Battlefield Vietnam

"What 1942 should have been"

When Battlefield 1942 was released a few years ago, it was hailed as a refreshing addition to the FPS genre. You could fight on land, sea and air using a myriad of authentic WW2 weapons and vehicles enabling the player(s) to recreate historic battles. Sure, this is a fantastic concept, but at it's release, BF1942 was horrible marred by choppy gameplay, a twitchy engine and a multitude of bugs. It was only after several patches that it turned into the jewel of a game that it is today; the same applies for Battlefield Vietnam.

GRAPHICS: 9/10
----------
WOW! The graphics in this game are phenomenal. Even with my sub-par GeForce FX5200 this game still looks very nice (on low settings that is). EA/Dice has given BFV it's own artistic flair for the Vietnam era. The new engine allows for realistic foliage and undergrowth. Choppers flying low kick up dirt and grass which is a very nice detail. Although some of the textures may look muddy/dirty, I feel that this is a nice accent to recreate the Vietnamese landscape. Weapons and Vehicles also look better than those found in 1942. Here, we actually have a real bolt-action animation and guns that are accurately modeled; very nice to say the least.

SOUND: 9/10
---------
This may very well be my favorite aspect of this game. DICE has included a fairly large soundtrack of 60's Vietnam era music to complement the game. While in vehicles players can select a song from a playlist that can be heard by players ingame. Just think of tanks rolling down VC troops while blasting CCR'S Fortunate Son; very satisfying! Weapon sounds are for the most part satisfying although there are some that are sub-par but will be fixed in a future patch.

INTERFACE: 9/10
---------
Greatly improved over BF1942's. After viewing a nice cutscene, players are taken into the very pleasing main menu. Greeted by a very catchy tune, it's not hard to notice just how much more polished this game is than 1942 was at it's release.

GAMEPLAY: Subject to change for the better
---------
If you liked BF1942, needless to say, you'll love this game. Although the game still has kinks to be taken care of (M60 abuse for example), this plays just like 1942, except better. Features such as a 3d map reduce team killing and better inform the player as to where an enemy/friendly base/troops are located. A new flag capturing system is present too that works quite well. How fast a team captures a flag is now determined by the number of players present at it's capture. Overall, movement feels much smoother than in 1942; it's rather hard explain, but in 1942 you almost felt like you were sliding along the floor while indoors, here it feels more like walking. In summary, it is just a much smoother and refined experience; that is if you can find a server without the average smacktard. The new vehicles are for the most part, spectacular. F4 Phantoms with napalm, Huey Gunships and the ability to fire as a passenger out of moving vehicles make things that more satisfying. There's just so much to describe that I can only recommend playing this game to fully understand what I mean.
--------------
To enjoy this game I would recommend a minimum of 512 megs of ram, 128 mb video card and a 2ghz processor. Although these are not the minimum specs, I feel that my recommendation is what you'll need as a player to fully enjoy and appreciate the experience. Although there are some minor complaints of bugs/glitches I can honestly say that I have experienced none of these. EA/Dice has a track record of gradually improving their games as time goes by. Bugs will be fixed, new maps will be added and gameplay refined as time goes on. As BF1942 did, this game will age like a fine wine. My overall score of 8/10 is tentative; it WILL only get better.
Buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/04