Red Solstice 2: Survivors

Red Solstice 2: Survivors is a decent game hindered by iffy AI, spiking difficulty, and a feeling of disconnect between player and game.

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Red Solstice 2: Survivors is a real-time strategy game that combines single-player and multiplayer co-op modes for 2-8 players. As the leader of a secret task force, command your squad to fight against STROL mutants and find a cure for the virus threatening mankind. With deep strategy and engaging combat, quickly make decisions to survive in this harsh world. The game boasts marvelous mechanics and beautiful visuals, but be prepared for some grinding and bugs.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

76%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,434 reviews

story56 positive mentions

stability60 negative mentions

Great co-op experience with up to 8 players, enhancing teamwork and strategy.
Fun gameplay that combines real-time tactical elements with a variety of classes and customization options.
Active developer support with frequent updates and responsiveness to community feedback.

Frequent bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, including AI pathfinding issues and mission triggers not working.
Repetitive mission structure and objectives that can lead to boredom over time.
Lack of clear tutorials and explanations for game mechanics, making it difficult for new players to understand the game.

story
710 mentions
8 % positive mentions
85 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it generic and lacking depth. While some appreciate the campaign's structure and the integration of side missions, others criticize the repetitive nature of missions and the overall execution of the narrative, which often feels disjointed and unengaging. Bugs and gameplay mechanics further detract from the experience, leading to frustration during missions that can feel tedious and unvaried.
- “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.”
- “Using the randomization for a lot of its missions and sprinkling in a few preset story missions tucked beneath the hood of an XCOM-esque planetary strategy layer works incredibly well.”
- “Even the plot twist was mediocre at best.”
- “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.”
gameplay
269 mentions
35 % positive mentions
57 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Red Solstice 2: Survivors" is characterized by a mix of engaging mechanics, strategic depth, and cooperative elements, offering a fun experience for players who enjoy tactical combat and customization. However, many users have noted issues such as repetitive missions, unclear mechanics, and a steep learning curve, which can detract from the overall enjoyment. While the core gameplay loop is praised for its excitement and variety, it is often marred by bugs and design choices that lead to frustration, particularly in solo play.
- “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.”
- “The gameplay is straightforward and the customization, replay value, and co-op experience are absolutely amazing.”
- “Gameplay spends too much time in either too easy or too hard sections.”
- “The gameplay itself is just boring anyway though.”
- “The gameplay can be summarized as boring and unpolished.”
graphics
73 mentions
49 % positive mentions
47 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
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 such as 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 amazing, and the effects of weapons and skills look fantastic; the explosions are plentiful and impressive!”
- “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
3 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
97 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with many users reporting frequent bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, such as characters getting stuck, mission objectives failing to trigger, and save data issues. While some players acknowledge that the game is fun and the developers are actively working on fixes, the overall consensus is that the game remains quite buggy, impacting the experience significantly. Despite these issues, there are also mentions of improvements over time, suggesting a commitment to enhancing stability.
- “Seriously well made and practically bug free.”
- “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 game is very buggy, as of now.”
- “I like the game, but it's a terrible buggy mess at the moment.”
grinding
36 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, particularly in mission design and leveling systems. While some enjoy the variety of builds and the challenge of grinding for upgrades, others feel that the grind is excessive and detracts from the overall experience, especially in multiplayer modes. Overall, players suggest that those who dislike grinding or repetitive gameplay may want to approach this game with caution.
- “The gameplay itself is a ton of fun, but the base management and travel elements are overwhelming and grindy.”
- “The Red Solstice 2: Survivors has drawn comparisons to XCOM, but I can only think about the bad ones I did not like—grindy missions designed to artificially extend rather than enhance the gameplay experience, low-impact items, and a 'doomsday clock.'”
- “At first it is fun, but after learning its mechanics and when the novelty wears off, it gets very grindy and repetitive.”
replayability
28 mentions
32 % positive mentions
57 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is highly regarded, particularly due to its engaging combat, diverse classes, and customizable loadouts, which enhance both single-player and multiplayer experiences. While some players express concerns about recent changes limiting variety, many still find the campaign and skirmish modes to offer significant replay value through randomization and cooperative gameplay. The combination of strategic depth and varied mission design contributes to a robust replayability factor, making it enjoyable for both solo and team play.
- “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 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
29 % positive mentions
61 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and lacking variety, especially after extended playtime. While some tracks are noted as fitting and effective in building tension, others are described as uninspired or even boring, leading players to prefer their own playlists. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as decent but not memorable, with a call for a more extensive and engaging musical 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 is a looping sound that initially never played; now I hear it 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
21 mentions
24 % positive mentions
43 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
Overall, the optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting poor performance, frequent stuttering, and crashes, even on high-end systems. While some users noted improvements in multiplayer stability and certain graphical optimizations, the consensus is that significant bugs and performance issues remain unaddressed, leading to frustration among the player base.
- “The weapon modding gives the option to increase the performance of a weapon, providing drawbacks in return as well as changing the color and pattern of the weapon.”
- “This game runs smoothly and is really well designed.”
- “I experienced no map desync, no save file loss, performance has been greatly improved as I see no more FPS drops (apparently all the devs did was add LOD to models, reducing polygon counts, so thank God the performance drop was not due to programming problems, easy fix).”
- “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.”
- “After being away for 1 year, the game has not fixed old bugs and performance is even worse now.”
humor
12 mentions
92 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
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 fat jokes. The comedic moments often arise from chaotic gameplay and character interactions, leading to both hilarious and frustrating situations, especially in multiplayer settings. Overall, the humor enhances the experience, making it enjoyable when played with friends, despite some room for improvement.
- “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
56 % positive mentions
11 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
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 highlight its appeal against classics like Diablo 2, the overall ambiance enhances the gameplay experience, making it engaging and atmospheric.
- “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 who is a big fan of the Aliens franchise; I 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
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
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, though appreciation for the developers' wholesome nature is noted.
- “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.”
character development
4 mentions
25 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
75 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is criticized for being incomplete and unbalanced, with some reviewers noting a lack of meaningful growth for both units and NPCs. While the style and atmosphere are appreciated, the overall storyline and character interactions are deemed insufficient, leading to a mixed reception.
- “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.”
monetization
3 mentions
0 % positive mentions
67 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has drawn criticism for perceived greed, despite the absence of in-game microtransactions and a major publisher. Players express frustration over technical issues, such as crashes during loading, which detract from their experience.
- “I have 36 minutes of playtime on this game, yet I have never been past the advertisements at load, as it crashes when reaching the main menu.”