Parents' Guide to Rising Storm 2: Vietnam

This online game brings a sense of brutal realism and mayhem to an incredibly violent war, which should appeal to many shooter fans. Not every shooter is based in wild fantasy or science fiction. In fact, nearly every war fought throughout history has been recreated for gaming audiences, and the Vietnam War is no exception. Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is the latest game to drop players into the thick of the conflict between the US and North Vietnamese. What makes it stand out, though, is a painstaking attention to the harsh realism of the fight. The game gives players access to more than thirty accurately reproduced weapons authentic to the time, all of which behave like their real world counterparts in terms of things like range and damage. Don't expect to pull off headshots with a pistol from across the map here. In fact, players used to more lenient shooter games are likely to get a bit frustrated early on as they adjust to the game's steep learning curve. You'll likely spend a lot of time tweaking settings, trying out new tactics, and learning the ins and outs of the weapons available to both sides of the battle.

It's not just the weapons that take getting used to in Rising Storm 2: Vietnam. There's a heavy focus on working as a part of a unit. Whether you're part of a small Skirmish battle or a player in an epic scale Supremacy match, you've got a role to play if you hope to win. You might be a Grunt on the frontlines, a Sniper picking off foes from a distance, a Radioman keeping the higher ups appraised of the action, or even a Commander calling in airstrikes and gunships, but you're still a cog in the machine with a real sense of responsibility to your objective and your teammates. Unfortunately, that need for communication and teamwork also means you'll have to deal with the occasional lone wolf who puts himself above the team, the armchair general who wants to scream out orders, or worst of all, the foul-mouthed trolls who relish in making things as uncomfortable and offensive as possible. It's hard to fault the game for this toxic environment, but it's something that seems to happen in most matches and there's very little in the way of in-game options to get rid of these troublemakers.