposed to instantly.
* IWantMyMommy: In the second game, many soldiers will cry out for their mothers as they lie dying on the ground, usually terrified and sometimes crying. It's very much played as a TearJerker.

* SprintMeter: In both games.

** A peculiar zig-zag of this appears in Rising Storm 2: Get shot in the leg or thr chest, and your character will start bleeding or blacking out. Get shot in the head, and everything instantly goes black and silent, to the point that it could be mistaken for a game crash if the respawn menu didn't show up a second later.

* AnachronismStew: Mostly averted, but there are a number of examples when it comes to the firearms throughout the series.
** ''Heroes of Stalingrad'' originally featured an anachronistic winter trigger guard upgrade for the Karabiner 98k before it was removed in a patch. The Gewehr 41(W) rifle has an unlockable 4x scope that was actually deployed ''after'' the Battle of Stalingrad as part of the package for its successor, the Gewehr 43. The Nagant M1895 revolver has an unlockable suppressor that is based on a post-war model, and the marksman version of the Mosin-Nagant rifle includes a 3.5x PU scope by default, which was first introduced during the Battle of Stalingrad and would have been a very rare sight in Stalingrad itself.
** ''Rising Storm 2'' has the [=M16A1=] and AKM rifles, both of which count as examples as most of the game's battles are based on historical ones that occurred in 1967. While the [=M16A1=] was introduced in early 1967, it is anachronistic in how it completely replaces the original M16 in the game's scenarios. The [=M16A1=] is also modeled with an anachronistic A2-style rear sight aperture. The AKM is an interesting example in that it had been in production for a decade by 1967, but historical records indicate that the North Vietnamese Army did not have access to AKM rifles until 1972, instead using the Chinese-produced clone of the original AK, the Type 56.

* RareGuns: Mostly averted or used in proper historical context, but there are a few exceptions. ''Heroes of Stalingrad'' features the [=MKB 42(H)=], an early prototype of the [=StG44=] assault rifle. While it is not impossible for a few to have been issued in Stalingrad in field trials, there is currently no evidence that any were. ''Rising Storm'' gives the Japanese the Nambu Type 100 sub-machine gun as a common weapon to the Assault class, despite the fact that only a small amount were produced or put into service (mostly used by officers and special forces in real life). In the latter's case this was likely done for game balance, as otherwise the Japanese would have no answer to the American sub-machine guns.

** A peculiar zig-zag of this appears in Rising Storm 2: Get shot in the leg or thr chest, and your character will start bleeding or blacking out. Get shot in the head, and everything instantly goes black and silent, to the point that it could be mistaken for a game crash if the respawn menu didn't show up a second later.

* RareGuns: Mostly averted or used in proper historical context, but there are a few exceptions. ''Heroes of Stalingrad'' features the [=MKB 42(H)=], an early prototype of the [=StG44=] assault rifle. While it is not impossible for a few to have been issued in Stalingrad in field trials, there is currently no evidence that any were. ''Rising Storm'' gives the Japanese the Nambu Type 100 sub-machine gun as a common weapon to the Assault class, despite the fact that only a small amount were produced or put into service. In the latter's case this was likely done for game balance, as otherwise the Japanese would have no answer to the American sub-machine guns.

The game itself, as a mod, [[AscendedFanfic was released]] in the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Editor's Choice Edition]]'' of ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004'', (alongside ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'', itself another AscendedFanfic) and sprang from an entry in a mod contest held by EpicGames, with first prize being a million dollars and free ''[[GameEngine Unreal Engine 2]]'' licenses. [[PromotedFanboy They won, and founded Tripwire Interactive on the spot]]. There are two mods for ''Red Orchestra'' called ''Darkest Hour'', which focuses on the Western Front after D-day, and ''Mare Nostrum'', which focuses on the battle in the Mediterranean and features Italian troops.

