The direct sequel to Red Orchestra 2: Rising Storm, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam brings the intense tactical realism of Tripwire Interactive's Red Orchestra series into the the Vietnam War, at the height of American involvement, with the notable continuation of asymmetrical faction elements from the previous title (such as the helicopters and air support of the American forces versus the tunnel spawn system of the Vietnamese forces). Both the United States Army and Marine Corps are present in levels based on their respective battles of the war, fighting against either the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) or the People's Army of Vietnam (North Vietnamese Army). A new feature of this title is the ability for the player to customize the personal appearance of their in-game character, differentiated between the five factions and the additional helicopter pilot class of the US forces.
The following weapons appear in the video game Rising Storm 2: Vietnam (2017).
Weapons of the US Army, USMC, ARVN and the Australian Army
Sidearms
Colt M1911A1
As with the previous title, the Colt M1911A1 is available as a sidearm to most classes in the US forces as well as the ARVN, with the exception of the Grunt, and the Radioman and Combat Engineer on some maps. The Australian Commander class can also use it. It comes with two spare 7-round magazines.
M1917 Revolver
Added in the 1.03 update, the M1917 Revolver is an alternative to the 1911 pistol for South Vietnamese forces issued with a sidearm. It is fired in double-action mode with a significantly long trigger pull and poor accuracy, but the hammer can also be cocked manually before each shot to eliminate the delay and the accuracy penalty. The revolver is loaded using two half-moon clips, and comes with 6 spares for a total of the 3 reloads from empty. It cannot be reloaded if less than three rounds have been fired; the player character never ejects a clip if there are still rounds on it, so if 3 to 5 rounds have been fired, he only ejects the half-moon clip with the spent rounds on it by keeping the other one in place with his palm, and one loaded half-moon clip is placed inside the cylinder. If all the rounds have been fired, both clips are ejected and two new ones are put in place.
Browning Hi-Power
Added in the 1.05 "Bushranger" content update, the Browning Hi-Power is a standard issue pistol of the Australian Army, complete with 13 round magazines and a fully adjustable rear sight. Reliable damage plus relatively low recoil and mags double the size of most of the other handguns on offer make this a popular backup for anyone playing Aussies.
Submachine Guns
M1A1 Thompson
The M1A1 Thompson was added as the standard-issue SMG for the ARVN faction in the 1.08 ARVN Update. It comes with 30-round box magazines and can be switched between semi and full-auto fire modes. The M1A1's mostly comparable to the VC's MAT-49, a high rate of fire SMG but still relatively controllable and useful at sweeping through rooms at close quarters. The only real con I can give this one is that it suffers from the same overall low amount of spare mags that effects every SMG in the game.
M3A1 Grease Gun
The M3A1 Grease Gun is available to the Pointman, Combat Engineer, and Commander classes. It is issued with 3 spare magazines, and its wire stock can be collapsed for added maneuvrability in tight spaces which, naturally, also decreases accuracy. The Grease Gun is an entertainingly fun SMG which benefits greatly from its slow rate of fire. It easily allows you to tap out single shots or short bursts while still remaining stable enough that impromptu covering fire doesn't wander around your target.
Owen Submachine Gun
Introduced in the 1.05 "Bushranger" content update, the Owen Submachine Gun is available to the Australian Scout and Radioman. Like the M1A1, the Owen's mostly comparable to the VC's choice in SMG's. A fast firing, relatively accurate and somewhat controllable gun for spamming into trench lines.
F1 Submachine Gun
Introduced in the 1.05 "Bushranger" content update, the F1 Submachine Gun is available to the Australian Scout, Combat Engineer and Commander. While it might seem useless in comparison with it's WWII counterpart, the F1's got a much slower rate of fire over the Owen meaning it's easier to control and keep on target when your nerves get fried in the thick of it. Plus, bayonet because why wouldn't you want a bayonet?
