Rising Storm 2: Vietnam

i've always felt like the RO/RS series hits the right spot between Insurgency and Squad.
It doesn't feel like a sweatfest like insurgency, but also isn't too dependant on comms to be a Squad clone, it perfectly sits between these two games and I always loved how accessible it is despite being part of a more niche genre.
My sister, who only plays L4D ,Phasmophobia and strongly dislikes PVP war games, actually really liked this one.
I know it sounds lame but the fact a casual player like her and a milsim nerd like me can both play and enjoy this game speaks for itself.

The most underrated multiplayer shooter. A perfect mix between hardcore and arcade shooting. No one has done it better than them 7 years later.

Here's how your first experience with Rising Storm 2 is gonna go.
You install the game, join a server, and spawn in. Seeing your teammates running towards the objective, you follow them through the rice fields, looking for a figh-
You're dead. A single bullet from someone hiding in a bush 120 meters away killed you.
You spawn. This time, you stick to cover, avoiding the obvious lines of fire. Hearing a clattering sound behind you, you turn arou-
You're dead. A grenade blew you to pieces. One of your teammates named "Sum Ting Wong" is laughing at you in voice chat because your left foot landed in his lap some fifty odd meters away.
You spawn. Now you're playing real careful, staying behind your team, sticking to cover and making sure not to give away your position to the enemy. Hey, isn't that plane flying a little too clo-OH MY GOD THEY'RE DROPPING NAPALM EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE JESUS CHRIST HELP HELP HEL-
You're dead. Your hands are shaking, and you silently thank the powers that be you weren't born in time to get drafted to 'Nam.
You learn. You start communicating with your team, using your map actively, sneaking around. Most of your time is spent huddled in a ditch somewhere clutching your rifle and praying to sweet baby jesus that you won't die the next time you poke your head out. You start playing like a rat bastard, laying traps, hiding in bushes, cracking jokes with your teammates like your granddad used to at the family reunions. Something about "rice krispies". You turn your head, and the sun is coming up. When you started playing it was midday.
Great game, well worth the ptsd.

Like all tripwire games (especially ro2/rs1) it's janky and clunky, sometimes in a way that ruins play. I've lost count of the times i've died trying to mount a machine gun bipod on a windowsill or vault a knee high wall or run through some slightly uneven floor.
that being said the game is very fun in the same way single shot kill milsims can be, and the setting and variety of weapons are extremely unique and interesting. killing a guy carrying an m60 using a mosin from the 1800s will never not be funny. digging punji traps, firing from the doors of helicopters, skeet shooting gi's with a hunting shotgun. there's a lot of fun to be had.
there are limited bots on some custom servers but i have always been able to find at least 5-10 active servers at any time of the day, so if youre worrying about the game being dead it's absolutely still playable and at this point probably always will be. if it looks interesting then absolutely check it out.

The game is great, very fast past, quick TTK, they aimed for realism and nailed it.
The downsides of it anymore is there are only a few populated servers anymore and there is a group of servers that have a very bad rep (mega) and spoof player counts.

walk for 10 minutes in a jungle, hear a voice next to you saying something in Vietnamese and then get killed 10/10 would recommend

Maybe the glory times have passed but it is still one of the GOAT.
8.5/10 experience, need more modern FPS learning the lessons from here and other RO/RS games - accessible realism with no boring bits.
Still has active servers, mods are there for more variety. Give it a go.