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Vietcong Review
Chris Leyton
28/04/2003
It's taken a long time for a game based on the Vietnam war to appear, so is this one worth the wait???
Despite all the attention that War has been gathering in the videogames industry, itās taken developers and publishers a long time to move on to the Vietnam conflict. Whether this was down to good old American pride or another reason baffles us, as we would have thought the dense jungles and frantic ambushes would have made for an ideal game setting.
Vietcong comes from an Eastern European studio going by the name of Pterodon Software, with overseeing duties handled by the mighty Bohemia Software (Operation Flashpoint) this was one war title we were actually looking forward to.
Players assume the role of Sergeant First Class Steve Hawkins, picking up just as he transfers to a Special Forces unit based in the Nui Pek region at the start of the game. During the opening moments youāll meet up with your fellow team-mates, however have no fears of this being an overcomplicated team-based strategy title; Vietcong walks the fine line between arcade accessibility and the depth of a simulator near perfectly.
Your team comprises of six members each of which have a unique skill ranging from communications, first aid, heavy artillery and your ever-reliable point man Le Duy Nhut ā“ or ānutā for short. Each of the team characters have a real personality which ensures youāll build up a team spirit quickly within the game and understand the strengths and weaknesses of one another. You have minimal control over the other characters during the game, which helps to keep the action and excitement levels to the maximum and ensures this has that tactical edge to sustain long periods.
The narrative throughout the game borrows heavily from the likes of Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, but thankfully the overall execution comes off and does feel like a poor imitation in comparison to these movie heavyweights. Chuck in a top notch soundtrack comprising of a number of 60ās classics and youāve got an experience that any war fan is likely to enjoy.
The actual gaming experience creates a vastly different experience to the various WW2 games that weāve seen in the past. Because the Vietcong do such a good job of lying in wait, youāll find yourself nervously twitching around and shooting at anything that moves. Also the game quickly teaches you about the threat of traps, thanks to the ever-reliable ānutā youāll learn of trap locations and how to spot and disarm these. Whilst we like the inclusion of traps it can cause a great deal of frustration at times, when youāre caught up in the heat of an ambush and running around for cover it can be very annoying to constantly be killed by them. Youāll also learn of the tunnel networks used by the Vietcong; as with the traps itās nice to see the guys have done their homework but it can be extremely frustrating to run around in the dark after youāve used your last flaire trying to find the way out.
Arguably the strongest point of Vietcong is the overall look of the game, thanks to some clever AI routines and stunning motion capture animations the look and feel of the game is second to none. Characters vault over fallen trees in an impressive manner, scatter for cover when ambushed and gesture to each other when the location is clear. However the enemy AI does a great job of ensuring every battle from the first to last remains memorable and enjoyable. Itās often a hard job just trying to pick out their location, but these guys will retreat when injured, hide undercover, work in packs to set up ambushes and just generally give you a hard time. It should also be noted that very little in the game appears to be scripted as subsequent play reveals the enemy behavior to be different.
The game also brings a nice selection of ideas to the fps genre; whilst itās possible to shoot from the hip and youāll find yourself quite often in this position, itās also possible to bring your gun up to eye level for a more accurate aim. However the best aspect is that whilst hiding in cover and activating this view, youāll automatically peer up from behind cover and free to shoot a couple of rounds. Itās touches like these that ensure Vietcong remains enjoyable throughout the whole adventure.
Cover remains one of the most important aspects to the game, as youāll often find yourself having to dive behind trees and foliage when bullets ring all around you. You can easily switch between three different standing positions, whilst pressing the crouch position when behind cover will automatically align you into a good position with the covering object. Once again itās these little touches that eradicate the frustrations and ensures Vietcong is a blast from start to finish.
If youāve got a high-spec 3D graphics card then Vietcong can look absolutely spectacular at times; unfortunately it takes a few changes with the games settings to ensure itās running to its highest potential, but once youāve got the ansitropic filtering and anti-aliasing options tweaked this game looks almost stunning.
Pterodon have done a fantastic job of creating the dense jungles that made combat hard in the Vietnam War and you can certainly see the weeks of research have helped out. Each location is populated with a wide variety of flaura and fauna to ensure the authenticity, whilst ensuring the player is always on their toes as birds take flight, mosquitoes buzz around your head and branches snap under foot.
