From the first time I heard that the Vietnam war was going to be placed into a videogame, I was not as impressed as I should have been.  Every time I do see a game about the Vietnam conflict, it usually ends up in discount bins at random wal-marts across the country.  But when I heard that EA was going to make a Vietnam game utilizing the Battlefield engine, I was left in a world of wonderment and intrigue.  How could that be possible?  How could it be done?  But indeed, EA steps up to the challenge and has created a game with great graphics, that is simple to play, and most importantly, is actually good.

 

The game has you pitted in the jungles of the illustrious Vietnam, fighting to tame the uncontrollable clutches of communism, or to help spread the dictator-based government system to better the peoples of your oppressed lands.  As you begin one of the many historic battles, you first must choose your class, which tells you what weapons and equipment you will receive, and choose the place where your character will spawn.  It has the same basic idea as the original Battlefield 1942, only in its Vietnam counterpart; you can choose a specific skin, further developing your in game persona.  Just as in the WW2 version, depending on what side of the war you are fighting for, your commands and orders are all received in that country’s native language.  So if you are a South Vietnam engineer, you speak Vietnamese.

 

The game’s crisp graphics make it a joy to play.  The tanks and other assorted vehicles all have a sheen to them, reflecting the sun.  The faces of the troops and soldiers of both sides look extremely lifelike, and their mouths are actually in synch with what they are saying.  Even the weapons you hold deliver graphics wise, and everything looks exactly as it should in reality.  I was stunned when I saw that there was even blood in the game.  EA’s Battlefield 1942 had no blood, which subtracted from the realism, but by adding this, it makes the game even better.

 

Another huge added bonus is the ability to jam to your favorite music right on the battlefield.  There’s nothing like blasting CCR or Jefferson Airplane as you sit inside the steel walls of a Sheridan tank, gunning down Charlie like no tomorrow.  It’s almost magical.  You can even import your own music into the game, and play around with modern day hits.  The downside of this is that you can only listen to them inside vehicles, but since vehicles are so common in the game, it doesn’t really matter.  Speaking of vehicles, there are plenty of them, each with their own uses and weaknesses.  Some include PT boats, Chinooks, F4 Phantoms, Motor scooters, APCs, Tanks, even MIG fighter jets.  And that’s just to name a few.   

 

The game’s bots aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed, but this is the time where we look at the game’s cons and forget about the pros.  It’s expected of them.  Bots never do what they tell you, they never help you out.  Hell, they never even do what they’re suppose to sometimes.  But Battlefield: Vietnam has some of the worst bots and AI I have ever seen.  I don’t believe how you can jump inside a Chinook helicopter; have the bots fly over a location, and then just jump out, abandoning the multi-million dollar piece of equipment like it was on sale at the dollar store.  It sickens my stomach.  The game is mostly based around its online play, so anyone buying it to play the single player game is in for a good ol’ runaround with the bots of Vietnam.  Another problem is the extremely long respawn time that I face very often.  Sometimes you can wait up to 25 seconds to respawn, when you just want to get back into the game.  It’s ridiculous.  It is also not recommended to play this game on low end systems.  It sports a very powerful game engine and should be only attempted on computers exceeding the minimum requirements.

 

Since the game isn’t tailored for single player very well (It has eliminated the “Campaign” mode that was in Battlefield 1942) it totally makes up for it in it’s multiplayer games.  Although sometimes laggy, the game is a perfect epitome of what games should be, fun.  From mowing down infantry with an M60, to napalming the tree lines with an F4 Phantom, I simply love this game online.  Not only is it easy and fun, it is also fair.  Battlefield Vietnam comes boxed with “Punkbuster”  an anti hacking program to help filter out the cheaters from the mix.

 

Battlefield Vietnam has broken the barrier by using great graphics, entertaining gameplay, and historically accurate features all into one game.  Many times have we seen games based on historical events plunge into the shadows, but with EA and its usual crowd pleaser war games, they have come up with another winner.