Vietcong

"The best FPS ever made!"

Introduction:

I’m a FPS fanatic, so whenever a game based on this genre comes out, ALMOST everytime I go out and buy that game. The thing that drew me to Vietcong even more was the fact that there has been almost no games based on this conflict (even though it was quite recent) and the very few that did, were always a disappointment. As I’ve always been interested in the Vietnam War, I thought I’d buy this game, to see how good it was. Let me just say, the first time I played it; I had to change into a new pair of underwear.

Story: 5/10

You are Sgt. 1st Class Steve R. Hawkins. You lead your fellow U.S. Special Forces squad consisting of Le Duy Nhut (Pointman), Joe Crocker (Medic), C. J. Hornster (Machine gunner), Thomas Bronson (Engineer) and Peter J. Defort (Radioman) into Vietnam and Cambodia on search and rescue, recon, and search and destroy missions. All in all, there are 30 different missions packed into this game.

The reason I scored this quite low is because although Vietcong is a fantastic game and is perfect down to the slightest detail, there isn’t really a story to it. It is more of alot of missions strung together. Although this may seem like a bad thing (because in a lot of games, the story is what makes it really shine), it’s not as bad as you think. Instead Vietcong puts you into all different types of scenarios without needing a story to make things too confusing. Even if you think that without a story it’s no good, there is always Steve’s diary to read. Even this diary alone gives you a lot more extra information about the whole game.

Gameplay: 10/10

This is easily the best part of the game. There are 4 difficulty levels built into the game: Easy, Medium, Hard and Vietnam. In Vietnam mode you can only take two or three hits from the enemy before you die and something unique about this difficulty level is that it takes away you HUD (Heads Up Display). This means no more crosshair (instead you have to aim using the “iron sights” on the gun), no radar, no health metre and no ammo count meaning you don’t know how many more bullets are in your current magazine. It all adds to the realism and they did a great job of doing it too!

Another nice feature of this game is the element of cover. You are not the Terminator or the Predator or Rambo. YOU MUST USE COVER, OTHERWISE YOU WILL DIE! During firefights you will have to take cover behind rocks or trees, otherwise you will not last one minute. Due to the fact that the jungle is so dense and well rendered, most of the time you will not be able to see the Vietcong. You will be looking for a muzzle flash or listening to which direction the shooting came from. The enemy AI is very crafty. They will sit and wait for you to stick you head out of cover before firing. The same goes for them. If they are under fire from you, they will not just stand up in front of a hail of bullets and start shooting. They will wait until you stop shooting or are reloading and then they’ll pop their head up and squeeze off a few shots in your direction and then dive back down into cover.

Graphics: 10/10

The graphics in Vietcong are some of the best I’ve EVER seen. The character models (Both your team mates and the Vietcong) are especially well done. Everything from their uniforms, to the in-game vehicles, the weapon models (definitely the best I’ve seen in any game) and the awe-inspiring Vietnamese jungle is rendered in full detail. Just looking at the jungle will make you drool like a hungry dog. Everything from streams, fallen logs, cliffs, trees, dried up river beds, rocks, bushes and the extremely dense vegetation is modelled right down to the very last detail!

Sound: 10/10

The sound in this game is some of the best I’ve ever heard. It is so deep and rich. Vietcong has it all: Birds chirping, monkeys screaming, even down to the finest details such as insects humming and foliage rustling when you walk through it. Even during the most action packed gun fights, you can still hear each individual gun sound. All the sounds to make you actually FEEL like you’re in the Vietnam jungle.

The voice acting in Vietcong is very good, except for Peter J. Defort (Radioman). His voice sounds too high pitched and girly. But other than that, the voice acting is some of the best I’ve heard in a game. (Especially Bronson’s and Hornster’s)

Replay Value: 9/10

Vietcong has plenty of replay value. A combination of the fantastic single player campaign, quick fight missions and multiplayer games mean you’ll be playing this game for hours on end, and even after you do complete the campaign mode, you’ll probably want to play through it at least 2 more times just for all the intense action packed into it.

The only downside to it is that they didn’t incorporate enough quick fight maps. Although I’m sure these will be added into the next patch or as a separate download.

Overall Rating: 10/10

If you’re a FPS fan and even if you’re remotely interested in war games, then this is a game you simply must have. A combination of fantastic graphics, incredible sound, very fun gameplay and LOADS and LOADS of replayability make this game one of the best games of 2003. But bewarned; this is not a frag fest like Unreal Tournament 2003, it isn’t a shoot-em-up like the Soldier of Fortune series and by no means is it a tactical shooter like any of the Tom Clancy games. So if you’re more into the types of games I just mentioned, then maybe this isn’t the game for you. But otherwise if you want good solid gameplay then this game is a MUST buy!

Played on the following system:
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ 333FSB
1024Mb PC2700 DDR Ram (Dual channelled)
128Mb ATI Radeon 9500 Pro

Maintained an average of 60FPS (with all the graphical settings on full), and even during intense action, it never dipped below 40FPS. In other words, it ran as smooth as a baby’s bottom!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/03, Updated 05/19/03