Despite some blemishes, Vietcong successfully captures the paranoia and hopelessness of the Vietnam War.
The first thing you'll notice right off the bat is how expertly Pterodon has captured the feeling of actually fighting against a bunch of pyjama-wearing guerillas in a hot, humid and unforgiving jungle. Well, maybe the first thing you'll notice are the graphics, which have a decidedly uneven appreance. On occasion, the game will present to you a beautiful vista, only to snatch it away and replace it with blurry textures, blocky geometry or character models that look like they were carved from wood... with an axe no less. That's not to say the game is ugly though. When it wants to, Vietcong is more than capable of creating appealing levels for you to fight in. To add insult to injury, the game is quite the system hog as well as ripe with bugs, both graphic and gameplay. And yet despite all these hindrances, it's hard not to like Vietcong.
For one, the way in which it captures the feel and essence of the Vietnam War is impeccable. Sure, not every mission is a great one but they are varied and always fit well with the overall theme of the game. You'll experience full frontal assaults accompanied by airstrikes, deadly solo missions behind enemy lines and everything in between. Some missions are a cacophony of gunfire and explosions, while others build up anticipation and dread with oppressive silence and hard-to-spot booby traps that kill instantly. While playing, you can almost imagine what it must have been like for a young American GI in the jungle, always struggling to stay alert, never knowing where the next sniper round or bamboo stick might pop up and end your life. Ambience is often overlooked in shooters, but Vietcong nails it, for the most part.
I say for the most part, since the game does have a nasty habit of slowing down (or outright stopping) your progress, due to the wonky AI and a number of crippling bugs. On most missions you have a handful of squadmates with you. These guys have specific roles and abilities, like the medic's ability to heal others or the radio guy's ability to call in artillery strikes or relay information and objectives. There is a rudimentary command system with which to herd your men, but due to the aforementioned AI, it's rarely worth the extra effort. They'll routinely get stuck in the scenery or flat out refuse to follow your orders. The enemy AI is a lot more proficient, though they're not above pulling a few boners now and then. More aggravating are the bugs though, which are quite plentiful even in 2011 and after a number of patches. Most of the bugs can be overcome with ease and trial-and-error, but there are atleast two extremely annonying bugs that require luck more so then skill or quick loading. After finishing a mission, you're treated to a cutscene. During this cutscene, the game still runs in the background, so to speak. So while you're watching a cinematic, completely unable to control your character an enemy might run up to you and fill you with hot, nasty lead. Despite this happening during a break in gameplay, you lose health and die. So you restart from your last save, work your way up to the cutscene and, being the unlucky SOB you are, get killed again. The only real way forward is to just keep quick loading and trying again, hoping you get lucky next time.
But when the game actually works, it's a real treat. The actual shooting is extremely fun and carries suitable weight with it. Slowly crawling through a wet swamp, always aware that dangers is near, only to have the silence broken up with the deafening sound machine gunfire is an experience any shooter fan is sure to like. Gun fights are also satisfyingly tactical affairs. While this is no Operation Flashpoint, you still need to keep your wits about you. Dying is easy and the enemy isn't averse to staying in cover and squeezing off rounds from afar, with deadly accuracy no less. Unlike in most shooters, you can't just run full speed up to an enemy and blast him. Instead, you need to crouch and crawl your way from cover to cover, making agonizingly (in a good way) slow progress until you find that perfect spot from which to execute a quick headshot. There are few things as satisfying as decimating a rag tag group of Vietcong or NVA in such a meticulous way.
So if the visuals don't hold up, what about the audio? Well, the soundtrack and effects are nothing short of stunning. Especially the main theme, a Hendrix homage suitably enough called "Pseudo Hendrix" by a Czech quitarist called Rude Kostry, is chilling to listen to. You'd be forgiven to think that Jimi himself had risen from the grave just to record this track for Pterodon. There's also quite a bit of licensed music, but instad of using something more known (and cliched), you'll find timeless gems like The Groupies' "Primitive" and Iggy & The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog". Good stuff indeed. Unfortunately, the voice acting is downright offensive. Pretty much every actor in the game overplays their part, chewing the scenery. This wouldn't be such a bad thing if the dialogue were any good, but as it stands, most of it sounds like it was written by a 12-year old. In other words, a lot of cussing and macho jingoism, little character.
After completing the single player campaign (which is quite lengthy), you'll have the option to go online and wage war or fight against bots in unlockable scenarios. You can tweak such variables as map, number of allies and enemies and starting weapons. Though the mode is fairly barebones, the gunplay in Vietcong is fun enough to sustain the whole thing.
Vietcong is a very contradictory game. No matter how hard it tries to upset you with it's dated looks and unstable performance, you just can't stay mad at it for long. For every crash, boring mission or forced restart, the game serves up intense, memorable moments, great music and an atmosphere that's as close to the real thing as you'll ever want to get.