Battlefield Vietnam (PC)

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When battlefield 1942 came out the world bowed at its feet. It had the right balance between realism and enjoyment. Then when the game and all its expansions were about to be extinguished EA and DICE made a frantic push to maintain customers with battlefield Vietnam.

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What is the game?

Before I ramble on I think i ought ...
...battlefield experience. The game is a 1st person shooter in which you fight for the Vietnamese or American army. After choosing what 'job' (each job has different weapons explained later) you want to be you must pick a flag to spawn at. The flags are controlled by one of the teams and to capture the flag for you're team you must stand next to it for a set time.
Vehicles are dotted on the maps and you can enter them by pressing 'e' on the ... more

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When battlefield 1942 came out the world bowed at its feet. It had the right balance between realism and enjoyment. Then when the game and all its expansions were about to be extinguished EA and DICE made a frantic push to maintain customers with battlefield Vietnam.

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What is the game?

Before I ramble on I think i ought to explain what the game is for people with no battlefield experience. The game is a 1st person shooter in which you fight for the Vietnamese or American army. After choosing what 'job' (each job has different weapons explained later) you want to be you must pick a flag to spawn at. The flags are controlled by one of the teams and to capture the flag for you're team you must stand next to it for a set time.
Vehicles are dotted on the maps and you can enter them by pressing 'e' on the keyboard. Teamwork is encouraged because the game has radio commands to talk to your team or a speech command in which you type the message. However this being said you'll be lucky finding someone who doesent care about his own score and will take one for the team.

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General

The game itself is sturdy. The graphics are at best, average and the game play can become a little repetitive. The sound on the other hand is good with radio being available in the vehicles which really creates a 'I'm the best' effect when you're soaring around in a plane. The game is strikingly similar to battlefield 1942 so it begs the question, is it worth it?

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Graphics

The graphics on this game are average. With slightly improved graphics over battlefield 1942 you aren't gaining a great amount of technology and some will even argue that the graphics are worse. Higher spec machines will run this game nicely but on my 1 and a half year old machine it was awful. The vehicles look average but not great and many a time I have crashed in a helicopter and wondered 'why?' Only then did I realize I crashed into the sea and I couldn't see it because the water graphics are terrible. (well on low graphics level).

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Visual

Graphics are one thing but what can you actually see in the game. What could you see even if the graphics were on high? Well the jungles levels are very nice boasting rich foliage and a nice tree effect even if up close they look a bit poor. The city levels have a maze of small alleys and roads but this leads to being shot from behind every 3 seconds. Also when you play maps you get choices of different load outs and uniform. However the two forces sometimes have very similar uniforms meaning when you see a person you take a second to work out what team he is on meaning more confident, experienced players have already killed you before you've worked this out. Cities have burned out tattered houses which look realistic but also seems like EA is looking for excuses not to go into much detail.

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(SKIP IF YOU KNOW ABOUT THEM ALREADY OR DONT WANT TO KNOW)

Vehicles

The vehicles in the game will please some and displease with others. The introduction of helicopters is a nice addition and although hard to master their controls they can become very effective weapons. I must point out a flaw with choppers however. Some maps have 3 helicopters for each team and if one team drives the other team back to one base a base camping scenario endues. Base camping is where one team waits for the other team to spawn and then kills them instantly time and time again which is annoying to say the least.
Planes are now jet planes with deadly missiles and napalm bombs. Ideal for dogfights with other planes or helicopters but ground targeting becomes a skilful and hard art because the planes move very fast. Play the radio though and you feel like a sky god.
Ground vehicles comprise of fast jeeps, armored patrol cars and tanks. I won't go into them now but it is worth mentioning the nifty new guided missile and rocket launching lorries. Very fun but the right situation to use them comes very rarely because you'll get blown up before you go 5 yards. This is how unbalanced and small the maps can be sometimes and they get too cramped. I have comprised this vehicle list hoping that it will give you an idea of the playing style in the game.

US VEHICLES
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ATC
This is a large boat used for river patrolling and is equipped with guns and tank like shell launchers. It can also act as a spawn point and has a helicopter pad mounted on its front. The ultimate in river warfare, useful to park next to an enemy base to begin a continuous onslaught spawning from it.

PBR
Another boat but it is fast and maneuverable with a rear and front gunner. It is quite good for an impatient person who wants to be somewhere fast but tactically speaking taking the ATC when its available is wise.

CHINOOK
A dual rotor helicopter capable of airlifting with accuracy. Although lumbering and slow it has some defense with the frontal machine guns and 2 of the 6 men on board are able to shoot out of the back. This is a nice chopper but a little bit of an easy target for a passing plane.