Shotguns
Ithaca Model 37
The 12-gauge Ithaca 37 pump-action shotgun, used extensively by South Vietnamese in Vietnam, is available to the Pointman and Combat Engineer classes. It comes in three distinct variants :
- the full-size Trench Gun sports wooden furniture, a heat shield, and a bayonet lug which can mount a standard M7 bayonet. It holds 5 shells. The most controllable and simple of all the Ithaca variants, easy to use and easy to run around with in-general.
- the 'Stakeout' Riot Gun is a handier variant, with a pistol grip and no buttstock, that also recoils a lot harder. Note that it isn't an actual 'Stakeout' model : it has a standard 20-inch barrel instead of the shortened 13-inch barrel. A handy shotgun for close quarters maps like Hue City, the Riot Gun's main problem is the lack of an ability to aim down the barrel which is somewhat compensated by the faster ADS time and the overall look of the Riot Gun. Look at that thing and tell me it isn't cool.
- the 'Duckbill' Conversion is fitted with an extended magazine tube that holds 8 shells, and a muzzle attachment that spreads out fired pellets in a wide, horizontal pattern. While it seems a tad redundant, the Duckbill does have some utility in that it can funnel your shot into a much easier to gauge spread meaning you're less likely to accidentally hit allies with stray pellets. Useful for close quarters maps and areas with pillboxes where a horizontal spread of shot will wipe out whoever is inside.
Both the Trench and Riot Guns are issued with 35 shells of either 00 Buckshot (8 large pellets) or No.4 Buckshot (16 smaller pellets) : the former packs more punch, while the latter increases hit probability at extended ranges because of the sheer number of projectiles. The 'Duckbill' Conversion on the other hand comes with 32 shells of No.4 Buckshot only, to get the most out of its muzzle attachement. It is worth to note that the reload sequence for all the available Model 37 variants is performed incorrecty. When reloading from empty, the player character always puts one shell too many in the magazine tube (5 when there should be 4 for the Trench and Riot Guns, 8 when there should be 7 in the 'Duckbill' Conversion), and does so while the bolt is back so when he racks the action forward, there should be no round in the chamber. And when topping off the magazine tube, he racks the action backward before filling up the magazine tube, which is not only unnecessary but also counter-productive as it ejects an unfired shell.
Rifles
M1/M2 Carbines
The M1 Carbine and its fully-automatic variant the M2 Carbine were added in update 1.07. The M1 Carbine is available to Northern Sappers and Riflemen on some maps and comes with 15-round magazines and a well-worn appearance, while the M2 is available as an alternative primary for US Grenadiers as well as the ARVN Pointman and Rifleman and comes with 30-round magazines and can be toggled between semi-auto and full-auto. The M1 and M2 Carbines are both quite adequate little rifles that can easily kill enemies at close to medium range. The M2 is also a good weapon for very close quarters as the .30 Carbine cartridge gives it some extra oomph when dealing with friends around the corner.
M1 Garand
The M1 Garand has been added as the main rifle of the ARVN. The M1D variant is also used by the ARVN as their standard issue sniper rifle. The M1 Garand is a very entertaining weapon and balances itself nicely against the more modern weapons favored by the PAVN and NLF. Sure, it might seem useless but the .30-06's power means that you have better overall accuracy, more power and a faster reload than most of their weapons. As for the M1D, it's an adequate sniper rifle that allows for a more looser playstyle as you can easily swap over to irons without having cramped sight pictures.
M16A1 Assault Rifle
The M16A1 is the assault rifle of the US Rifleman as well as the ARVN Pointman. It comes with seven spare 20-round magazines that actually hold 18 (a common practice to avoid magazine-related malfunctions), accepts a bayonet, and both the short-range and long-range apertures are usable. The M16 is one of the best rifles in the game, bar none. It comes with a ton of spare ammo, the caliber is accurate at extended ranges, the sights are easy to read and it's relatively controllable in full auto, what's not to like?
