Up until a couple of years ago, the humid jungles of Vietnam were all but uncharted territory for gaming. But all of a sudden Vietnam games are all the rage. Developed by Czech Republic-based Pterodon Team, Vietcong is neither the first such game to be released, nor will it be the last, considering that at least one other Vietnam shooter is currently in development. It's an odd trend on the one hand, but on the other, the appeal of this subject matter makes a lot of sense. The small-arms guerilla warfare that characterized the conflict, which began in earnest in 1965 and ended in 1973, can make for just the sort of tension-filled, tactical, relatively close-range combat that fans of first-person shooters love. And Vietcong, at its best, does deliver this. It also often does an excellent job of establishing its setting, helping make the experience more dramatic and more cinematic. Vietcong has a lot of great qualities both as a single-player game and as a multiplayer game, so it's unfortunate that some technical issues detract both from its performance and its presentation.

The enemy can attack from any direction in the jungles of 'Nam.

Vietcong features a complete single-player campaign, a single-player quick-mission mode that throws you into an enemy-infested area per your specification, and a fully featured multiplayer mode with a built-in server browser for finding open game sessions online. The quick-mission and multiplayer modes let you play as either the Americans or the Vietcong, but in the campaign, you'll assume the role of Sergeant First Class Steve Hawkins, who is transferred to a Special Forces unit based in Nui Pek Camp at the start of the game. Here Hawkins will meet his other squadmates, including Vietnamese point man Le Duy Nhut and loudmouthed machine gunner C.J. Hornster. Clearly, Vietnam War movies like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket informed and inspired Vietcong as much as any history books did, but in any case, the character-driven plot works well to make the campaign more engaging. The events of the campaign are predictable enough in and of themselves, but they may take you by surprise as they come up, and they're the sorts of experiences you'd probably hope to get out of a first-person shooter set during the Vietnam War. Between creeping through the foliage with your squad, hoping to spot any camouflaged VC before they spot you, and lurking all alone through the VC's elaborate tunnel networks, wondering if you'll ever see the light of day again, Vietcong's campaign by and large hits the right notes.

This is due in no small part to the game's artificial intelligence for both friendly and enemy forces. The AI isn't perfect, and it does occasionally exhibit strange behavior, but when combined with Vietcong's realistic motion-captured animation, the AI makes for some pretty convincing action more often than not. You'll see your squadmates gesturing to each other when the coast is clear, vaulting over or crouching under felled trees that are in their way, bolting for cover when under fire, and more. As squad leader, you're free to lead the charge, and your teammates will follow suit. Alternately, you can ask your point man to lead the way.

Enemy forces, meanwhile, will always fight from behind cover, and they do a fine job of making themselves difficult to spot. They are tenacious and tend to have superior numbers, and they seem more brave than foolhardy. They'll retreat if injured and will keep their heads down when under fire. Realistic tactics work against them. When the rest of your squad is pinned down by embedded VC forces, often you can take the initiative and flank the enemy, catching them completely off guard for a satisfying victory. At other times, you'll be caught off guard yourself, either by enemy fire or by booby traps. Vietcong uses a combination of sporadic autosave checkpoints and a limited save system to strike a good balance between letting you save your progress as necessary but not allowing you to abuse a save-anywhere feature, which would make the shooting sequences trivial. In another testament to the game's AI, when you do end up replaying certain battles, you'll notice that they play out differently on successive attempts--the enemy behavior isn't just scripted.

In the campaign, your Special Forces squadmates will watch your back and help you fight.

A good variety of realistically modeled weapons are available in the game, including mainstays such as the M16 and AK-47, the classic M1 Garand, the M60 machine gun, and the Dragunov sniper rifle. Plenty of side arms, submachine guns, and explosives can also be picked up and used, though you're restricted to carrying only one weapon of each type at a time, so you'll need to choose wisely and often salvage weapons from fallen foes. Any weapon can be shot from the hip like in any other first-person shooter, or you can bring it up to eye level and steady your aim for more accurate firing. What's extremely helpful is that this aiming mode also automatically causes you to peek up from behind cover. You can move from a crouched or prone position, and keeping a low profile not only makes you a harder target, but it also improves your accuracy. You'll rarely fight from behind ideal cover, but you'll still quickly learn to always use your surroundings to your advantage, as that nearby tree or shrub can mean the difference between life and death if you manage to position it between you and the enemy's bullets. Taking a bullet doesn't necessarily mean instant death, but you can't survive more than a few direct hits. Again, the game makes a good compromise between enjoyable action and gritty realism: A medic or a health pack can be used to quickly heal your wounds, though you lose some of your maximum health for that mission each time you're injured. All in all, the game does a good job of making you tread carefully, and it's legitimately challenging much more often than frustrating.