When they where quizzed about what it was that World War II themed Red Orchestra Ostfront 41-45 would offer the world that hasn't already been provided by an endless array of already well established games, developer Tripwire responded by saying, "most games make you feel like you're in a war movie; Red Orchestra makes you feel like you're in a war," a vague but accurate summarisation of exactly the type of game to expect, and not a bad first effort for a developer who originally released the game as a free downloadable modification for Unreal Tournament 2004, with which they entered, and subsequently won, the "Design something Unreal" contest and a cool $1million for their efforts.

Red Orchestra is a World War II online shooter set rather refreshingly on the battlegrounds of the Eastern front, re-creating famous battles between the Russian and German armies. While initial comparisons are going to be drawn with Day of Defeat - both are set during the same time period, both were once popular mods and both are available to download off of Valve's much-loathed Steam network (and yes, Steam is required for verification for the boxed retail version as well) - the two couldn't be any furthur apart from each other in terms of gameplay.

The main difference with Red Orchestra, a difference that sets it apart from just about every World War II inspired game you'll have ever played, is its staggering attention to detail and its take on the harsh realities of war. We aren't talking Sunday afternoon re-enactments of D-Day landings with accurately represented uniforms and weapons either; RO's realism punches you in the stomach, kicks you in the shins and laughs at you as roll around the ground in agonising pain. RO is a brutal, difficult and unforgiving game that'll eat up those unfamiliar with its inner workings and spit them out without second thought.

Expect no help; this is a game that gladly pushes the abilities of its players to the limits. For instance, forget crosshairs, as they don't exist in RO. Hoping to hit something with a weapon, without first putting yourself in the very vulnerable iron sight mode, is nigh on impossible, unless you are fortunate to be one of the first lucky enough to get your hands on a rapid firing weapon like a sub-machine gun. But there's a snag, as weapon classes are limited; with exception of the Rifle and occasionally tank crew class, all other specialised weapon classes are limited to one person each for both teams.

Don't expect help on trivial things like ammo consumption or auto reloads either; bolt weapons have to be reloaded manually between each shot, while for every other weapon, your first and only indication as to when a gun is running low on ammunition is when it stops firing bullets. And just to make life on the battlefield that little more difficult, there is no clear identification other than your naked eye to spot friend from foe. Do you leave that guy standing on the ridge and hope he's one of your teammates, or take the risk of an easy kill and potentially shoot down one of the enemy? Without these little aids that we take for granted in countless other online games, team killing is something that is unavoidable.

Your first foray into RO is one of unrelenting chaos, as you attempt to wrestle with having none of the luxuries you're no doubt accustomed to. It's not a game about pace, bunny hoping and mad dashes to capture flags, rather an incredibly drawn out, gruelling fight to capture objectives. Battles can become extremely slow and often intense encounters, as learning to adapt to the game's difficulty means adopting styles of play you'd normally not be used to. This does have its share of benefits though, and I seriously urge anyone to find a war game that can become as tense, atmospheric and downright exhilarating as some of the battles you'll encounter here - but it has major downfalls.

Most notably, it's bloody hard. While it's understandable that the developers' vision to recreate the harshness of war meant leaving out any sort of tutorial (there is bot support, but that's not quite the same) it would have been nice for a little help with certain things, like explanations to some of the maps and the objectives you need to complete, where exactly you can acquire explosives and the areas you need to place them. Little things such as knowing which button to press to drop or pick up weapons may sound trivial, but with the burden of the added realism of the game already on your shoulders, the last thing you need to be worrying about in the middle of a battle is which key to press when someone shoots your gun out of your hands.

It's also a game that sits rather uncomfortably besides Day of Defeat in terms of visual and sound quality, and while DoD was granted a huge graphical update to bring it in line with most of today's top games, Tripwire haven't seen fit to do the same with their own game. Using the same engine that powered Unreal Tournament 2004, the game can't help but look a little past its sell by date, but as a possible benefit of that it can look quite gritty, with its dark, muddily textured look. It's almost forgivable, but the awkward animations and occasions where you accidentally see yourself bouncing off of bits of scenery that you sometimes get stuck in can become mildly irritating.

Graphically DoD may win outright, but RO does have the better selection of maps, with thirteen in total, each impressive in its scale. Tripwire has done a good job making each map as varied and different from one another as possible. One map could see you in battling it out in a decaying ruins of a heavy industrial complex, with bombed out warehouses and destroyed train yards, where every corner, doorway or piece of rubble could hide a potential enemy soldier, while another map may have you battling it out in massive open fields, where tanks fight for control and infantry have to make use of the cover provided by nearby cornfields to keep themselves concealed.

Ah yes, tanks. Red Orchestra also comes with its share of vehicular combat, but those expecting to pull off the kind of shenanigans of Battlefield 2 are going to be in for a surprise if they attempt the same here; RO's vehicles adhere to the same constraints of the lone soldier. It's impossibly for example, to be 100% effective in a tank alone, as they generally require at least one person to drive and one to shoot. Some people do try and attempt to manage both simultaneously, but it's a cumbersome method that often leaves them more vulnerable to attack.

Those who choose the stay as standard infantrymen needn't feel as though they're at a disadvantage either, as one of the benefits of making a game so real is that tanks can often be just as easily conquered by a single soldier as they can by a tank. Given the restricted view of tank commanders, their only way to spot enemies from a distance is to occasionally take a peek from the hatch, leaving themselves vulnerable to attack from any nearby sniper. Those a little more confident can also rush the tank and attempt to gun down the driver by shooting through the peephole they use to see where they are driving. Sadly, there's no ability to open the hatch and shove a grenade down.

While vehicles can often make online games very one-sided, with realism playing such a huge part (and it's here I should mention that if you want to drive a tank you have to choose the tank crew class, which leaves you with only a sidearm and little else preventing you from charging into enemy bases, getting out and gunning down dozens of your enemy) Red Orchestra manages to balance out both vehicular and on-foot combat well enough for them to play equal parts in battle.

At it's best, RO provides some of the most intense battles ever seen on an online battleground; the desperate crawl through muddy trenches, the last minute defence of a building on top of a hill as enemy soldiers push upwards to capture it, or the panic as a tank rolls steadily towards you with nothing more than a haystack for cover. The added realism provides an experience you'll doubtfully have encountered before, but it's also enough to turn you away in utter frustration as at it's worst the game can be incredibly difficult. No help, the continuous and often annoying problem of suffering accidental team killing without an acknowledgement from the person responsible, to the sheer frustration of trying to get used to heightened realism, with many hours spent trying to figure out who exactly shot you and from where.

Perseverance is key though, because this is not a game you rush into. While the initial few hours can be testing, stick with it and eventually Red Orchestra Ostfront 41-45 shines though its almost vertical learning curve to offer an online game that for once actually does something new, as opposed to recycling old ideas. If this is the type of game Tripwire can produce in their spare time as armature bedroom coders, it'll be interesting to see what they manage with a full budget at their disposal.

Reviewed by Kieron Giacopazzi for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).