''Rising Storm 2: Vietnam'' [[http://www.tripwireinteractive.com/news/rising-storm-2-vietnam-officially-announced!.aspx has been announced]]. It is set in the Vietnam War, departing the World War II setting of the past games. It pits the American military (with ARVN forces stated to be added as post-release content) against the North Vietnamese Army and National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Expanding on the asymmetrical gameplay of the first ''Rising Storm'', the Americans have access to several types of airstrikes, including napalm, along with helicopters of both attack and transport types, while the North Vietnam forces have several types of {{Booby Trap}}s such as punji sticks and tripwire traps. Their squad leaders also have the ability to dig tunnels in open ground, allowing reinforcements to pour into areas away from the front lines.

* AndThisIsFor: In Rising Storm, both American and Japanese player characters may say something in this vein after killing an enemy.

** Also present in Red Orchestra 2
-->''(If German) That was for my camarade.''\\
''(If Russian) That one was for my brother!''

** ''Rising Storm 2'' has the [=M16A1=] and AKM rifles, both of which count as examples as most of the game's battles are based on historical ones that occurred in 1967. While the [=M16A1=] was introduced in early 1967, it is anachronistic in how it completely replaces the original M16 in the game's scenarios. The [=M16A1=] is also modeled with an anachronistic A2-style rear sight aperture. The AKM is an interesting example in that it had been in production for a decade by 1967, but historical records indicate that the North Vietnamese Army did not have access to AKM rifles until 1972.

** Averted with ''Rising Storm'', which is considered part of the franchise but doesn't have "Red Orchestra" in the title at all because it's set in the Pacific theater.

-->''Aaannnnngrrriiiffff!''
-->''Za Rodinuuuuuuuuu!''

-->''[[KillEmAll MINAGOROSHI DAAAAAAAAAA!!!]]''
-->''BANZAAAAAAAIIIIIII!!!''

*** Grunt: Essentially a historical upgrade to the previous Rifleman/Assault classes, with Americans/South Vietnamese forces getting M16s and North Vietnamese forces getting AK-47s alongside their standard grenades as well. North Vietnam grunts are also equipped to place traps as well as the standard gear. While it is possible to select a semi-auto rifle instead of an assault rifle, unsurprisingly the majority of players stick with the assault rifle option since you can quickly switch between semi-auto and full-auto options.

** Penetration for shots depends on the material shot through first for the firing player, potentially letting them shoot through some thick walls and hit enemies on the other side if flimsy metal sheets or wood planks is between the wall and the player's bullets.

*** The remaining Darkest Hour developers formed Jackboot Games and are now working on their own standalone UsefulNotes/WW2 game: Festung Europa.

* ShoutOut: The achievements of ''Rising Storm 2'' contain a gaggle of references to media taking place in or tied to the Vietnam War. [[Film/ApocalypseNow "The Smell of Napalm in the Morning"]], [[Film/FirstBlood "First Blood"]], [[Film/{{Predator}} "I Ain't Got Time to Bleed!!"]], [[Film/TropicThunder "Lead Farmer"]], [[Film/FullMetalJacket "Get Some!"]], [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater "What a Thrill."]], [[Music/JimiHendrix "Purple Haze"]], [[Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival "Run Through The Jungle"]], among others. Other references include [[WebVideo/FilthyFrank "Welcome To The Rice Fields"]] [[Franchise/MontyPython "The Value of Not Being Seen"]], and [[Series/{{Dexter}} "Surprise, Mother…!"]].

* TranslationConvention: In ''Heroes of Stalingrad'', after the BilingualBonus from the original. There is an option for you hear all combatants speak in their native languages, however.

** In Rising Storm, the [[TruthInTelevision Americans often refer to the Japanese as Japs, Nips and Tojos.]]

*** RPG: A North Vietnam-only class, special only in the sense they get RPGs as a secondary armament. Main duties are knocking out enemy helicopters and other hard targets.

