Vietcong

Smell of the jungle? Awaiting punji pit? Logan Booker leads his team.

Nam. 1967. Gung-ho and oversexed Americans. Throw it all at the Ptero-II 3D engine, and the elements are there for a visceral and fresh first person shooter. Combine the tense environments of war-torn Vietnam with the tactical technicalities of guerrilla combat, and you’ve a winner. It could still end up reek of rotting vegetation though; and not in that realistic ‘oh-god-I’m-back’ sort of way.

Vietcong has you roaming inside the head of flashback nominee Steven R. Hawkins, replacement sergeant for the 5th Special Forces group, situated at Nui Pek. A sweet intro introduces us to Steve (thanks to his enthusiastic narration), flying in on a helicopter over rice paddies and forest ranges. At this point, we’re also unfortunate enough to meet the weakness of the graphics engine.

While it’s an eye-appealing game -- especially if you’ve a video card that can handle 4x antialiasing while it’s peppered with polygons -- Vietcong suffers from some interesting problems not seen in other recent titles.

Behind all the fog and mirrors is a modified version of Illusion Softworks’ Mafia (LS3D) engine, producing late-1960s Vietnam. Although view distances are second only to the CryENGINE, South-East Asia has never looked so blocky. The game whacks into a low-lying branch when it comes to textures, and general geomorphic duties. Even with quality-enhancing effects as antialiasing and anisotropic filtering, textures more than a few metres away from the view port take on a Doom-like appearance -- pixelated and crap.

You’ll notice it more than a few times, but generally textures suit their environments, with greens and browns melding well to form jungle and dirt landscapes. The engine also takes a stray 7.62 in the head when rendering landmasses. Although the Ptero-II engine does an acceptable job, one can’t help but think that Unreal Warfare would’ve been a better candidate. Character faces and weapon models are nicely done though, which appear to have had more attention paid to them in the texture department.

Game conversations are mostly entertaining. As the setting demands American dialog, poor accents are absent from the game. Natives talk their country’s tongue, and machine-gunners won’t shut up. Although these asides can sometimes be over-the-top, mission briefings are well done and add to the atmosphere generated by other game elements. In-mission conversations, especially those conducted between your flapping radioman and HQ, are also immensely beneficial to the feel.

Supplementing this is team control. While orders are limited to ‘Get over here such and such,’ and ‘Stop,’ having some sort of power over those around you does make a difference. You’ll use your medic to keep alive, your machine-gunner to cover a charge, and your radioman to call in artillery,

Single player consists of you and your team trudging through thick jungle, acing VC and blowing up stuff. Vietcong excels in this regard, with intelligent enemy AI that will seek out natural terrain for cover. Rarely will your enemy have his head out for more than a few moments, just enough to squeeze a few rounds from his AK47 (or Markov in early missions).

Grenades quickly become a precious resource as you clear bunkers, hiding holes and the odd natural depression. Opponents and team members will yell and scream when they get hit, or need backup. But for the most part, they swear needlessly. Just like the real thing.

The AI is also smart enough to respond appropriately to the aforementioned screams and orders.

Effects, explosions in particular, aren’t that inspiring. The aftermath and whistling (from both the incoming shells and the effects of nearby incendiary) are awesome though, and muzzle flares are nice and flamey.

Vietcong also features a ‘no HUD’ or ‘Vietnam mode’, where you’ve nothing but your iron sights, and your head to keep track of damage, ammo counts and other assorted info. The game is played best in this mode, as it keeps you actively thinking, and adds to the game’s realism factor. On the harder difficulties, it’s especially good.

Multiplayer is average unfortunately. Not bad, not good. . . just not great. While there’s a heap of modes, they are simple variations on common game types. The notable exception is the cooperative mode, but a lack of game settings limits this to a simple ‘kill all the VC’ experience, rather than anything with substance.

Overall, it’s an enthralling experience, like MOHAA the first time round. The game manages to preserve this feeling throughout the game, even if diluted. Although multiplayer has suffered to single player and the engine wasn’t the best choice, Vietcong is definitely a great play and you’ll enjoy screaming ‘Charlies in the trees!’ at every second turn.