Battlefield Vietnam

"Uninteresting"

Battlefield Vietnam is a highly over rated game. EA's second generation multi-player FPS failed to live up to the older BF 1942. It is just plain boring....

There are fewer classes from which to choose in BF Vietnam, and the opportunities for each class to shine does not exist as powerfully as it does in BF 1942. If you are playing the US, there is only one class worth playing, and the same thing is true for the VC, though they are somewhat weaker than the US troops, by and large. The engineer and the medic are nigh on useless except as weaker US shooters. You cannot call for a medic or for repairs like in BF 1942, which is a shame and causes the game to lose a sense of camaraderie. The sniper has no value in this game due to the dense foliage. The lack of diversity in classes, the lack of usefulness in specialized classes, leaves the game cold and dull with repetition.

Also hurting the gameplay is the poor maps. They are all quite boring in their design and limitations, forcing you to play one way: run and gun all the way. What further hurts the map designs, though, is the genre's very own limitations. In WW2 (and hence, BF 1942) there were a wide variety of terrains and conditions. Vietnam is a just a big jungle fight with hut villages and a couple of burned out cities. There are no vast deserts, no snowy hills, etc. It's just a very green jungle with a lot of small waterways, with a couple of exceptions.

Unfortunately, the one thing that should have been done to improve on gameplay, was to create frangible terrain and buildings. That was not done, so now you get to see anti tank rockets explode harmlessly against doors, jet rockets unable to topple a hut, and so on.

Playing BF Vietnam is just boring. The game is not interesting. While the controls are teh same as BF 1942, the lack of interesting classes and good communications makes it easy to NOT submerse yourself in the times. There are certainly more vehicles, including helicopters, and more gameplay options, such as shooting out of helicopters and air lifting tanks into battle, but these technical add-ons do not compensate for the flavor it is missing.

Graphically, however, it is quite an improvement over BF 1942, its predecessor. Terrain is especially improved, creating a more lush environment. Character models are more detailed and have better textures. The ability to choose custom skins for your character is not so special. The game comes with a tiny selection.

The music is also very good, with a decent selection of Vietnam era rock songs, though playing the music in the game (which basically means you are blaring it on your virtual game radio) gives away your imminent arrival to the VC.

Sound effects are nothing special or unique. There are rifle shots, explosions, footsteps and engines. They pretty much sound like they are supposed to, which is a good thing.

BF Vietnam looks good, sounds good, and on paper the game-play looks like it ought to be good, but in the end, the game is monotonous. Almost all the maps are very similar (jungle), and the un-interesting classes only make the poor maps les exciting. This is not a game worth buying.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/04