Red Solstice 2: Survivors

About

Red Solstice 2: Survivors is a single player and multiplayer tactical role playing game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Ironward and was released on June 17, 2021. It received neutral reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

Plan your strategy and undertake real-time combat missions, in this sequel to the best-selling tactical game, Red Solstice! The Red Solstice 2: Survivors Ultimate Edition contains the base game, as well as all previously released DLCs, including new story lines, classes, maps and much more!

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Play Modes

+31

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76%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,484 reviews

story60 positive mentions

stability60 negative mentions

Engaging real-time combat that combines elements of XCOM and top-down shooters.
High replayability with a variety of classes, weapons, and customization options.
Fun cooperative gameplay, especially with friends, allowing for up to 8 players.

Numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, including AI pathfinding issues.
Steep learning curve with a lack of clear tutorials and explanations for mechanics.
Repetitive mission structure and objectives that can lead to boredom over time.

story
744 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
84%
8%
The story aspect of "The Red Solstice 2: Survivors" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it generic and lacking depth. While some appreciate the XCOM-like strategic layer and the potential for engaging narratives, others criticize the repetitive mission structure and poorly implemented story elements that fail to captivate. Overall, the campaign is seen as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a compelling narrative experience, with many players feeling that the missions become tedious and uninspired over time.
- “The campaign has a nice XCOM vibe to it that makes the Strol virus plot more engaging.”
- “The storyline is compelling and there is much fun to be had trying different builds out across a variety of classes with weapons/abilities ranging from the standard conventional ones like assault rifles/shotgun/minigun/etc to shoulder mounted plasma cannons and back mounted rocket pods to calling orbital death rays.”
- “The campaign has a wide range of missions that will last you dozens of hours.”
- “The campaign story is convoluted, idiotic, poorly conceived, poorly executed, and loaded to overflowing with contrivance and cringe-worthy dialogue.”
- “The story has all the usual tropes but it does not disappoint one bit as the cheesiness actually gives it charm.”
- “The single player story line suffers from just god awful writing, voice acting and makes no attempt to really hook the player into caring what's going on.”
gameplay
276 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
57%
8%
The gameplay of "Red Solstice 2: Survivors" is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its blend of real-time action, squad management, and customization options, reminiscent of titles like XCOM. However, the steep learning curve, repetitive mission design, and lack of clear mechanics often lead to frustration, particularly for solo players. While the core gameplay loop can be engaging and fun, it is marred by bugs, unbalanced difficulty, and a convoluted interface that detracts from the overall experience.
- “The blend of real-time action, squad management, and resource management creates a unique and thrilling gameplay loop.”
- “The gameplay is what really makes this so fun.”
- “Overall, if you enjoy this type of gameplay, it is worth a buy.”
- “Uninteresting and bland research, piss-poor resource allocation and management options, terrible design ideas, both interface and gameplay.”
- “The gameplay itself is just boring anyway though.”
- “The gameplay can be summarized as boring and unpolished.”
graphics
73 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
47%
4%
The graphics in the game have received largely positive feedback, with many users praising the modern engine's improved visuals, detailed environments, and overall aesthetic appeal. While some noted minor issues like a lack of visual customization and occasional graphical bugs, the majority found the graphics to be a significant upgrade from the previous installment, enhancing the gameplay experience. Overall, the visuals are described as beautiful, engaging, and well-executed, contributing to the game's immersive atmosphere.
- “The graphics are beautiful and use the Unreal Engine to its full potential; outside of triple-A titles, you won't find much better.”
- “The graphics, music, combat, and gameplay were better than the first, giving it an X-COM: Apocalypse feel to it.”
- “The graphics are clear and enjoyable, a vast improvement from the first, and many strides have been made in the UI and general scenery to make it clear what's important.”
- “The graphics are a little brown, the story is thoroughly uninteresting, and the characters are boring space marine archetypes with no character to their aesthetic, which doesn't help anything either.”
- “The main menu, the plot world map UI, there are Chinese penguins and QQ group numbers; it is really ugly and very playful, and I don’t deal with the art style.”
- “In addition to buggy squad commands, their map markers are littered on the map and can become annoying graphical eyesores, leading to your bugged-up nav point squad mates disappearing off the map.”
stability
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
97%
