Vietcong

"A truly underrated game."

What we have here folks is a great game that isn't known by a lot of gamers and is shunned by a lot because of its glitches. I'm here to point out the great features of the game that may just even out the glitch problem. First of all,

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PATCHES
There it is. The main solution to all your..ok, most of your glitch problem. The Vietcong web server offers patches available for download that will reduce the glitching problem in the AI. While the solution isn't perfect, the features of the game make up for this little inconvienience. Download. Install. Voila.

Now that we got that out of the way, lets make this review short and sweet.

Graphics 7.9/10
Ok, this game was released around 2003 so it isn't quite up to par with the graphics of today, especially that of Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty. But it is really quite playable. On top of this the scenery is really quite nice pointing out all the features of a lush jungle environment including birds, waterfalls, and rock formations. This really makes up for the obvious dating of the graphics. Overall, nice graphics that are now overshadowed by todays games.

Sound8 .3/10
Really all you could ask for in a game. The sounds consist of battle chatter and even monkeys and such in the jungle. The main character also has a lot of lines, most of which give hints to the gamer. It is obvious that Pterodon took it's time when making the sound of this game. However, it's not all peaches and apples as some of the battle chatter is repetitious, consisting of your team members shouting the same insults at the enemy during each battle. Once again, not enough to ruin the sound of the game.

Gameplay 9.6/10
Here it is in all it's glory. The gameplay of Vietcong is fantastic just because it is so interactive and offers so much to do. For instance, you go to drill camp where you learn your "skills" by your strict drill sargeant. When you arrive at camp it is your job to get set up and you can choose to walk around the camp and talk to people or to practice marksmanship at the gun range. There are a ton of "actions" , such as dismantling booby traps, available to the player which make for a very interactive environment. My favorite is calling in fire missions. Vietcong offers a unique artillery/air strike system in which you refer to a map grid and actually call in the coordinates yourself. This can make for some interesting gameplay as it is possible to accidently drop shells on your own guys (Ooops, did I do that?). Overall, the gameplay is fantastic.

In conclusion, this game has everything a gamer would look for in a "'Nam" shooter and offers a lot of patches for it's glitches. Now that it is a little older, I'm sure the price has reduced significantly and is available at the used rack in your local game shop. Vietcong is a game that should not be skipped.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/14/05