For the first time, the authentic gunplay and visceral first-person action of the Red Orchestra series is coming to an era of automatic rifles, man-portable grenade launchers and more modern weapons systems. Rising Storm 2: Vietnam casts players into a brutal, authentic recreation of the Vietnam War.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam looks to once again raise the bar and move the series into a new era of combat.

Tripwire Interactive is excited to continue their unrelenting support for the modding community, challenging RISING STORM 2: VIETNAM players to share their best maps and mods for the chance to have their creations featured in the game in addition to cash prizes.

Tripwire Interactive is proud to introduce the following user-made maps and mods to RISING STORM 2: VIETNAM with subsequent cash prizes for each winning creator. Please find below brief summaries about what makes these winning entries special from the judges, starting with the maps:

Ninh Phu (1st Place Map Prize: $5,000)

The lighting is great, and there’s lots of use of existing assets in a clever way -- like the water tower, or the pipe run-off -- that creates a strong, believable setting where it’s clear what every building or place is meant to ‘be’. The whole map makes logical sense as a real place. We also appreciated the effort to match the style elements, like the overhead map, to the base game, which makes the whole thing feel like it has a ton of polish. As a side note, the coordinates on the map to the real reference location were a nice touch.

Gameplay has nice variety and progression between the first two open objectives to the tight-knit town action, and every objective is identifiable and different. The whole thing escalates very well. Overall, hard to find fault with the execution here. This is deserving of high praise.

Highway 14 (2nd Place Map Prize: $2,500)

The whole town section is really well constructed with good gameplay and some lovely detailing in the tall objective building and spots like the haphazard ‘movie theatre’ next to the car park. The map has a nice sense of verticality and uses height in a more interesting way than just placing hills at random. Positioning the whole map along a wide river that isn’t part of the play space was a really nice way to add character and help with orientation. Overall, this was a fantastic map which probably took an awful lot of work to pull off, so well done!

Firebase Georgina (3rd Place Map Prize: $1,000)

This map definitely takes a different approach to map design and that’s not a bad thing. There’s a noticeable lack of hard cover at several points, and the battle feels almost more like ‘pitched warfare’ than ‘guerilla’. But again, that’s not a bad thing, and at moments -- like when you come up towards objective E and you see the Firebase looming on the hill in front of you -- this map can feel truly epic in a way that impressed us a lot.

Honorable Mentions in the Best Map category: Jungle Raid, Dead and Buried, Operation Valkrie.

And now the prize-winning mods:

• Green Army Men (Prize: $3,000): We’re always going to love a big conversion mod – and a lot of work has gone into this one. The concept is always a fun one and is a great use of the base game. We’re really interested to see how this one progresses!
• King of the Hill (Prize: $1,000): We were really hoping someone would try out new and/or variant game modes, so were really happy to see this one appear. More, please!

Players interested in participating can still submit entries for consideration in the second and final round of the RISING STORM 2: VIETNAM modding contest. For more information, official rules, and full details on the $27,000 cash prize pool for round two, please head here.

Key Features:

• Large-Scale 64 Player Gameplay – Rising Storm 2: Vietnam offers intense tactical action for up to 64 players in battles between the US forces and the Vietnamese, with each
• force having their own unique abilities and tactical advantages such as Napalm Strikes, Artillery Barrages, surface-to-air missile strikes, traps, ambushes and more. 
• Flyable Helicopters - Players on the US team will be able to pilot 3 different helicopters - the UH-1H "Huey" transport, the OH-6 "Loach" light recon and the powerful AH-1G "Cobra" attack helicopter.
• Conventional vs. Guerilla Forces – Play as both the United States Military and Vietnamese resistance fighters. Rising Storm 2: Vietnam allows players to control either the U.S. Army and Marines Corps or the militarized and guerrilla forces of North Vietnam - the NVA and the Viet Cong.
• New Game Types– Game types include Red Orchestra's classic territory control mode and new smaller modes and maps designed for 16 or less players. These new smaller maps are designed to be a more competitive, squad based experience that reflect the 'low-level' conflicts that Vietnam is famous for.
• Realistic, Large, Open Levels – Each map faithfully recreates the conflict of the Vietnam experience and aims to pull players directly into the war with its extreme authenticity to real life. Maps will include the famous jungles of Vietnam, but will also cover battles that occurred in cities, on rolling hills, in US Firebases, Rice Fields, Plantations and many more authentic locations. In keeping with the Vietnam setting, they will provide plenty of opportunity for jungle ambushes and flanking attacks. 
• Vietnam- Era Authentic Weapons– A variety of authentic period weapons available including the M16, M14, M60, M79 and M3 Grease Gun for the Americans; and the Type 56 Assault Rifle (a Chinese copy of the famous AK-47), RPG-7, MAT-49, SKS Carbine and many, many more for the Vietcong. Weapons also have a wide range of functionality with in-game implications, including adjustable stocks, attachable bayonets, and a new and advanced recoil system which builds on the already phenomenal weapon handling that the Red Orchestra series is famous for.
• Squads and Command –Drastically enhanced squad and communication tools to help you group up and work with your friends and team-mates.
• No Class Ranks / Weapon Upgrades / Unlocks – Rising Storm 2: Vietnam's focus will be player skill and balance. We won't be locking content like weapon upgrades, improved player characteristics or new armaments behind a rank or experience system. We want to put the tools to succeed in the hands of every player.
• Character Customization - Rising Storm 2: Vietnam will allow players to customize their player characters with additional uniform and equipment variants earned as they play. These will include new headgear, clothing, tattoos, glasses and more.