CORSAIR (updated since WW2)
As far as fighters go this plane is lumbering and despite it having some dog fights suitable weapons don't count on it when the moment comes. The bombs are the mightiest in the game however and can tear a tank apart.

PHANTOM
A cool looking plane, maneuverable with 12 heat seeking missiles and deadly napalm bombs. The missiles are great for taking out enemy choppers but be careful they don't rear off and destroy your own man. The napalm (a liquid that sets on fire and covers a large radius) looks amazing but you can't help but feel its not doing anything as men and vehicles stroll through it like its not even there.

COBRA
A typical assault helicopter with missiles in the driver seat and missiles and machine gun fire in the backseat. It is the fastest helicopter in the game and looks like an apache.

ASSAULT HELICOPTER
A helicopter capable of airlifting, firing missiles and firing grenades this is a quality vehicle. The driver however can only fire one set of missiles so without a 2nd seat driver you lose out on the second set of missiles and the grenade launcher.

TRANSPORT HELICOPTER
A helicopter capable of carrying 6 people at a time. Although the 2 cockpit drivers are weapon less 2 of the people in the back can use mounted machine guns and the other 2 can use their primary weapon. It can airlift as well but what its really great for is swooping down on flags, guns blazing from both sides and when the flag is taken swooping off for a new base to take.

PATTON
A Us tank with turret and gun for the driver and standard gunner on top. Tanks are devastating in the game and all though surrounded easily they can take a lot of men with them to the afterlife. Good to be used from a distance picking off men as they come round the corner. ( It has good range)

SHERIDAN
Like the Patton but the need for airlifting in Vietnam required it to lose a lot of amour to become light enough for helicopters. Good to be dropped right in the middle of battles so it can kill lots of people.

M110
This is a tank with a difference. The driver is exposed and has no weapon and mounted on top is the gun controlled by a second person. The gun is a very good gun but exposure and lack of communication between driver and gunner can result in death. Good for base charges to beat the enemy back for infantry to come in.

MUTT
A fast jeep with a driver, a passenger seat gunner and a mounted rocket launcher on the back. Really good for drive by shootings on maps with wide open roads. If done well they can be in and out in a shot (with a few kills to their name).

M113
This lumbering armored patrol car runs on tank treads with a gunner, a driver and lots of places to sit in the back. This can be an amazing edition to a team because players can sit in the back and regain ammo and health in the safety of a vehicle. Drawbacks are it is slow and the gunner is exposed.

NVA VEHICLES
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MIG 17
An average plane with bullets and bombs it is similar to the corsair but worse because it is even slower and with worse bombs. Remotely good for killing tanks as it is slower than the Corsair.

MIG 21
Arguably the best plane in the game. It is more maneuverable than even the phantom and with bullets and non heat seeking missiles it has no ground support but wins a dog fight very quickly. Good for quick launches to take out planes causing problems

MI8
The Vietnamese have a short range of helicopters and this 1 is like a slow passenger helicopter which they dumped rockets on. This being said it is capable of firing 4 rockets at a time compared to the US assault helicopter's 1. Because it takes more than 1 shot to destroy a helicopter this MI8 wins about 80% of its air battles. It can also carry a few men in the back.

MI8 CARGO
This helicopter has no weapons apart from the 2 men who can shoot out of the rear door. It is used for troop transport as it is hard to destroy and can also supply troops with ammunition near the ground. Really good for main base attacks on the enemy.

PT-76
Once again a tank with good fire power. It is lightly armored but is amphibious ability which more than counters its flaws. Really good for sneaking up on the enemy from behind and taking bases behind the enemy lines.

ZSU 57 2
An Anti Aircraft gun on wheels. Great for hiding in between buildings and shooting at the skies but is also effective against infantry. The fact the driver cannot use the gun means you cannot move and shoot at the same time.

UAZ 469
Same as the Mutt but possibly less effective because the missile launcher has been replaced with a machine gun.

SCOOTER
This is… well a scooter. Its really slow, turns to sharply, the only fire power is the back seat driver. Basically its rubbish but oh so fun!

BM21
A lorry with a missile launch pad on the back. A BIG missile launch pad. Great for bridges and choke points where you can sit on one side and blow anything that comes across. You cannot drive and fire at the same time. You need 2 people.

BTR 60
A standard apc like the M113 but with a difference. The gunner position is not exposed at all. It is hidden under amour plating. So to take out the gunner you have to destroy the whole thing which isn't exactly a walk in the park.