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous players reporting various bugs and glitches that affect gameplay, such as characters getting stuck, mission objectives failing, and save data issues. While some users note that the development team is actively working on fixes and improvements, many still find the experience frustratingly unstable, particularly in multiplayer modes. Overall, the game is described as fun but plagued by enough bugs to detract from its enjoyment.
- “Seriously well made and practically bug free.”
- “If you prefer a bug-free game that never intends to improve itself.”
- “Quite buggy still, mostly minor but had my campaign saves, including manual save reset to way back near the beginning of my campaign, which I've never seen before, and I used to functional test games for a living.”
- “This is just not it right now, every patch introduces more issues and the devs are sacrificing quality to get buggy content out there.”
- “I like the game, but it's a terrible buggy mess at the moment.”
grinding
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game has received largely negative feedback, with players finding the repetitive missions and tedious objectives to be a significant drawback. Many reviews highlight the overwhelming nature of the grinding mechanics, which can detract from the overall enjoyment of the gameplay, despite some players appreciating the variety of builds and tactics available. Overall, the consensus suggests that while the game may appeal to those who enjoy grinding, it can quickly become a monotonous experience for others.
- “Very poorly done with tedious and repetitive objectives.”
- “The gameplay itself is a ton of fun, but the base management and travel elements are overwhelming and grindy.”
- “Not very user-friendly GUI; looks to be lots of grinding.”
replayability
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
56%
10%
Overall, the reviews highlight a mixed perspective on replayability across various games. While some titles, like "Red Solstice 2," are praised for their extensive replay value due to diverse classes, customizable loadouts, and engaging multiplayer modes, others face criticism for diminishing replayability through restrictive design choices or lack of variety post-campaign. Randomized missions and cooperative gameplay are frequently noted as key factors that enhance replayability, keeping the experience fresh and engaging for players.
- “Honestly, a mega-replayable long-haul blast of a game with a serious gritty character, but some humor sprinkled about.”
- “The gameplay is straightforward and the customization, replay value, and co-op experience are absolutely amazing.”
- “Since the missions/maps themselves are randomized within each biome, it leads to great replayability.”
- “Was a fun and interesting game before the latest 3.0 patch, but sadly a couple of old players with zero knowledge of game design are influencing the devs' decisions and ruining variety and replayability in this game, creating a very narrow environment where only a select few skills and playstyles are valid. In their own words, 'the game is a spreadsheet and not meant to be fun,' so take that as you will.”
- “So after the campaign, there is very limited replayability and you can't max out ranks nor get medals.”
- “Still not happy at all about skirmish mode losing the core feature of AI helpers, because this kills most of the game's replayability for me, which was its main draw, but story mode can be enjoyed anyway like that.”
music
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
60%
11%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and lacking in variety, especially after extended playtime. While some tracks are noted for their fitting atmosphere and ability to support gameplay tension, others describe the overall soundtrack as uninspired and forgettable, leading players to prefer their own music in the background. Overall, the music is seen as decent but in need of expansion and improvement to enhance the gaming experience.
- “Very decent top-down shooter with a cool story, an amazing soundtrack, crispy optics, smooth gameplay, and a vicious atmosphere.”
- “Sound is great and the music does a good job of building tension throughout play.”
- “The graphics, music, combat, and gameplay were better than the first, giving it an X-COM: Apocalypse feel to it; however, story is everything.”
- “The music, singular, is a looping sound that initially never played; now I hear it playing every mission and don't want to hear it anymore. The minigun sounds like a silent tap running.”
- “I might be harsh on the music since there are only a few tracks that alternate between making my ears bleed and an actually nice world map theme, but the in-map soundtrack has wormed its way into my brain in a bad way.”
- “Music is... well... boring, comparable to ASMR audio clips; great to make someone fall asleep.”
optimization
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
44%
30%
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players reporting smooth performance in campaign and multiplayer modes, while others experience significant issues such as stuttering, low frame rates, and unaddressed bugs. Despite some improvements noted in specific areas, many users feel the game is still poorly optimized, failing to fully utilize hardware capabilities and lacking necessary fixes after a year. Overall, while some players enjoy a stable experience, a substantial number are frustrated by ongoing performance problems.
- “I mainly play the campaign and skirmish with AI bots, and have had zero issues with bugs, crashes, or interface problems, and the game runs smoothly on my system.”
