"The Conflict series delivers yet another explosive hit!"

"You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours, but at even those odds, you will lose and I will win":- Ho Chi Minh

Elbows 'n' asses soldier! Time to go behind enemy lines for yet another installment of the extremely popular Conflict series! In previous Conflict games (Conflict: Desert Storm and Conflict: Desert Storm 2 respectively), you have found yourselves in the deserts of Iraq. In this game, you trade your Desert Boots for a sweat rag as you go deep inside the jungles of Vietnam.

Story
Same as before: You're a 4 man patrol deep behind enemy lines. However, you have four new lads to command: Ragman, Junior, Hoss and Cherry. You must cover hundreds of miles of jungle, spanning across 14 missions. You'll need to utilise everything you come across to get to allied lines, be it enemy weapons, abandoned vehicles and US helicopters, you must do everything necessary to get back home.

The story itself is well thought out, and well executed. It's not "mission based" as was CDS1 and 2, but it's more a sequence of events, so to speak.

Graphics
The jungle foliage is great! It moves whenever you move through it, and there are no "clear" paths to use. The soldiers look awesome, and the weapons, both American and VC/NVA look great. Nothing much to say really, they're slightly better than CDS2's, which is a good improvement.

Sound
The games makers really put some effort into this section. You can hear all the regular noises of the jungle, the whistling of the birds, the calls of weird and wonderful animals, and the crunching of the foliage whenever you walk over or through it.
The rifles themselves have their own distinctive sounds, and the grenades, you can hear the pin flying off just before you throw the thing to some unlucky VC (or buddies, depends if you're playing seriously or not).

Controls
They're the same as as the Desert Storm games; easy to use and to remember. SCi this year added more sensitive controls, such as if you push the left stick slightly forward, the soldier will move slower compared to that if you push it as far as possible. This comes in handy when you want to crouch but move slowly. Also added are the context sensitive commands. These include telling soldiers to pick up items, heal, or shield allies, as well as "Move to". The saves time swapping through the individual soldiers to pick up certain items. The vehicles have gone in for a major overhaul and this time they are near-perfect. They're so responsive it's untrue. Good stuff.

AI
Unfortunately for us, they keep getting smarter. As well as outmaneuvering your squad, they also use the "safety in numbers" method, then they rush you. The VC are also a tad trigger happy when it comes to RPG's. It's common for you to walk round a corner and then find yourself infront of a VC with a rocket launcher, and he's happy to use it on you. There's been many a time when my squads been wiped out because of this. The amount of RPG's (and enemies, for that matter) are enormous, and this tries to get you to use more quieter tactics.

Re-playability
With 14 missions, 4 difficulty settings (extreme is unlocked after you complete the game), co-op ability, the amount of re-play this game offers is outstanding. I've done it twice already.

Overall
Just like the previous 2 Conflict games, this one keeps to tradition and doesn't disappoint. Action doesn't go amiss in this game too, disarming boobytraps, being ambushed, breaking out of enemy position, you're given the full works. This is a treat for the squad-based game fan's, and should be picked up now.

To rent or to buy, that is the question...
Definitely buy, only by rushing would you complete the game in a single rental. There's also the co-op mode, which prolongs it's gaming life. Anyway, it can be ordered online for as little as £26.99 on certain internet sites, so it isn't as though it's gonna hurt your pocket that badly.

So come on men! We have a war to fight!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/23/04