Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad

One of the most memorable WW2 shooters of the 2010's, and one of the most brutal. RO is a series that strives to be as accurate as possible, almost to a fault, with regards to combat and weapons handling. While other games like call of duty portray something like a pistol or an SMG as rather anemic, RO goes all out in portraying EVERY DAMN GUN as an easy instakill (depending on where your hit but lets be honest, chest and head shots are basically instant death in this game). Only slight I have is that tank combat is absolutely clunky, where the "strive for accuracy" creed of Tripwire sadly hits a wall, especially in the T-34. Still have huge nostalgia wasting school nights rushing and subsequently dying while charging across "Bridges".

Such a fun and realistic WW2 multiplayer shooter that also has a lot of attention to detail for its time, such as ballistic physics, having to make sure your MG doesn't overheat, being hit in certain places such as a arm which slightly affects player shooting and movement, and the tank gameplay being really accurate in comparison to a lot of other games. RO2 is very immersive as well, which is also serves as one of my favorite aspects of it. It is able to portray war as a terrible event rather than just glorifying it. It's quite an experience to hear saddening death gurgles and cries all around you as bloody limbs litter the cold winter ruin. There's a reason why it has been thought to emulate the cause of PTSD.

Red Orchestra 2 revolves around "Domination" type gameplay where each team has to defend and capture points but across a large map. The classes do help suit certain play styles and preferred roles, but hopefully you're not too slow in picking the one you want. Only a certain amount of players can select a weapon class on each team, meaning that if you're late then you'll have to deal with a bolt action rifle as your primary weapon, which is actually still sustainable and fun to use after you get used to it but maybe not as fun as running around with a SMG. Other classes like snipers can only have something like 2 players assigned to it as a time, and it in the right position on a map can be absolutely effective. I recall moments where it got so out of control that I took it upon myself to climb up all the way up to wherever they were at just to take them out when no one else would in instances where we'd make no advancements mainly because of it. Each team has limited respawns, so the sniper just picking everyone off constantly is not good. I mean, camping is how you effectively use certain classes in this game and since you're defending points and all, and it isn't really that huge of a problem generally. Going Rambo and trying to take everyone else out yourself is an okay option at times if you have the skill, but good team coordination goes a really long way. One player assumes the role of the commander, and they tell their team where to move across the map and can call in air strikes and smoke to help turn the tide. A decisive position with a lot of responsibility. In addition, there's a weapon leveling system like in other multiplayer FPS games. After reaching certain levels with that weapon, you get a certain attachment such as a bayonet or scope. My performance with the SVT-40 drastically improved after obtaining the latter for it so it was worth grinding for.

There's not a large gap between the two factions, but the Soviets may be at a slight disadvantage and are usually the underdogs especially outside of the more urban maps with a lot of buildings. The only clear instance of a superior weapon that greatly benefits one side to me is of course the notorious German MG42 which completely dominates in certain situations such as the small cramped map Apartments where you can't really maneuver around its rapid fury much. Also, the Soviets may find a lot of trouble on open field maps where a defensive sniper can really be anywhere seperate from their main group lying prone, and MG42's thrive on long bridges where they can be the most deadly. However, I think another possible main reason for the disadvantage is because most of the human players in the lobby will fill up the German side at first notice, and if the server is not full then the Soviet side will be accompanied by incompetent bots running straight into 250 rounds of death, thus quickly dropping the respawn count. Through a lot of perseverance however, that side can indeed eventually prevail.

RO2 is one of the greatest FPS games that to this day that also still holds a lot of replayability due to the several different situations you could be in, as well as it being quite rewarding when things go your way after a long game.