ShellShock: 'Nam 67 Impressions

Apparently, the Vietnam War has become the new World War II in terms of action game settings. For the past few years, World War II-themed games have dominated the market, but now there is a wave of Vietnam games on the horizon. The newest of these is ShellShock: Nam '67, a third-person action game being developed by Amsterdam-based Guerilla Games, the same company working on the eagerly awaited Killzone for the PlayStation 2. ShellShock will ship for the PC, PS2, and the Xbox, and it represents Guerilla's attempt to make a gritty and realistic action game that captures the trials and turmoil of Vietnam.

"The horror of war is the central theme we are trying to get across in the game," explains Martin De Ronde, Guerilla's commercial director. In ShellShock, you play a regular Army infantry grunt serving a tour of duty in Vietnam. At the beginning of the game, you choose your character's race and appearance: Caucasian, Hispanic, or African-American. You'll fight alongside computer-controlled teammates in big battles, though as a grunt, you won't be able to order or control them. But these squad mates will definitely add a sense of camaraderie and personality in the game.

As you progress through ShellShock, the nature of the game changes. After you survive in many of the early battles, you'll gain the notice of your superiors and be invited to join Special Forces. After training, you'll be given a variety of stealth and assassination missions, some of which you'll have to accomplish alone. All the missions are inspired by historical operations and events, and you'll do everything from walking point on jungle patrols to clearing out a Vietcong tunnel system and infiltrating an enemy POW camp. There's also a wide variety of environments, including jungle, swamp, and urban settings.

One thing that Guerilla really wants to do is to capture the atmosphere and the almost schizophrenic nature of the Vietnam War. One moment you'll be enjoying a peaceful walk in the country, and the next moment all hell breaks lose as your enemies ambush you. The sounds in the game are intense, from the crack of gunfire, the thuds of explosions, and the taunting and yelling of your teammates and your attackers. The game doesn't hold back--soldiers scream profanities amidst the chaos.

Guerilla also wants to capture the brutality of war, something that most action games gloss over or ignore. Both the American and Communist forces in Vietnam committed atrocities, and you'll witness things like the torture of prisoners, the execution of suspected informants, the napalming of civilians, and more. De Ronde made it clear that your character will not be responsible for any of these acts, but you will be a witness to them. It's definitely a delicate subject, but according to De Ronde, the developer isn't trying to introduce controversy for controversy's sake. He also told us that the studio is trying to be careful about how it portrays both sides in the conflict; the developers are aware that the Vietnam War remains a sensitive issue in America. They expect that most of the game's audience will be between the ages of 18- to 35, so the war may not be as personal for them as it is for the older generations who fought it.

Another way that Guerilla plans to convey the atmosphere of the war is how your character spends his time between missions. Like most grunts assigned to Vietnam, you're assigned to a base camp. Most soldiers spent their tours inside the base camp when not on patrol. It's at the base camp where you'll not only get your mission orders, but you can walk around and interact with officers, fellow grunts, nurses, and civilians. There's almost an adventure-like aspect to this portion of the game as you can buy non-standard equipment, outfit your character, and even exchange money for certain "services" from some of the female civilians. You may also catch up on some scuttlebutt that may prove advantageous during a mission; the example that was given was that you may hear that the Vietnamese bunker you're raiding on the next mission has a supply of drugs. So after you clear out the bunker during a mission, you might go looking to see where the drugs are hidden and then bring them back to base camp to barter with them.

The weapons in the game are all historically authentic. You'll have access to the standard American weapons of the era, including the M-16, grenades, and light-antitank rocket launchers. You can also pick up weapons and ammunition from the dead, including Vietnamese weapons. In a melee fight, you can use a machete or your weapon to rifle butt your enemies, and in infiltration missions, you may even slit some throats. And there will definitely be sniper rifles in the game.

While the developers were researching the game, they looked at lot of photographs from the era and noticed a grainy tone to them. So to further capture that look and feel, they've put in a special filter that emulates that grainy effect. It's a neat trick that gives the game a certain out-of-time quality when you're looking at it. They're developing the game for all three systems simultaneously, but one thing that De Ronde is proud of is that they've managed to create a lush, jungle environment on the PS2.

ShellShock won't ship with any multiplayer, because the emphasis is all on creating a single-player campaign that really conveys the impression of one man's journey through the war. According to De Ronde, the studio was influenced by movies based on the Vietnam War--most notably Platoon and Full Metal Jacket--that are stories about young men who go to Vietnam and are changed irrevocably forever. There will be about 12 missions in the game, each ranging in about 45 to 90 minutes in length, though the game will apparently offer replay value in the form of other potential objectives you may have missed.

The good news is that we shouldn't have to wait too long for ShellShock to appear. Guerilla started working on the game in early 2002, and the team worked quietly while the company's other project, Killzone, got all the media attention. All three versions of ShellShock should ship at around the same time this summer.