*** Squad-Leader: Interestingly the squad-leader role has been removed as a specific class and now acts as a 'bonus' on top of a players chosen class. Becoming the SL is done by either being the first person to join a squad or have it given to you by the existing SL. The interesting fact about SLs this time is how they function; US SLs work like in previous RO titles (Squad members spawn on top of the SL, letting them act as a spawn point), whereas the Viet Cong SLs are given a hatchet and may place a tunnel somewhere in the area for the squad to spawn from. Additionally squad leaders receive a pistol and binoculars on top of their class-specific weaponry.

''Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45'' is yet another FirstPersonShooter that is based around WorldWarII. However, there are two key differences: it focuses entirely on the Eastern Front with conflicts between the Germans and Soviets (a setting usually forgotten by WWII FPS, probably because of the usual AmericaWonWorldWarII portrayal); [[FacklerScaleOfFPSRealism its focus is entirely on realism.]] There are no crosshairs, no health kits, and bullets follow the standard laws of physics (mostly).

*** The remaining Darkest Hour developers formed Jackboot Games and are now working on their own standalone WW2 game: Festung Europa.

** And the developers hired the ''Darkest Hour'' team to create an expansion for ''Heroes of Stalingrad'' set in the Pacific with the American and Japanese armies. Apart from this, the developers already released the SDK to several modders so they could create mods early: there is a Vietnam War mod and a WW1 mod. This all before the game even released.

** In Rising Storm 2 the pilots are split between Combat and Transport duties and cannot access the pilot spots of specific helicopters if they do not have the proper class for them.

* WarIsHell: Opting for a ShowDontTell approach instead of outright saying it, this series never flinches from the fact that combat was often short, terrifying and brutal. While the first game "merely" had soldiers being [[AnArmAndALeg dismembered]] or reduced to gibs from explosions, ''2'' and the ''Rising Storm'' series go further with soldiers often twitching or writhing in pain from mortal wounds, and the screams, whimpers and gurgles of dying men's last moments echoing through the battlefield.

* ShoutOut: The achievements of ''Rising Storm 2'' contain a gaggle of references to media taking place in or tied to the Vietnam War. [[Film/ApocalypseNow "The Smell of Napalm in the Morning"]], [[Film/FirstBlood "First Blood"]], [[Film/{{Predator}} "I Ain't Got Time to Bleed!!"]], [[Film/TropicThunder "Lead Farmer"]], [[Film/FullMetalJacket "Get Some!"]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater "What a Thrill."]], [[Music/JimiHendrix "Purple Haze"]], [[Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival "Run Through The Jungle"]], among others. Other references include [[WebVideo/FilthyFrank "Welcome To The Rice Fields"]] [[Franchise/MontyPython "The Value of Not Being Seen"]] and [[Series/{{Dexter}} "Surprise, Mother…!"]].

The sequel was released in September 2011.

''Rising Storm 2: Vietnam'' [[http://www.tripwireinteractive.com/news/rising-storm-2-vietnam-officially-announced!.aspx has been announced]], set in the Vietnam War.

This game took its name from the Soviet Union's espionage network during the war, which was called the Red Orchestra by the Gestapo. This game otherwise has no connection to spying.

* WarIsHell: While it never outright says it, this series never flinches from the fact that combat was often short, terrifying and brutal.
** As can be listened to in the YMMV section, the lines for dying men's screams, whimpers and gurgles in ''2'' and ''Rising Storm'' are frequently... well, soul crushing.

This game took its name from the Snoviet Union's espionage network during the war, which was called the Red Orchestra by the Gestapo. This game otherwise has no connection to spying.

* ExcusePlot: Don't buy ''Heroes of Stalingrad'' for it's singleplayer campaign unless you want to be very underwhelmed. Although that's still a step up from the first game: your only non-multiplayer option was practice mode, which was exactly the same as multiplayer except with retarded bots instead of human players.

*** Recon: US only. Available only on a few maps, the recon is a sniper who can set artillery targets for the commander.