A great game, even for 56kers
Now, on with the review.
Battlefield Vietnam was made for the PC back in 2004. At the time it was considered a meagor expanion pack for Battlefield 1942, or just Battlefield 1942 with new graphics. But, I can tell you that it is alot more then that.
The gameplay of Battlefield Vietnam is nearly flawless. It has a great mix of gameplay styles, all avalable in the one game, and though one load screen :). In a standard half-hour of play in Battlefield Vietnam you could start out defending a Mekong Delta village against Vietcong attack, get tired of that and jump in a PBR (patrol boat,) get blowen up by a Vietcong helicopter, grab a sniper rifle and go on a sniping frenzy, jump in a helicopter and take some shots at ground troops, lay some mines or man your mortar, jump in a jet and engage in some air-to-air combat and finally grab an anti-tank, and blow up a tank with your powerful RPG or LAW.
There are also several mods for Battlefield Vietnam, such as the Official World War II Mod, which adds a few maps from Battlefield 1942 to Battlefield Vietnam.
The only flaw of the gameplay in Battlefield Vietnam is the slightly bad AI. Helicopters and jets can be hard to fly, but with pratice you can be a good pilot :). The controls in Battlefield Vietnam are fully costomisable.
Graphics are not next-gen, but they suit the game well. Don't come into Battlefield Vietnam expecting Xbox 360 or PS3 style graphics, but expect an amazingly rendered jungle, full of traps, mines and landing zones. Or, find a bombed-out town, with accuracy down to some smoke effects, creaters and holes. The reason I rated the graphics so high is not because of the technilogical superority, but because of how they suit the game.
Sound in the game is flawless. You can hear greanades, footsteps, gunshots and even the voices of your friends (and foes) though your speakers. Another great feature is the inclusion of 70's music to play during loading screens and in your helicopter. You can replace this, though with MP3's of your choice.
Battlefield Vietnam is fantastic value for money- I got it for $20 at my local EB Games.
Well, thats the review! To conclude, Battlefield Vietnam is a great game, that should be remade for Vista and DX10. But, the current version will run on nearly any computer on the shelves today. I would recomend buying this game, as it is hard to find at a rental store (old) and is cheap.
Test Systems:
Generic Windows buisness PC
Dual Intel Pentium 4 clocked at 3.06 Ghz per core
Intel GMA 950 graphics, up to 128MB VRAM shared with RAM
512 MB RAM
80GB HDD
Windows XP Pro
Runs: Fine, but with the lowest graphics setting, and choppy at times.
MacBook Pro 17'
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33Ghz per core
ATI Raedon X1600 graphics with 256MB dedicated VRAM
2GB RAM
160GB HDD
Windows XP Pro (dual-booted wtih Mac OSX)
Runs: Perfect with highest graphics settings.