At ease soldier
Once you master the controls there are certain things you'll come to appreciate about this game: Namely, it does a masterful job immersing you in the 'nam war setting. The dialogue of the US soldiers in camp is just as good as anything the Grand Theft Auto radio has to offer, if not better. As such, the game gives or at least attempts to give you a window into the mindset of the soldiers in this god-forsaken battlefront and it continues to build on this during various cutscenes. The voice acting in this game is as good as I've seen on the PS2 and whatmore, even Charlie speaks in his native tongue. Best of all, the game throws you tons of 'nam war-movie references- my favourite being the Russian roulette scene from the Deerhunter. But you can recognize themes from Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket and a bunch of others. Add to this the fact that the songs chosen to accompany the game are absolute classics and the fact that the musical score makes for a pretty effective mood setter and you have an idea of what this game does right.
That isn't to say I don't have a few beefs with the game, I do. I was not particularly fond of the save system. The main reason for this is that once I completed a level, I couldn't access it again unless I devoted a particular save on my memory card to that level and I wasn't about to do that for every level as that would have made for 20 or so save files- goodbye card memory. If you ever wanted to return to a given level- without the 20 saves you needed to play your way through again. I didn't necessarily have a problem with only 2 saves per level as the Gamespot reviewer did- eventually you get smart about it. But another sore point with me was the split screen coop mode. I wish the developers had made it so that 2 players could play on the same screen at the same time- for me that would have made the coop mode worthwhile. I know split screen is featured in a lot of games and in every one of those games- it blows. Also, it was easy to switch between squad members once the controls were mastered, but rare was it that the non-controlled squad members ever did anything all that useful. More often they ended up getting me killed... Well who's to say something like that didn't happen in the real 'nam? I would add that in this game it is pretty easy to die but, then again, it is a war game.
Whether you are a 'nam movie fan or history buff or you are just an unemployed dope smoker, Conflict Vietnam isn't a bad way to get your fill of lthe GI life. Just tell Charlie I sent you.