I’ve been playing Stalingrad for awhile now.
I’ve got about 60 battles played for axis, and maybe 15 for allies.
My first thought is this.
Allied players, where the fuck are you?
As axis, the majority of matches are a steamroll. I don’t think I’m playing against bots necessarily, but it seems as though every single one of the worst players in the game has opted to play Stalingrad allies.
I stopped playing allies outright, as there was no team play, no objective play.
Just literally nothing useful from my team 90% of the time. It’s worse than any other campaign I’ve played, no contest.
Which brings me to my next point.
The sheer amount of rally points my axis teammates have built has caused me to cream my pants a multitude of times. I’ll run and help them build them, bouncing up and down like a methed out chihuahua.
In Stalingrad, I don’t have to fret about constantly being the one throwing down a rally. (Although I still do.)
I’ll be ready to respawn and build a new one, and I’ll look at the map and see 3-4 placed all over the map on a consistent basis. Fucking beautiful.
Not to mention, players also build ammo boxes and fortifications, as an added bonus.
I have no idea what sparked this change, but I’m not complaining.
In terms of gameplay, this is the first campaign where I’m not getting 100+ kills every single game.
It’s partly due to the fact that teammates actually seem to share in the slaughter, but I also notice that the gameplay is just slower than it is in other campaigns, and I kind of dig it.
The map design allows for all playstyles to shine, and that is pretty awesome.
The bolt actions feel great. I continue to run at least 2 in all but my assault squads.
I’m in the minority who thinks the mg changes are ok personally. (FYI, just get the stamina and stamina regen perks if you really want to Rambo with your MG-42.)
The tnt charges are awesome, and I would welcome them in other campaigns.
Fuck the concussions. Nuff said.
In terms of pure fun, Stalingrad has usurped Berlin as my favorite campaign at this point in time, which is saying a lot.
The full access xp boost is surprisingly too much if I’m being honest. I believe it would provide a better sense of grind and achievement at perhaps 3x.
Their monetization system could potentially use some tweaking next time around, but it truly is a well made campaign, open sightlines be damned. (Just go through the ten zillion buildings or flank wide my friends. It works, I promise.)
In short, if you’re someone who has skipped Stalingrad, I urge you to at least play a few matches as axis to experience the amount of team play and in my opinion good changes I’ve seen in the campaign, as it truly makes me yearn for all campaigns to feel the same way.
Maybe I’ll see you there.
) its still playable