Reveiw: Vietcong

First person shooters have always been a large part of the PC games market with such games as Medal of Honour, Quake, Unreal Tournament, Doom, Halflife, Red Faction, Battlefield, etc making huge profits and giving gaming fans the type of quality first person shooters that they deserve. Now the fans of these types of games have a new title to feast their eyes and get their gaming fingers on.... Vietcong.

Vietcong is a complete game that boasts more than enough options to keep even the hardcore gamers interested. The Single player mode gives you the option to have a single battle, a quick fight, do training or play the game at its best in the campaign. In the campaign you take the role of Sergeant First Class Steve Hawkins who is being transferred to Nui Pek Camp for new briefings. This is where the game begins for the player. The player finds thierself in a helicopter approaching the camp and when they land they are allowed to walk around the camp meeting people, getting a feel for the camp or even going to the shooting range. From here missions are given to the player to do when they want.
The missions in Vietcong are very well created as the player will find them self creeping through the foliage with their squad, hoping to spot any camouflaged VC before they spot them or lurking all alone through the VC's elaborate tunnel networks, wondering if you'll ever see the light of day again.
Another great quality of Vietcong is the AI of the game, as with most games it is not perfect and does have minor flaws but these are nothing to be worried about as it is a higher quality than most first shooters. When the AI is combined with the realistic motion captured animation and the great atmosphere of Vietcong, the player is given very convincing action. With their squad mates gesturing to each other when the coast is clear, searching the bodies of killed gooks for ammo and belongings, diving for cover as bullets zip past them and vaulting over or crawling under felled trees that are blocking their way the player will always feel like they are in Vietnam themselves. Also enemies will always fight from behind cover and make themselves hard to spot by wearing parts of trees as camouflage. They are usually found in superior numbers and are not afraid to throw themselves head-first into a gun battle. If injured they retreat keeping their heads down when under fire. These qualities gives the player realistic game play and also makes them feel they have earned their kills.
Tactics can also be used as the player can catch enemies off guard by flanking the gooks and attacking from all angles. Equally the gooks can catch the player off guard by using these same tactics which adds to the game play no end.
One problem with most games is if a player dies they often find that the game does not change e.g. enemies are always in the same place which makes the game too easy as the player begins to learn where enemies are placed within the game. Vietcong counters this very well by using a random placement of enemy troops every time the player restarts the mission.
By now the killing freaks are probably asking "what about the weapons??!!!"... well Vietcong has already covered this with great detail. Vietcong boasts plenty of weapons and also a new "aim" feature where the player holds down the right mouse button to look down the crosshair or scope for greater accuracy. The aim feature gives an added realism as when the player doesn’t use it the accuracy of their shots is drastically reduced, but aiming improves it. Another good addition to the accuracy is going prone increases the players aim further again. Back to the weapons, Vietcong features all the weapons you would expect in Vietnam such as the M16, the AK47, the M1 Garand, the twin barrel shotgun and many more. Another leap to getting a realistic game was that the player can only carry one pistol and one main weapon so when they find themselves low on ammo they must search the killed enemies for a new weapon with ammo. This addition is great fun if you start off with a small weapon like the Thomson and find a RPD-Degtarev to replace it with. With all these weapons the player couldn’t ask for more but they get it anyway as Vietcong has brought in a whole new weapon which is the air strike, when the player needs heavy support they can call for their radioman and then give the co-ordinates they want bombed, unfortunately the realism factor of you choosing the wrong place can result in the player blowing them and their own squad up in a comical fashion so it is advised that they think carefully about calling an air strike.
With all this Vietcong offers more than enough but still doesn’t stop. Vehicles are used in Vietcong too, from boat rescues, helicopter assaults and driving jeeps to other villages Vietcong just doesn’t stop.
The only other thing that player could ask for is a multiplayer mode and surprise surprise Vietcong has this too. Vietcong works on game spy so players can always find an online game where the action is fast and lethal.

Rating: 93%
Age: 18+
Game play: 90% - Plenty of options, missions and action. Very addictive.
Graphics: 91% - Facial animations, good explosions, very detailed weapons and atmospheres
Sound: 86% - Music is a perfect choice for the game and sound effects are pretty good
Value: 95% - For £30.00 you can’t go wrong with this game
Highs: The mission where the player has to guard a base until a helicopter can bail them out.
The mission where the player enters into pitch black gook tunnels which are miles long
The medic who can patch you up and the engineer who carry’s more ammo for the player
Lows: When squad mates run off in battle to kill more gooks and leave the player behind
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium, Windows 2000 (Workstation), Windows XP (Home and Professional)
Minimum Hardware Requirements:
* 500 MHz Pentium III or AMD Athlon processor
* 256 MB of RAM
* 16x CD / DVD ROM drive
* 1.8 GB of free hard disk space
* 16 MB video card with DirectX 8.1 compatible drivers
* DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
* Modem 56.6 kps or higher for Internet play

Recommended Hardware Requirements:
* 700+ MHz Pentium III or AMD Athlon processor
* 256+ MB of RAM
* 32x CD / DVD ROM drive
* 1.8 GB of free hard disk space
* 32 MB video card with DirectX 8.1 compatible drivers
* DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card with surround sound support
* ISDN/Broadband or higher for Internet play



The mission where the player has to guard a base until a helicopter can bail them out.
VVVVV








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