Vietcong

"The Best Vietnam Game Ever? Yes."

First off, I'm gonna say that I made this review because there just aren't many of them around for this game, and the ones that are around don't do it justice. Let me say what this game is not. It is not a frag fest like Unreal Tournament 2003, it isn't a shoot'em up like the Soldier of Fortune series, and it isn't a tactical shooter like the Tom Clancy series. This game is a realistic first-person shooter that takes place during the Vietnam War. That said, here it goes.

It's just you and the enemy, and your Special Forces team of course. Vietcong is one of the most emersive first-person shooters to date. In this game you are the leader of a U.S. Special Forces team that causes havoc deep inside Vietnam and Cambodia as well. You can give your team mates simple commands such as Hold, Follow Me, and Attack. You will also rely on your team mates for extra ammo, medical attention, radio transmittions, and covering fire.

In single player mode, Vietcong focuses on a series of missions that for the most part don't seem to create any sort of bigger plot. For those who want a little more info, there is a wealth of information that you can read in your bunker in between missions. I mean there is a lot of reading material in there. Team and weapon stats, mission briefings, info recovered from the enemy, and your own personal diary. But who wants to read? This is a video game! In many of the missions you take part in, you will rely on your pointman Nhut to lead you to the enemy. This is when the fun begins. You better run for cover because these Vietnamese are exellent marksmen. Maybe even a little too good in the harder difficulty levels. So, now you're behind a fallen tree with bullets wizzing over your head. You can pop up and fire a few shots from the hip, or better yet use your aim button for a more precise shot. The action can get pretty intense, but you can handle it.

As you play in single player mode, you will unlock quickfight levels and weapons. Quickfight throws you into a very hairy battle where the object is to kill all enemies. You can choose to have your team go with you or go it alone. Also, as a nice touch you can take the side of the Vietcong and fight against U.S. forces. Quickfight is a nice addition and gives you the feel of a multiplayer game, only with bots. But these bots have some of the best AI around.

When you get tired of playing with yourself, you can get on the net and fire up the multiplayer. There are several styles of gameplay. These are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the flag, Assault team game, Lastman Standing, Real War, and Co-op. Don't expect an all out frag fest. This game requires stealth, a little planning, and the good sense to keep your head down. Most modes are self explanatory, but Assault gives your team certain objectives to complete, Real War is like capture the flag, but with multiple flags of which you must capture all of to score, and Co-op allows you to play through the missions with the help of your buddies.

Overall, this is a great first-person shooter. The bread and butter of the game lies in the emersive single player missions, but the multiplayer is well done and adds for some great replay value.

Graphics:
The graphics in this game are great. Dense foliage, rocks, and fallen trees abound. The maps are large and provide a lot of cover. The models are well detailed, and the weapons are nothing short of beautiful. I was a little startled at first by the sheer ugliness of the faces of the main characters. Their features are somewhat out of purportion and their teeth look like they're rotting out of their head. The rest of the ''generic'' models seem to be well done and don't have this ugliness factor.

Sound:
The sound in this game is excellent. If you have 5.1 surround sound and EAX, you are in for a real treat. Great sound effects, and music that gives you the feeling of being in the middle of a battle. All in 3D! I am really pleased with the sound in this game.

Gameplay:
The gameplay is fantastic. Running around shootin' VC just brightens up my day. I just have a great time playing this game. It's guaranteed to give you a lot of fun. Also, this game runs like butter on my computer. Although some people have had problems with low Frames Per Second caused by the built in copywrite software that checks for the CD every so often. But like I said, it runs like butter on my machine. No problems here.

Story:
You follow SFC Steve Hawkins through many missions, but the cohesiveness of a good solid story really isn't there. For those of you who have played Mafia: City of Lost Heaven, which throws you into a story that could have been made into a Hollywood movie, this doesn't come close to that. The story is forgettable. The characters are forgettable. Frankly, I wouldn't even care if my team mates died, but it causes you to fail your mission. The pointman Le Duy Nhut is the only exception. Nothing beats when Nhut yells out ''Die Commie Pig'' and blasts a dead VC point blank in the face with his shotgun. So, not much of a story, but who cares the gameplay is great.

Replayability:
Loads. I could play the main story line through many times, just for the action. The addition of the Quickfight, and a great multiplayer systems guarantees you won't get tired of this game for a long time.

Dislikes:
They could have included A LOT more Quickfight maps, and a few more multiplayer maps as well. Also, no blood. As far as I can tell, with the blood settings all the way up, there is still only a little spritz of blood from the enemy. Why the publishers decided to give the U.S. a Teen rated game, while the whole rest of the world gets a Mature rated game, I don't know. But I hope our friends in the U.K. make a little patch for us commrades over here in the U.S.

Rating: 8.9
That's right not 8, not 9, but 8.9. However here at GameFAQs you have to rate games in whole numbers. So I say, 8 but I really mean 8.9. If they gave us the Mature rated game instead, and added a few more maps, then I would give my rating a little boost to, say, 9.2.

Rent? or Buy?:
As far as I know you can't rent PC games, so BUY IT!
Really, if you are looking for one of the games I mentioned at the beginning then maybe this game isn't for you. But if everything you've read so far has got you drooling like Pavlov's dog, buy it immediately. OR better yet, Import the Mature version from the U.K. If you're old enough. Wink <;)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/03, Updated 04/02/03