budgie Posted April 25, 2003 Share Posted April 25, 2003 Just finished the first few missions of Vietcong and I have to say it's one of the best games I have played. After installing and downloading a small 1.01 patch you get a game that's heavy on Vietnam atmosphere and combines the best elements of GR (combat), Half Life (people interaction) and Hidden and Dangerous (kit and environment interaction). It is exciting, tense, well-paced and beautiful to behold. The game is not exceptionally realistic (You can get hit 3-4 times before dying and medics put you back in the fight quickly), but the weapons are well modeled and ballistics are fair. The team AI does what it's supposed to and talks to you as well. The enemy AI is realistic - they cover and flank - and they're not uber-marksmen. You can take a pistol, rifle, frags and knife into the feild, and drop any weapon to pick up a replacement from fallen enemies. Realistically, you cannot carry more than one of each weapon type. Just a 'long', a 'short' and a few items of kit (max grenades - 4). The slow, creeping through the jungle was tense and never boring (I usually don't like going to slow, but although this game requires it, it never felt like I was forced to play against my own preference or judgement). When the crappola hits the whirly-thing, the jungle erupts in gunshots and grenade blasts and friendlies and not-so-friendlies dive for cover and return fire. I had some wicked long tussles with Charlie. The missions so far are varied and never boring. They are also extremely long , but I honestly found myself so immersed in 60's 'Nam, I didn't notice the time go by. There are limited save slots, but I have been playing on 'veteran' level and it's honestly not that hard. Just engrossing, truly immersive. The Graphics are on par with anything else these days, although Line Of Sight:Vietnam had better jungles IMO. There are great touches like small flocks of birds swirling eratically overhead, Hawks gliding in search of prey, visible overhead helicopters doing the rounds, even butterflies and jungle frogs bouncing around. It is very atmospheric. To top it off, the game has a fulll multiplayer suite and server-side controls that give the host complete control over the options. Any bugs sem to be addressed by the aforementioned patch and I haven't notced any yet. I just love this game (I used to be a 'Nam buff) and I highly recommend it to any of you. Buy it now and tell all your friends to. Over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xG5kdo Posted April 25, 2003 Share Posted April 25, 2003 Yeah! Finally a mini review! I've been raring to buy this game and try it out. Let me ask you a some questions: 1.) Is it true that you can play the SP campaign as Charles? If so how is it? 2.) Give us some screenshots? 3.) How about the soundtrack? Any nifty 60s music? Out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budgie Posted April 26, 2003 Author Share Posted April 26, 2003 (edited) Sadly there is no SP campaign where you can play as the VC, but maybe moddrs will one day fix that (the game's files are beyond my comprehension so I guess it's not designed to be modded). You can play on the VC team in MP though, which I have done and it's fun being Charlie, defending my country against the 'capitalist pigs'. Screenshots: Here As for music - there are some licensed '60s tunes for your amusement on a crappy old radio when you chillin your bunker or hang out at base. There is also a good, original Hendrix-style guitar riff in the menus. There is some in-game music; when inserting by 'slick' or to color events when characters drive the story in the typical half-life style, but no constant background music. I will start hosting regular MP sessions (usually CTF) under the title Budgie's Nest. i am a member of the NCM clan (with Nightmare and Force) and we are still looking for people. Any gr.net members who want in should contact us straight away. Outsiders have to go through my careful screening process. Edited April 26, 2003 by budgie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WytchDokta Posted April 26, 2003 Share Posted April 26, 2003 I just bought it. Totally amazing. Budgie, u up for some more MP on the new maps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormcrow Posted April 26, 2003 Share Posted April 26, 2003 I remember seeing the previews of that game in PCG, looked awesome at the time. Now I gotta get that and RVS.awww..man..........*checks wallet*............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budgie Posted April 26, 2003 Author Share Posted April 26, 2003 - .:Nightmare:.,Apr 26 2003, 08:27 ] I just bought it. Totally amazing. Budgie, u up for some more MP on the new maps? Soon. We gotta get it going soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jester Posted April 26, 2003 Share Posted April 26, 2003 See -- I played the demo and hated it. The problem with demos today, though, is that they rarely give you a good idea of what you're going to get. To be honest, I hated the GR demo. I quietly sat here and told only Rocky that as we were furiously building up the site in anticipation of the game's release. I couldn't stand the game, or so I thought. I was just hanging around to help. It could very well be the same with VietCong, but I don't want to drop full price on it, just to find out. No offense, but things like this are subjective, so I can't just trust you guys saying you love it -- I could still hate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WytchDokta Posted April 27, 2003 Share Posted April 27, 2003 Budgie m8, pop over to my forums. Lets get the NCM Vietcong clan goin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budgie Posted April 28, 2003 Author Share Posted April 28, 2003 On my way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted April 28, 2003 Share Posted April 28, 2003 (edited) Does the game have co-op multiplayer? Otherwise i'd be playing only sp, so is it worth getting? Edited April 28, 2003 by Sgt. Slaughter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specter Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 Same here. It wont be worth it to me unless it has coop MP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elpatricio Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 !, I love the game, the SP doesn't run on my system for a number of stupid reasons, but the MP is fine and I play it all the time. BTW, sgt. slaughter, there is MP co-op. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WytchDokta Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 And another good MP thing: the NCM Vietcong server is up. Come over and play! All are welcome there (except cheaters and TK'ers)....I got a few Co-op maps set up on the NCM server.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 BTW, sgt. slaughter, there is MP co-op. Thanks for the reply, glad to hear it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 How long is the single player campaign - i.e. is the game mostly based on online mp games so the sp campaign lasts 30mins or does it actually have a decent story line that lasts ages? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WytchDokta Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 It has a decent storyline. It took me quite a few hours to complete. Getting the Papa Oscar Whiskey (PoW) out of the VC cage was well difficult for me cuz I chose the shotgun for that mission. The wrong weapon of choice for that mission. That is why I spent several hours trying to complete it! Be careful what weapons you choose for the missions! Some are more useful than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Would you place it closer to Ghost Recon type game with you having to watch your ammo count, planning what your going to do etc or more like a counter strike game - running about anywhere you wish and spending 60 bullets for each un-friendly character you meet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elpatricio Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 @Velocity: the SP maps are huge, and so take a good while to work your way through. They always stay interesting tho: it reminds me bit of SP half-life. The gameplay is closer to CS than GR, but not stupidly arcady: I'm always finding my self running out of ammo in SP and having to take the VC weapons from their dead bodies after i knife them in the back with my K-Bar . So, its realistic in some ways, and very unrealistic in others. All the same, Definitely Recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WytchDokta Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 (edited) If you run out of ammo, just press "3" on the Num Pad. It will call Bronson over to give ya some more ammo. If ya press "2" on the Num Pad, you can call over the medic....also, if u press "x" in SP, you can get a list of orders for the guys in your team..... bet ya didn't know those things.... Edited May 2, 2003 by -[NCM]- .:Nightmare:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budgie Posted May 3, 2003 Author Share Posted May 3, 2003 I likened it mostly to a mix between GR, Half Life and Hidden and Dangerous, and I'll stick to that. The SP game can't be like CS, because it's single Player. The damage model is lighter than GR and H&D but heavier than Half Life. The guns have recoil and hitting moving targets is a biatch. Also the MP maps are big outdoor ones so capture the flag is nothing like CS. When you play in Vietnam Mode (no crosshairs, or HUD) it's definitely a more mature group you'll be with (a few rotten apples aside). The only problem is that because of the open environments, MP definitely favors good snipers, and I'm a fighter not a sneak. The SP campaign is fun and driven, Half Life style, by in-game dialogue and cut scenes. On 'Normal', it was a bit easy and I finished in a few days. Replay value is reasonable, but the missions always play out pretty much the same. Only the dynamics of the firefights are different. at best it's like and action movie where the story never changes, but the action sequenses are slightly varied each time. I also didn't like the long solo missions. It would have been better to bring my team along every tme. Graphics are the games saving grace in all respect. The people, pyrotechnics and environments are beautiful. The jungle - while not as thick as in Line of Sight: Vietnam - comes alive with sounds and fauna. The touches like Hueys flying overhead, brids flittering up from the ground, toads hopping and beautifully rendered monarch butterflies make it very believable. This environment also adds to the intense, claustrophobic firefights. Speaking of firefights, I found the enemies acted very realistically. You'll find, just like in many a Vietnam movie fights consist of ducking behind cover (logs or rocks) and shooting back at enemies doing the same thing. Moving involves running from cover to cover and they act the same. The beauty is that they never seemed to act the same way every time. Sometimes they'd advance on your position, sometimes, they'd hold their ground (they generally prefer ambushes). They would never relentlessly try to take your position, oblivious to their own well-being but protected by inhuman marksmanship. They missed as often as did until I upped the difficulty setting. It made for some long and intense shootouts. Ever get the feeling in GR that every fight puts you on the defensive? I felt I had better options here. In all, it looks like a good game to build on. The ending left it open for a sequel or expansion and with any luck the lessons learned will be implemented and truly round out the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budgie Posted June 3, 2003 Author Share Posted June 3, 2003 A single mission can take up to 30 minutes even if you don't get killed. Yes it has coop. The real attraction methinks is MP, as once you have finished the campaign, there isn't much incentive to go back and redo any of the missions except to relive a very cool firefight. The missions are linear in the same way GR ones are, so there aren't too many ways to play each one. They're also broken into chapters, with load and save screens between maps (and mission chapters) so I found myself playing each of these 'mini missions' in sequence for up to 3 hours just to see the end of the overall mission. Took me about a week to finish the campaign and that was playing for anywhere from 3-5 hours a day. It's a great game and left open for a good sequel but I would say it lacks the replayability of GR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WytchDokta Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 Plus I am planning a large scale mod for Vietcong. The developers of Vietcong, GoD (Gathering of Developers), emailed me to say they are very interested in my Vietcong mod idea, and that they could have some work for us (New Concept Mods mod team) if the mod turns out to be really good. What type of work I wonder? Maybe they want NCM to work on an expansion pack for Vietcong or even Vietcong 2.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxship Posted June 14, 2003 Share Posted June 14, 2003 Well I bought it and I am very dissapointed. I even went online to check out the MP and that was worse. For me its a wanna be game and even PCGAMER rated it lousy. Read the reviews,if this game is ggod for you then you dont expext much for 50 bucks. foxship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasniper Posted June 14, 2003 Share Posted June 14, 2003 I've thinking of getting this game but will have to wait till next month for some cash . I got the SP demo with the UK issue of PCgamer and have played it through about 4 times...lol Also what i want to know is if you can (i mean if you own both games so this is legal ) take the camo patterns and cos they are cool and make skins to put them in GR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfa FSB Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 Well I bought it and I am very dissapointed. I even went online to check out the MP and that was worse. For me its a wanna be game and even PCGAMER rated it lousy. Read the reviews,if this game is ggod for you then you dont expext much for 50 bucks. foxship I finished it 2 times Easy Normal and now begining it on Vietanam too bad exams are next week. It has a great feeling equal to that of OFP and about 3 times better than GR. So buy it and apply the 1.2 patch that really fixes a lot of things both SP and MP in contrast to the RvS patches (wich really sucks i`m playing Rogue Spear with my realism mod and uninstalled RvS). Too bad i have so little time to play about 1-2 hours a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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