M14 Rifle
The M14 rifle is a large-caliber alternative to the M16 for US Grunts and Radiomen, and is the only rifle available to the Commander role. It is capable of mounting a bayonet, and is issued with five spare 20-round magazines that can be topped off using 5-round stripper clips. Its rear sight can be adjusted for elevation through five settings, from 91 meters all the way up to 457 meters (100 to 500 yards). Although the real-life M14 is select-fire, the in-game version can only be fired in semi-automatic mode (as was common practice during the Vietnam conflict). The M14 is the gun for the guy who doesn't like full-auto, with a fast semi-auto fire in a big bullet that allows you to play a "I would play marksman but all the slots are full again" playstyle as you pick off wayward VC.
XM177E1
Introduced in the 1.05 "Bushranger" content update, the XM177E1 is available to the US Army. The player can adjust the length of the stock which makes the iron sight picture larger and makes the weapon more compact at a cost of controllability on full-auto. The XM177 bridges the gap between the full size M16A1 and the Grease Gun in a very good way, allowing the same power and relative accuracy of the M16 in a size thats useful for tight trenches and tunnels as well as cities.
L1A1 SLR
Introduced in the 1.05 "Bushranger" content update, the L1A1 SLR is available to the Rifleman, Grenadier, Radioman, and Commander classes of the Australian Army. Besides different animations and fire sounds, the L1A1 is mostly comparable to the American M14 with a few caveats. It has a bigger sight picture, slightly faster reloads and fires faster in semi-auto, which is useful.
XM21 Sniper Weapon System
The XM21 rifle is available to the US Army Marksman. It comes in two variants :
- the Standard variant is just what you'd expect. It can mount a bayonet and is a violently efficient sniper rifle that can wreck havoc on the VC so long as you have a competent marksman which is a lot harder than you think.
- the Suppressed variant (added as part of the August 2017 1.03 update) is a little more interesting : it is fitted with a sound suppressor instead of the standard flash hider, and fires subsonic ammunition. Its action also has to be manually operated after each shot, so either the lower power ammunition can't cycle the bolt, or the gas system has been cut off by the user to avoid the action noise and make the rifle as quiet as possible. If you find that the VC keep easily finding you picking off their wayward sappers and officers, this might be a good choice. Sure you have to keep adjusting the zero and have a much reduced range, but you're basically silent in the overall chaos of battle.
Both rifles come with an AR TEL scope with six magnification setting from 3x to 9x. Each magnification setting also has its own zero setting (the higher the magnification, the higher the zero distance), and it is different for the two rifles because of the different ammunition they fire. The Standard variant starts off at 100m and can get to 700m in 100m increments, while the Suppressed variant begins at 50m and can get to 200m in 25m increments. They also have an alternate aiming mode for close range where the player character simply points the rifle forward and the view magically zooms in.
Both rifles come with 3 spare 20-round magazines.
M40 Sniper Rifle
The M40 Sniper Rifle is issued to the USMC Marksman with the equivalent of six stripper clips of spare ammunition, for a total of 30 spare rounds. Its distinctively-finished Redfield scope is elevation-adjustable through 6 settings, from 90 to 550 meters (100 to 600 yards), However, unlike the actual scope, it is not adjustable for magnification but locked to 3x. This means the scope's rangefinder doesn't work even though the necessary reticule markings are correctly featured (see pictures for detailed explanation). The scope also covers up the feeding/ejection port so the M40 must be reloaded with individual rounds. The M40 is mostly comparable to the VC's M91/30, a slower but more precise sniper rifle except this one doesn't have any backup iron sights because Marine Corps.
Machine Guns
M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle
The Browning Automatic Rifle has been added as the main light machine gun of the ARVN forces. While it seems outdated given the VC's reliance on far more modern LMG's like the DP-28 or RPD, there's one massive advantage to the BAR. It's given to more classes, meaning that there's more of them in a combat zone chucking lead downrange at the slow rate of fire that makes it both somewhat controllable from the shoulder and massively satisfying to spray around the darkness.
M1919A6 Browning Machine Gun
The Browning M1919A6 has been added as the main medium machine gun for the ARVN forces, as their analogue to the M60. For someone who just doesn't want to have the same amount of dumb fun the BAR provides, the M1919A6 can easily provide some entertainment in sheer volume of fire. With two whole 150 round belts plus a relatively controllable rate of fire especially when on the bipod, the M1919 will easily overwhelm any VC especially if they lack any machine gun support of their own.
