During this past week I spent time playing Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, which is a hardcore tactical shooter that seemingly released out of nowhere. As with other shooters, aiming and awareness are important factors but in this case communication is the single biggest decider of success or failure in a match.
Similar to some of the Battlefield games, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam features commanders as well as squad leaders. Players in these roles are encouraged to direct teammates to objectives, and share valuable information, such as where hostiles are located. There are also other roles, including those tasked with tossing smoke grenades for cover, transporting units via helicopter, and more, all of which are communication-oriented.
I enjoy teamwork and communication, so the game has been a real joy to play, particularly because most people who play the game use their microphone. It’s extremely uncommon to hear silence for any length of time, as at the very least the commander will share targets of interest and bombardment coordinates on a minute-to-minute basis.
And when I think about, this is part of the reason I enjoy PC gaming so much. I’ve spent countless hours playing games like Halo, Killzone, Forza Horizon, and even Uncharted on console, where an overwhelming majority of players don’t bother using their microphone—if they have one. It makes it feel like I’m playing with bots instead of real people, which is incredibly boring. Meanwhile, PC gamers have a tendency to be much more outgoing with voice chat.
Do you use a microphone when playing online games? Let us know in the comments below.
