Tripwire Interactive has been kind enough to drown us in beta keys for the upcoming standalone expansion of Rising Storm, which is a 'total conversion mod' for Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad.

It's co-developed by Tripwire and the community, which takes the game into the Pacific theatre with four factions to choose from. It's first-come, first-served so have at it!

John Gibson, president of Tripwire Interactive, has some stark views on Activision's Call of Duty franchise. The Red Orchestra 2 developer feels they have "almost ruined a generation of FPS players."

During Red Orchestra 2's testing, Tripwire got a lot of feedback complaints that it 'wasn't like Call of Duty'. He acknowledges it's "smart business, to a degree," when you 'give away kills'.

Developer Tripwire is backing the community-made mod Rising Storm which has become a full joint effort between its creators and the studio. It's to be released as a full standalone expansion.

A new gameplay trailer has just been hurled into the laps of fans showing off its Pacific Theater credentials, which includes the battles of Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan and Iwo Jima. It's out in 2012.