M60 GPMG
The M60 is the main machine gun of the American forces, and only available to the Machine Gunner. "The Pig" is issued with either three 100-round belt boxes, or a single 200-round belt of 7.62x51mm ammunition, with one in five a tracer. Its rear leaf sight is adjustable for elevation in 100-meter increments, from 400m to a rather optimistic 1100m. It also has a bipod usable when prone or behind cover. The legendary machine gun is one of the most fun weapons to use in the entire game. With a relatively controllable rate of fire, decent stability and easy to read sights, you can use the M60 as both a proper bipod mounted machine gun for putting down covering fire and as a close range murder machine for going through room to room combat with the trigger taped down spraying everything with 7.62 NATO.
L2A1
Introduced in the 1.05 "Bushranger" content update, the L2A1 machine gun is available to the Australian Machine Gunner. While the machine gunner has access to the American M60, don't entirely write off the L2A1 as useless because it's a very jack-of-all-trades rifle. With the bipod down and mounted, it's a fairly efficient LMG only really capped off by the magazine size, but flip it back on semi and you have a decent sniper rifle except with a rear aperture about as big as a Vegemite lid.
Launchers and Flamethrowers
M79 Grenade Launcher
The signature weapon of the Grenadier, the M79 Grenade Launcher is the only explosive launcher available to the US forces. It is quite versatile, as players have access to a variety of 40x46mm ammunition loadouts for different situations : 6 rounds of High-Explosive and 2 rounds of masking smoke, 6 rounds of HE and another 6 rounds of Buckshot, or simply 9 HE grenades. The HE rounds have a realistic arming distance of about 15 meters : within this range, they won't explode if they hit their target, or a barrier, to protect the shooter. Unexploded 40mm rounds still hurt though, and can kill with a well-placed shot : managing this will earn the player the 'Thumper' achievement. Finally, the M79's rear sight is adjustable for elevation from 50 to 300 meters, in 25 meters increments.
M9A1-7 Flamethrower
The US Combat Engineer has a fearsome M9A1 flamethrower at his disposal, which can deal short-range devastation to the environment, your enemies and your allies so do be careful when you're spraying war crimes everywhere to not set your own men on fire.
Grenades and Explosives
M112 Demolition Charge
The Combat Engineer has a single M112 C4 charge at his disposal, given that he doesn't equip the flamethrower. It can either be stuck on a surface or thrown like a handgrenade, only not as far because of the weight, and is detonated from a distance. It is very powerful and can be used for ambushes or clearing fortified emplacements.
M18A1 Claymore
The Marksman has one Claymore mine, and the Pointman has two. It can be placed on the ground, and then detonated with a M57 switch, sending dozens of deadly fragments in the direction the front of the mine faces.
M18 Smoke Grenade
The standard smoke grenade for all South Vietnamese forces, the M18 comes in white, red and purple flavors for all occasions.
M34 White Phosphorous Grenade
Given to the South Vietnamese engineer, the M34 White Phosphorous grenade is an interesting grenade option. On one hand, it is a fairly efficient smoke grenade that puts out quite a big plume of smoke, and on the other it's a WP that's uncomfortably effective at cleaning out tight corridors and interior spaces.
M61 Fragmentation Grenade
The main hand grenade for the South Vietnamese forces is the M61 fragmentation grenade, which was the updated version of the M26.
Mounted Weapons
M2 Browning
The Browning M2HB appears in-game as the South Vietnamese equivalent to the DSHk, both as a tripod mounted HMG in locations as well as a portable version for deploying in the field. Just as powerful, it benefits from using 100 round boxes over the DSHk's 50.
M60D Machine Gun
Two M60D Machine Guns are mounted on the UH-1 'Huey' transport helicopter, one on each side. They can be used by the passengers, with no class requirement, to suppress ground troops.
M134 Minigun
The M134 Minigun is mounted on the side of the OH-6 'Loach' light scout/attack helicopter, and on the chin turret of the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter.
