Maps

This game has the best map layouts I have ever seen hands down. Many games have tried, but very few have managed to make great looking maps that look realistic and offer up good game play. Blown out buildings, sandbagged roads, and trench lines with railroad ties poking through in places all give each little section of the map that unique feel. Maps like Stalingrand, Kessel, and Odessa are better than every Call of Duty, Day of Defeat, and Counter Strike map put together. I know that is a strong statement but I stand by it. The layout gives you multiple ways to each objective, and an almost endless amount of places for an engagement unlike some games where it seems like you fight the same battle over and over. I would suggest for new players to play a straightforward map like Konigsplatz to get the game down. It’s the de_dust of RO. I have met many people who were turned off of this game by being first exposed to Arad. Arad is a very wide-open map made mostly for tank combat. A soldier on the ground can feel pretty useless if he doesn’t know what is going on. Every map has its own load out as far as number of classes and if their are vehicles on them. Lucky for me, I found plenty infantry-only maps to keep me happy.

Controls

Controls can be a bit clunky. The use key could do a bit more instead of needing a key just to give ammo to machine gunners. Some keys seem to do more than they are labeled to do depending on what kind of weapon is in your hand or if you are in a vehicle. I am sure the manual covers all that but when Nazis attack my homeland, I do not have time to read manuals. I was stuck just fumbling for keys instead. Even working your basic rifle can take up to four keys. A primary, alt fire, iron sights, and affix bayonet buttons will all be needed.

A nice feature is the chat commands. There are keys for say, team say, and vehicle say that help keep the information flowing in a battle. One evil command that is on by default is dynamic net speed. Uncheck that and burn it in a pit of hellfire please. I think it should stand for force lag.