Vietcong is ugly as hell, but it's challenging and very unique.
User Rating: 7.6 | Vietcong (2003) PC
Vietcong makes a pretty bad first impression on you. It's an ugly game, and it's quite hard to get used to its peculiar style of gameplay. Vietcong isn't a stealth game. It's not a pure action game either. The squad-based elements are too simple to call it a tactical shooter. It's unique one its own, and it's very good. Best of all, it feels authentic, and for a war as unique as Vietnam, that's saying a lot. The reason why this game excels is because it effectively captures the elements that made Vietnam different from wars such as World War 2. Engagements take place quickly in tension-filled jungles between your small squad and small groups of four or five VC. A helicopter often brings you into the mission and then picks you up at the end. Occasionally, you can radio a firebase for support and then a few seconds later, hell in the form of artillery shells will come raining down on the area that you specify and obliterate anybody in it. Using artillery is a fun mechanic and it's too bad that it only comes up a few times in the game. Vietcong checkpoint saves your game, but it also gives you a limited amount of quick saves per level. This save system is perfect. It keeps the game suspenseful almost all the time, without making it frustrating. The gameplay also relies on good AI instead of heavy scripting for the firefights, and that's another big plus. The dialog, sounds, and overall feel of the gameplay give the game a feel that resembles what you read about or what you see in old news tapes. You creep slowly through the terrain, following your point man, and then find some cover when you engage some VC. your enemies, as well as your squadmates, are highly lethal and very effective at using cover. It takes maybe three or four bullets to kill you in this game, which means that you have to advance very slowly and carefully. The hardest part about firefights often isn't shooting the enemy, but just finding where he is hiding. Sometimes, all that you see is a tracer or two, or maybe a muzzle flash along with the sound of bullets whizzing past your head. These cat-and-mouse type firefights usually last less than a minute, but they can be very exciting. I have not played a first person shooter that resembles this, except for maybe Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault. The only fault that I had with the gameplay was that the game occasionally deviates from the squad-based formula and sticks you in some solo tasks. These tasks frequently involve spelunking through maze-like VC tunnels, fighting one or two enemies at a time in a very boring manner. There is one absolute marathon mission in the game where you explore a seemingly endless maze of VC tunnels. It's not frustrating as much as it is really boring. Hopefully, this wasn't in the expansion pack. The game's audio is competent without being outstanding. The voice acting is a mixed bag. The main character is pretty weak, but some of your squadmates are good. The radio chatter that you listen to is pretty good. The weapons are kind of average sounding, and none of them sound very powerful. The soundtrack is very good, and does a good job of matching the era. As I said previously, the graphics for this game are pretty bad. All of the character models are blocky and low-detailed. The same goes for the environments, which are drab and very unconvincing. Instead of the feel that you are fighting through jungles, it feels like you are fighting through valleys full of boxes that have crude leaves painted on them. The environments and objects are all very repetitive, which is expected for a game like this, but it's magnified even more by the fact that it looks like such crap. Vietcong has a pretty good length to it. It took me just under 15 hours or so to finish it. You can probably find this game cheap right now, so it will be worth your money. The underwhelming presentation is the game's only big shortcoming. I recommend this game to somebody who is looking for something different, and doesn't mind playing with some ugly graphics.
