Battlefield Vietnam

"War is fun again."

If you've ever been slightly involved with the online PC gaming scene then a game you would almost surely have heard of is Battlefield 1942. Featuring simplistic first person shooter action and a huge array of drivable jeeps, planes and boats it struck a cord with many players and as the good word spread about this gem things started to get really interesting. With plenty of official and unofficial third party mod packs Battlefield 1942 is one of the strongest rivals to the Half-Life mod series which features prominent online focused titles like Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat. The improvement of technology gave developers of the Battlefield series a chance to up to ante and push the games engine even further. What better place to do it than in the jungles, valleys and temples of Vietnam.

If you've never played Battlefield 1942 then you are probably wondering what all the fuss is about. The gameplay scenario is pretty simple. There are two teams going head to head various maps and their goal is to hold as many control points as possible. The more they hold the quicker the other teams ticket counter decreases and if it hits zero they will lose. A team will also lose if they have no control points as these are used to spawn and obviously if you have none you can't reinforce back into the battle. That's about all you need to know game concept wise. Battlefield Vietnam doesn't deviate very much at all from this formula, in fact it's pretty much the same.

Don't be fooled though. Whilst the game appears simple there is a huge opportunity for players to employ tactics, strategies and out-think their opponent. For example your team may choose to rush an obscure control point in order to out-flank the opposition with a spawn point closer to the opposition. On the other hand your team could sit back and wait for the enemy to come to them, camping them out rather than taking too many risks. Vietnam tends to be more infantry focused, no longer are vehicles so important to success and in many cases they play a supporting role to strong on the foot action. I prefer the vehicle focus of Battlefield 1942 better but for those of you who back your on the ground skills then Vietnam is definitely a lot stronger in that area.

So if the gameplay is unchanged what is new in Battlefield Vietnam? Well the setting is a fundamental differences. You'll be battling it out in the lush jungles, muddy river basins and small eastern town environments of the games South East Asian home. Surprisingly the jungles aren't that thick and players can still be caught out if they aren't careful but good players will be able to use various aspects of the environment to become unsee able by the enemy. You can always take a dip in one of the malaria infected rivers to advance on your enemy but there are plenty of new boats and other watercraft in Battlefield Vietnam to make aquatic movement easier.

Another enhancement is that for each class of soldier you can select two different weapon types. For example if you choose to be a sniper you can choose two different types of guns, each with their own strength and weaknesses. Helicopters are now able to transport vehicles around the map which is reassuring for infantry on the frontline that need a speedy means of getting out of a dangerous area. As well as the helicopters there are plenty of new vehicles all with the Vietnamese theme.

Sure Battlefield Vietnam has a single player mode packed away in it but it's nothing more than target practice. Essentially you play the game just as you would online but instead of facing off against real players you play against bots. The game is just so much better online and avoids all the problems of scripted and sometimes stupid AI. Of course some human intelligence is still below par and this side of the online experience is what makes it so enjoyable. You never know what anyone is going to do next and with up to sixty-four players in a game at once. It all adds up to chaos.

For the best online experience you will definitely need some sort of broadband connection. Trust me, I've tried it with 56k and it's just far too slow to be enjoyable. And yes, that's even on local servers. The other way to experience multiplayer is on a local area network (LAN) at an iCafe or other organised event. This is arguably the best way to enjoy any multiplayer PC title as you can taunt your enemies who are all in the same room, not dotted about the world.

Visually Vietnam is a step up on Battlefield 1942. As a result it sucks up a lot more resources and you'll need a fairly powerful PC to cope. If you do you are certainly in luck, the whole game is beautiful even on a smallish 800x600 resolution with all the graphical settings on low the game shines on. The environments are believable and more importantly, fun to play in. Each of the levels is well designed (obviously some are better than others) with nice visual cues to keep soldiers eyes on their objectives. Soldiers, jeeps, planes, jets are all nicely done with impressive player animations a feature point of this element. Battlefield Vietnam does need a grunty machine to have the graphics up on high. You've been warned.

Each of the games load screens and menu's has a classic 1960's or 70's tune playing along in the background. It tunes you into that wonderful era of peace protests, psychedelic colours and of course, the Vietnam war. As well as the digging soundtrack the in-game sound effects are also solid. Naturally this element depends on your sound setup for your PC but anything with a bit of bass and some sort of surround sound function will go down great. Hearing tanks and aircraft coming in from various directions not only sounds cool it also makes the game easier to play enabling you to navigate through the maps without having to rely solely on the in game map radar.

Those who have played Battlefield 1942, Desert Combat or Road to Rome will know what they are in for, not much has changed. Sure there are stacks of new weapons, jeeps, jets, helicopters and of course the lush Vietnam environment but the heart and the soul of the game is pretty much the same. Those who have never immersed themselves in the Battlefield experience would do well to pick this title up and have a blast. Be warned however, this game requires a powerful PC and of course, a broadband internet connection. See you on the frontline.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/25/04