- “The weapon modding gives the option to increase the performance of a weapon, giving drawbacks in return as well as changing the color and pattern of the weapon.”
- “This game runs smoothly and is really well designed.”
- “Performance issues.”
- “The performance is regularly bad and the game still has several annoying bugs.”
- “Another thing that annoyed me with this game is that it is not properly optimized.”
humor
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
92%
8%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it genuinely funny while others feel it leans towards the generic or annoying, particularly with outdated jokes. Many appreciate the comedic moments that arise from gameplay mishaps and character interactions, especially in multiplayer settings, where chaos often leads to laughter. Overall, the game offers a blend of cheesy humor and entertaining absurdities, making it enjoyable when played with friends.
- “It can be hilarious... or frustrating.”
- “I mean a guy who says 'yes, I have a stroll virus' with a grampy grandad voice is cheesy and funny but this weather forecaster guy...”
- “Multiplayer seems to have similar shenanigans as before, minus some of the friendly fire mechanics that have hilariously enough caused mass extinction events (defuse nuke and then shooting it...).”
atmosphere
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
11%
33%
The game's atmosphere is consistently praised for its detailed environments and immersive soundtracks, effectively conveying a sense of struggle and gloom that resonates with fans of the genre. While some comparisons to classic titles highlight its engaging design, the overall ambiance enhances the gameplay experience, making it both captivating and emotionally impactful.
- “The environments, though detailed and atmospheric, are a constant reminder of the struggle humanity faces.”
- “It is a very atmospheric, gloomy game for someone like me, a big fan of the Aliens franchise, who won't be disappointed.”
- “I love the style, atmosphere, and character design.”
- “That would help the game's atmosphere and level of boredom for the early game.”
- “Very decent top-down shooter with a cool story, an amazing soundtrack, crispy visuals, smooth gameplay, and a vicious atmosphere.”
- “Apart from all the other mission types, there are story missions and different NPCs that add to the atmosphere.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express mixed feelings about the emotional impact of the game, with some highlighting the significant emotional weight of losing squad members, while others feel disconnected and unable to care about the narrative or characters. There is a call for more focused design to enhance emotional engagement, alongside appreciation for the developers' wholesome approach.
- “Losing a squad member is a significant blow, not just strategically, but emotionally.”
- “It is what it is and it's heartbreaking as I strongly believe some vertical design and creating smaller but more focused areas would add a deeper layer to the game.”
- “First thing I want to mention is the devs are really down to earth and wholesome.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
Players express frustration with the game's monetization strategy, criticizing the presence of advertisements on the start menu despite the game's numerous issues. While there are no in-game microtransactions, the reliance on ads has led to a perception of greed from the developers, especially given the game's technical problems that prevent players from fully engaging with it.
- “It's laughable to put a banner advertising a new game on the start menu when this one honestly has so many problems.”
- “Truly a crime, what a bunch of greedy bastards they are for wanting to get their bills, employees, and licenses paid while they support a game with absolutely no in-game microtransactions, nor a AAA publisher to boot!”
- “I have 36 minutes of playtime on this game, yet I have never been past the advertisements at load as it will crash when reaching the main menu.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
- “I love the style, atmosphere, and character design.”
- “But the single player mode is not complete due to the unbalanced character design.”
- “Storyline: 5/10 a watered down XCOM 2 feel, minus any actual character development of your units or NPCs.”
- “Proper character development and at least some dialogues.”

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60%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Red Solstice 2
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8h Median play time

13h Average play time

3-25h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 18 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Red Solstice 2: Survivors is a tactical role playing game with science fiction theme.

Red Solstice 2: Survivors is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and others.

On average players spend around 13 hours playing Red Solstice 2: Survivors.

Red Solstice 2: Survivors was released on June 17, 2021.

Red Solstice 2: Survivors was developed by Ironward.

Red Solstice 2: Survivors has received neutral reviews from players and neutral reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its stability.

Red Solstice 2: Survivors is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include The Red Solstice, Aliens: Fireteam, Killsquad, Breach & Clear: Deadline Rebirth, Back 4 Blood and others.

Red Solstice 2: Survivors

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Red Solstice 2

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