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Vietcong: Purple Haze (PC) Review
The eerie silence of the Vietnamese jungles tests your wits as you patrol the hot borders of the war torn country. There are six of you, all wanting to go back state side as much as any other GI, but what sets you apart from all of the other grunts, is that you are special forces. The elite of the elite, and the cream of the crop. You get it the worst, because you signed up for it. A quick almost inaudible sound emerges from the ground about 5 feet in front of you. Your South Vietnamese guide sends you a hand signal as he gazes off into the jungle. You drop to a crouching position, gripping your weapon with a cold grasp. Within seconds, a cannonade of AK-47 fire speeds onto your position, cracking as it hits the ground. With nothing else to go by but the sounds of the fire, you shoot towards the general direction of the enemy, hoping to hit something other than wood or stone.
War is hell. No other war has proven this more then the bloodbath that was Vietnam. Having tried to turn this theater of war into a game has been tried many times by many different developers, but the end result has almost always failed. Gathering of Developers however, has made a game based on this war that is correct, exciting, and honest to god Nam. No other game has gotten this close to being the real thing then Vietcong: Purple Haze.
The story, you’re a hardcore special forces soldier who has just been relocated to the American base at Nui Pek. As you meet and greet all of the residents of your new home, you become familiarized with the games controls, practice shooting at the shooting range, and even look at all of your battle records, which include shots fired, damage taken, that sort of thing. But when your comfortable with the game, then you start your tour of duty fighting the VC and NVA alongside your brothers in arms. Whether it’s administering medical aid to the natives along the Vietnamese countryside, or eliminating Charlie that hold a key bridgehead in the area. One mission has you drive a jeep to a South Vietnamese camp that is under attack. Another has you play tunnel rat and drive enemy forces through a underground complex. Every mission is as real as it gets and requires great amounts of teamwork and cooperation with your men to get the job done right.
Although you are a leatherneck special forces gung ho soldier, your not invincible. You have to use your squad of men to eliminate the enemy and to cover each other through each mission in order to be successful. Your men each have certain abilities that will get you out of a jam real quick. Defort, the Radioman, can be used to call in for an air strike when things get real hot. Hornster, the machine gunner, can lay down some suppressing fire on a target, while you get behind and chuck a few grenades Charlie’s way. Bronson, the engineer, can wire a target with explosives, or supply ammo when you’re getting low. The team’s medic, Crocker, has a self explanatory job. Your pointman, Le Duy Nhut, is an expert trail guide and knows the enemy well. He can be used to find enemy traps, and lead the way to the next objective when you think that you’re lost.
The weapons and vehicles presented throughout the game are also extremely true to the history of the war. In the beginning, you start out with simpler World War 2 weapons, but as the war progresses, and time flies by, you receive more sophisticated and advanced weapons like the M14 rifle, M16, Remington shotgun and the M60 Machine Gun. Vehicles, although you don’t get to drive the majority of them are also realistic. You see F14 phantoms fly regularly overhead performing Napalm runs. The Huey gunship picks you up from hot areas more then once, and even some old, broken, rusted French tanks make an appearance, for what it’s worth.
Adding to the simulated realism is a set of decent graphics. Don’t get me wrong, their not the greatest I’ve ever seen, but they definitely work. The jungle landscapes look like jungle landscapes, and the mountains and hills they reside on look like mountains and hills. All of the weapons, and vehicle textures look superb as well, and seem almost identical to their real life counterparts. But as I mentioned before, the graphics are not perfect, and I have seen better, but they fit the job well.
Sound is crisp and clear, no direct problems in that department, except for the fact that you can’t change the music while inside you bunk, but you can turn it on and off when it gets annoying. There is a problem however with the way the VC sound when they die, which I must say, happens a lot. They all sound the same. Whether it’s a long HRUGGG!!! Or a short sentence in Vietnamese, it appears that every Vietnamese soldier has the same voice. There are also little to no physics, which is bothersome and can annoy. When some enemies die, their bodies can “melt” inside the environment. This, plus a sometimes a mind numbingly painful AI can put a damper on your fun real fast, and can ruin your whole experience, if you hold grudges. The multiplayer is weak, laggy, and overall just not any fun. I couldn’t find a server that didn’t crash, or lagged to hell. But besides, nobody ever said “OMFG! D13 Y0U C4MP1N6 N00B!” During the Tet offensive
Vietcong: Purple Haze is a game of decent graphics, desent storyline, decent gameplay, and horrible multiplayer. True fans of the Vietnam era will not be disappointed as it stays very true towards the war in all aspects. In the race to secure an epic Vietnam title, Vietcong: Purple Haze, deserves only an honorable mention. Our champion will have to be something else.
Written by John Metz. Posted year 2004.
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Released on
June 28, 2004
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