Rising Storm 2 Gets Surprise New Update

More than seven years after launch, Antimatter Games and Tripwire Interactive have released an unexpected update for their multiplayer tactical shooter, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam. A direct sequel to 2013’s Rising Storm, which is itself a standalone expansion to Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad, Rising Storm 2 moves away from the previous games’ World War 2 setting and takes players to key locations and battles of the Vietnam War.

Lasting for nearly 20 years, the Vietnam War was a significant conflict of the Cold War whose ramifications are still felt to this day. Rising Storm 2, a solely multiplayer experience, pits up to 64 players, representing the North and South and their allies, against one another in asymmetrical warfare. Encompassing six armies — North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) and National Liberation Front (Viet Cong), Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), United States Army and Marine Corps, Australian Army — the game launched with more than 20 maps and 50 weapons, as well as traps, tunnels, napalm, and flyable helicopters.

Despite being seven years old, Rising Storm 2 still has an active fan base, many of which were surprised to learn that Tripwire and Antimatter have released a new update, 1.6.2, for the game. Generally, the patch improves server stability, but it mostly zeroes in on Rising Storm 2’s proximity VoIP capabilities. This includes making sure that the system functions correctly, allowing party members to hear one another.

The update also addresses an issue where other people could still be heard talking even after exiting a server or ending a game session. And problems with muting, such as other players not being muted as intended or muted players becoming unmuted when rejoining the same server, have also been resolved. Steam Client Headset device settings should also now be automatically detected.

The tactical shooter is currently sitting at a Very Positive rating on Steam out of nearly 40,000 reviews, with some of them coming since the release of Update 1.6.2. Much of the praise mentions the game’s realism, highly detailed maps, and authentic-feeling gunplay where having a strong commander in Rising Storm 2 can spell the difference between victory and defeat. Unfortunately, given the game’s age, many players have pointed out that the servers are somewhat empty, and the update didn’t address many of the small bugs that have been present since launch.

In 2019, it was announced that an alternate-history spiritual successor to Rising Storm 2 was in development. Called ’83 and set during World War 3, the project has had a few issues that caused it to be handed off by Antimatter to Blue Dot Games. After a closed alpha in December 2023 and much silence, Blue Dot announced in November 2024 that it has received further funding and development of ’83 is back on track.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam Update 1.6.2 Patch Notes

General

• Improved server behavior and security.

VoIP

• Fixed general issues around muting other players as intended.
• Addressed issues in which players after exiting a server would still hear players from the server they disconnected.
• Addressed general issues in which players within the same party failed to hear each other.
• Addressed an issue in which Steam Client Headset device settings were not automatically detected leading to the microphone being inactive on the server.
• Addressed issues in which respawning players could hear active spawned players on the Spawn Point selection screen and vice versa.
• Addressed issues in which muted players become automatically unmuted after reconnecting to the same server.
• Addressed issues in which players could still hear players after ending a game session and closing the client.