M195 Cannon
The M195 20mm Gatling Gun, a short-barrelled variant of the M61 Vulcan, is mounted on the side of the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter.
M129 Grenade Launcher
The M129 40mm Grenade Launcher is mounted on the chin turret of the AH-1 Cobra, next to the M134 Minigun.
M158 Rocket Launcher
The M158 Rocket Launcher, or Rocket Pod, holds seven 70mm rockets. Three are mounted on the sides of the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter.
Weapons of the NVA/PAVN and the VC/NLF
Sidearms
Tokarev TT-33
The Tokarev TT-33 appears as the main sidearm for the North Vietnamese forces. It holds 8 rounds per magazine. The TT-33 is a slightly odd pistol to use in combat, mostly because it lacks the same whoomp power that both the M1911, M1917 and Hi-Power have. It's advantage is more in repeat fire stability over straight stopping power, meaning you can easily keep an entire mag of ammo on a target so long as you're being careful.
Makarov PM
Introduced in the 1.03 update on August 2017, the Makarov PM was made available for Communist forces as an alternative to the TT-33. Alternative is really the only way to describe the PM, it has similar stats all around with the only real difference being that it's slightly shorter which isn't that useful for a pistol.
Submachine Guns
MAT-49
The MAT-49 is a usable submachine gun for the North Vietnamese forces. Players can choose between the original French 9mm version or the Vietnamese 7.62x25mm Tokarev conversion, the latter has an increased fire rate. The MAT is a very useful SMG for close quarters combat in either version with a potent high rate of fire, relative accuracy and some stability as you just burn an entire magazine in the span of 4-5 seconds.
MP40
The MP40 was added to the game in Update 1.2 as a submachine gun for the NLF. This serves as a far more controllable counter part to the MAT-49 and PPSH, lacking pure raw firepower but returning some proper accuracy at medium to extended ranges.
PPSh-41
The PPSh-41 is another usable submachine gun for the North Vietnamese forces, having a much higher fire rate than the MAT-49. Like in Red Orchestra 2, the PPSh starts off with 35-round magazines, though the original 71-round drum magazines are also available in the loadout screen. The fire selector is also usable on the base weapon. The PPSh is another flavor of "spam rounds everywhere" SMG that's just as decent with the only problem of the high rate of fire clashing with the small magazine size. Even the drum doesn't last long and you only get two of those.
Shotguns
IZH-58
A double-barreled IZH-58 shotgun is usable for the North Vietnamese forces in both full-length, Coach Gun and sawed-off versions. The sawn-off version appears to reload slightly faster and is limited to 00 Buckshot while the Coach Gun and full-length versions are able to use 1oz Slugs in addition to Buckshot. While accuracy decreases, every flavor of the IZH is brutally efficent, while the sawn off becomes useless outside of 25 yards, the full length can hit targets well in excess of 75 yards and more, especially when you use slugs.
Weirdly enough, it was called the "IZH-43" in the beta, which the replacement of the IZH-58 introduced in 1986, but later the name was changed to the period correct IZh-58. However, in a recent update the IZh-58 was painted black and simply dubbed the "SxS shotgun" likely to address the question of how a Soviet double barreled shotgun ends up in the fields of Vietnam.
Rifles
AKM / Type 56 / Type 56-1
Several AK-pattern rifles grouped under the "AK-47" classification are available to the Rifleman on the North Vietnamese side :
- the AKM, with its fixed wood stock, 'bakelite' pistol grip, ribbed dust cover and open front sight ring. It accepts a Type II bayonet and is the most average of all the AK variants with relatively accurate fire, controllable full auto fire and overall good performance.
- the Type 56, that differs with its wood pistol grip, smooth dust cover, higher full auto fire rate and fully enclosed front sight ring. It also has integrated spike bayonet which can be unfolded.
- the Type 56-1 is the underfolding variant of the Type 56. It doesn't have a bayonet but can have the stock folded to make it more compact and less controllable.