Overall the vehicles are imaginative, fun to master and plentiful. Its hard to get bored of them because each team's vehicles has uniquely different fire power and abilities. Unlike in 1942 where all that changed in the team's vehicles was the look.

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Weapons/Classes

I could do a long list of weapons too, however I figure they would bore you as its up to you which weapon suits your playing style and i cant really describe them here. (you get the idea though there long thin and go RAATATAT) However I will briefly go into the classes which are the same for both teams.

ENGINEER
Armed with mines or C4 this class is perfect if you want average close combat power but more importantly if you like blowing things up with imaginative weapons. Engineers can also repair friendly vehicles.

ASSAULT
The standard soldier with grenades, rifle, pistol and knife. Good if you want to be an all rounder suited for full on…well assault.

MEDIC
Equipped with a decent machine gun and standard others. The key difference between assault and this class is the medic packs. You use them on yourself or on others to heal them with an unlimited supply of plasters. Ideal if you want to be the hero.

SNIPER
Although there are great points for snipering in the game this class is underpowered and useless in close combat. Ideal if you want stylish kills but you've got to be patient.

ANTI TANK
If there's a tank to be destroyed you need anti tank. With decent close range weapons and grenades and various different rocket launcher's you're a machine killing army who can have lots of fun. Ideal for vehicle packed maps.

Overall there may not be many classes to choose from but depending on the map each job gets different weapons to choose from. The jobs counteract each other perfectly and address every part of the game from front line to stealthy hide outs.

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Sound

The sound is great on this game. With realistic gun sounds and really cool radio music the game is sound (what a pun). There is nothing better than charging around in a vehicle at full speed with the horn tooting and the radio blaring. A really good part of it is that if you go into the battlefield files you can alter the radio music to anything you want.

Overall the sound is awesome and is one of the games greatest points.

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Game play

This is a great game to play if not a little repetitive. On maps with vehicles lacking it seems like all you do is venture forward out of your bunker timidly only to be shot in the head by one of 32 players on the opposite team. That is 1 draw back of the game play. When more players are in the game the map does not expand creating bloodshed on every square inch of the map.
The controls are simple to master and as frustrating as being shot 100 times in a row is, at the end of the day it doesn't matter. It is a fun game and although there are numerous good points I would think twice about buying this game.

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Specifications

Minimum requirements for the game are:

500-600 mhz CPU speed
128mb of system memory
32mb of graphics memory
2 GB of free disk space

The graphics on a computer this low (i.e. mine) are adequate and from a distance look ok but right up close they are blobs. The water will be terrible and if you move and one of the graphics settings up at all the game is laggy. CHECK YOUR PC!

You can do this by going to control panel and then system. I would give you an outside link to a website that checks your computers compatibility with any game but im not allowed.

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Price

The official price of this game is a standard £27.99. Don't buy it for this. If you have battlefield 1942 then you're wasting money and if you don't have 1942 then you might want to buy it instead of this. New and used are very cheap however because the game is quite old now. On certain websites you can get this game, 'like new' for about 14-18 pounds which is still not great but certainly makes the game more appealing because you're not blowing all you're money and you can sell it off again afterwards. Really think about future games you want to buy. Do not assume you will never want a game again just because you don't want one at that time.

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For the Future?

If you're planning to buy this game now and you have a lower end machine, it might be worth your while if you don't have battlefield 1942 or you love Vietnam. However, many of you are aware of battlefield 2 being released now. If you have a pc that can cope with this game I would say that's a safer bet boasting better graphics and new features entirely different to any battlefield game yet. Overall this game can last and holds the key to a very unique and enjoyable style of warfare (if you like killing people with spiked logs and poisoned sticks).

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Verdict

I know the feeling when you watch the trailers for this game. The fire of napalm, the side gunners of the chopper the air strikes! It all seems like the formula for the perfect game. Its not. Don't be suckered in. It seems like a powerful 'feel the moment game'. The truth is you'll be lucky to get anyone prepared to think tactically rather than stream off into the sunset by him.
I was more excited about receiving this game than ever. The rolling logs and punji sticks seemed too cool. Once again, no. I soon grew tired of this game because none of the things I'd dreamed about doing (like the stuff on the trailers) ever happened. I would think twice about this game. Unless you're a die hard battlefield fan, it might not live up to your expectations.

PS this is my 1st review sorry if its rubbish but hope it helped.

PPS When I say i recommend it, im recommending it for the true fans, vietnam lovers, rich kids or people without 1942

 

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