All three rifles come with three spare 30-round steel magazines. They can be fired in semi or fully-automatic, and while the fire selector is not animated and stays in the 'Safe' position, for some reason, the hand of the character actually moves down when switching to semi, and moves up when switching to fully-auto, which is some welcome attention to detail. The rear sight of all the rifles are adjustable for elevation from 100m to 800m in 100-meters increments, which is correct for the Type 56 guns, but not for the AKM which should be able to go up to 1000m.
MAS-49
The MAS-49 was added to the game in Update 1.3 in 3 basic flavors. All in all, a punchy battle rifle with good accuracy, power and a fun mix of options such as...
- The standard variant with iron sights, available to scouts and many Early War classes.
- The grenade launcher version, available to the Sapper which allows for the use of 6 HE Rifle Grenades.
- And the Marksman version, which rocks an APX scope and is used by the Marksman.
Mosin Nagant M91/30
The Mosin-Nagant M91/30 is the oldest gun in the game, available to the North Vietnamese factions in both the standard and sniper rifle variants. Rather hilariously, there is an achievement for getting kills with the non-scoped Mosin, fittingly dubbed "It belongs in a museum!". Both Mosin variants are entertainingly powerful in the same "twomp" way that makes the shotguns fun. While the scoped version is a very adequate sniper rifle, the un-scoped one is a slightly less useful rifle that has good accuracy and power and nothing else outside of massive entertainment when you finally kill a guy.
SKS-45
The SKS appears as a usable rifle to the PAVN/VC forces. A decent all-arounder rifle, the SKS is mostly used by classes who get either this or a shotgun so if you don't want to be angry Papa-san running around with his hunting gun, here you go.
SVD Dragunov
The SVD Dragunov appears as another sniper rifle for the North Vietnamese forces; its semi-automatic operation and box magazines are key advantages over the scoped Mosin-Nagant.
Machine Guns
Degtyaryov DP-28
The DP-28 from Red Orchestra 2 returns as an available machine gun for the North Vietnamese forces. While it might seem useless in comparison to the sheer firepower of the RPD, the DP has the advantage of being relatively controllable straight from the shoulder and coming with more than just 1-2 drums.
Degtyaryov RP-46
The RP-46, the belt-fed version of the DP-28 was added in Update 1.3 as an alternative to either the RPD or DP-28. What it lacks in total ammo capacity and spare rounds is made up for by allowing high power belt fed covering fire.
Degtyaryov RPD
The RPD appears as the main light machine gun for the North Vietnamese forces, serving as a direct counterpart to the M60 with relatively controllable rate of fire, stability and sheer entertainment at folding the bipod up and running straight into battle like a madman. It uses the 100-round drum by default, but a 200-round belt variant was added in Update 1.2.
Launchers
RPG-7
The iconic RPG-7 appears as the main launcher for the North Vietnamese forces, coming with the launcher plus 3 rounds. While it must be aimed before you actually fire, it's impressively decimating against both ground targets and helicopters. In a rare sight seldom seen in video games, there is a rendered backblast upon firing. The entire rear of the launcher becomes deadly for 10m back and can easily kill allies, enemies and yourself if you aren't careful.
Grenades and Explosives
MD-82 Mine
The North Vietnamese Sapper class comes armed with the MD-82 mine, a copy of the American M14 anti-personnel mine. Carrying 5 of these little bundles of fun, the MD-82 is really only useful for rigging up entryways as it's famed "toe popping" is rendered in underwhelming detail.
RGD-1 Smoke Grenade
The Soviet RGD-1 Smoke Grenade appears as the North Vietnamese smoke grenade of choice, albeit only in white.
Type 67 Grenade
The North Vietnamese forces use the Type 67 as their standard grenade, functioning around the same as the M61.
Mounted Weapons
DShK Heavy Machine Gun
Several maps have DShK heavy machine gun mounted on tripod mounts for the North Vietnamese. Feeding from standard 50-round boxes, the DShK is used both for firing on infantry but especially for anti-air and anti-helicopter roles. A player-deployable version was added in Update 1.2.