Vietcong (video game): Difference between revisions
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==Story== |
==Story== |
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The player takes on the role of [[Sergeant First Class]] Steve R. Hawkins, assigned to the [[United States Special Forces]] ("Green Berets") camp at a strategic location of Nui Pek in [[South Vietnam]] |
The player takes on the role of [[Sergeant First Class]] Steve R. Hawkins, assigned to the [[United States Special Forces]] ("Green Berets") camp at a strategic location of Nui Pek in [[South Vietnam]] near the [[Cambodia]]n border. Hawkins and his A-Team (an [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces|LLDB]] guide Le Duy Nhut, the medic Joe Crocker, the demolition specialist Thomas Bronson, the radioman C.J. Defort and the team's machine gunner Hornster) carry out a series of various missions against the [[Vietcong]] and [[North Vietnam]]ese forces. The game ends in a massive North Vietnamese attack on the team's base camp which is ultimately abandoned by all American forces. |
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==Gameplay== |
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''Viectong'' has the player take part in military operations against the Vietcong and later also the North Vietnamese Army. Some levels are traditionally for first person shooters highly linear while others are more open, allowing for more tactical freedom. Missions typically require the player to sabotage weapons caches, eliminate hostiles or just complete patrols - often not all objectives need to be achieved to complete a mission. The game aims for authenticity and high realism and distinguishes itself from other first person shooters through a variety of unique mechanics. Typically for tactical shooters the player is usually accompanied by a team of several fellow soldiers who he has some control over. Gameplay mostly revolves around open combat in the jungle, tunnels and other locations typical for the setting but the player occasionally also has to traverse longer passages without encountering enemies but having to avoid mines and other traps set up by the enemy. |
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=== Combat === |
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Combat in ''Vietcong'' is highly dynamic, with enemies often changing positions and sneaking up on the player. Enemies are often hard to distinguish from the environment or hidden behind foliage and require the player to carefully scan his environment in order to avoid getting ambushed. Enemies make frequent use of cover and avoid revealing themselves while not firing, encouraging the player to flank them. While there is formally no cover mechanic for the player, using a weapon's sight while crouching makes the player character stretch his body and allows to shoot over many objects suitable as cover without standing up. Additionally to crouching the player is also able to go prone allowing him to hide even behind small objects such as tree trunks. |
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''Vietcong'' is one of the earliest first person shooters to allow the player and other characters to not only shoot weapons from the hip but also zoom in using any weapon's sight, by default by using the right mouse button, as it became a standard in the shooter genre soon after. Doing so vastly increases accuracy but weapon sway still makes it hard to hit distance targets. Crouching or going prone increases accuracy and reduces the sway. Some weapons are scoped, vastly increasing the zoom level while aiming, while most automatic weapons can be set to fire semi automatically for increased accuracy. |
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Unlike most first person shooters of its time ''Vietcong'' does not feature objects healing the character when run over but rather requires the player to use bandages which are equipped like a weapon. While using them the player is unable to move and each use of bandages reduces the player character's maximum health. Additional bandages are usually found on dead bodies of enemies which can also be searched for ammunition and intel. When accompanied by a medic the latter can be called or approached in order to get healed by him. The medic never runs out of bandages but also reduces the player character's health. |
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The player has access to a variety of authentic weapons from the era. He is always equipped with a combat knife but can also carry a main weapon and a sidearm. Guns range from old weapons still in use since World War II, such as the M1 Garand rifle or Thompson submachine gun up to then-recently introduced ones such as the M16 army rifle or M60 light machine gun. Usually the player is able to choose the weapons he wants to go on a mission with in advance but can also replace them with weapons found on missions, giving him access to weapons used by the enemies such as PPs submachine guns or the AK-47 assault rifle. Weapons also include shotguns, pistols, revolvers and the M-79 grenade launcher. Additionally the player has access to grenades. |
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=== Quick Fight === |
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Additionally to the main campaign, which follows Steve Hawkins' entire career while stationed at Nui Pek, a "quick fight" mode is available. The latter allows to simply engage in a fight on one of several arena-like maps with the sole objective of eliminating all enemies. The player can choose whether he wishes to be accompanied by a team, how many and what kind of enemies to engage and choose the equipment he wishes to go on the mission with. The player is also able to assume the role of a vietcong and engage American soldiers. By default only a single map and few weapons are available but more become available as the player makes progress in the game's main campaign. |
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==Reception== |
==Reception== |
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Revision as of 14:57, 23 July 2016
Vietcong is a 2003 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Pterodon and 2K Czech and published by Gathering of Developers for Microsoft Windows. It is set during the Vietnam War in 1967.
The expansion pack Vietcong: Fist Alpha was released in 2004 and was bundled with Vietcong as Vietcong: Purple Haze for the PC. Vietcong: Purple Haze was also released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, ported by Coyote Games. An official add-on "Red Dawn" was released as a free downloadable content.[1] A sequel to the game, Vietcong 2, was released in 2005.
Story
The player takes on the role of Sergeant First Class Steve R. Hawkins, assigned to the United States Special Forces ("Green Berets") camp at a strategic location of Nui Pek in South Vietnam near the Cambodian border. Hawkins and his A-Team (an LLDB guide Le Duy Nhut, the medic Joe Crocker, the demolition specialist Thomas Bronson, the radioman C.J. Defort and the team's machine gunner Hornster) carry out a series of various missions against the Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces. The game ends in a massive North Vietnamese attack on the team's base camp which is ultimately abandoned by all American forces.
Gameplay
Viectong has the player take part in military operations against the Vietcong and later also the North Vietnamese Army. Some levels are traditionally for first person shooters highly linear while others are more open, allowing for more tactical freedom. Missions typically require the player to sabotage weapons caches, eliminate hostiles or just complete patrols - often not all objectives need to be achieved to complete a mission. The game aims for authenticity and high realism and distinguishes itself from other first person shooters through a variety of unique mechanics. Typically for tactical shooters the player is usually accompanied by a team of several fellow soldiers who he has some control over. Gameplay mostly revolves around open combat in the jungle, tunnels and other locations typical for the setting but the player occasionally also has to traverse longer passages without encountering enemies but having to avoid mines and other traps set up by the enemy.
Combat
Combat in Vietcong is highly dynamic, with enemies often changing positions and sneaking up on the player. Enemies are often hard to distinguish from the environment or hidden behind foliage and require the player to carefully scan his environment in order to avoid getting ambushed. Enemies make frequent use of cover and avoid revealing themselves while not firing, encouraging the player to flank them. While there is formally no cover mechanic for the player, using a weapon's sight while crouching makes the player character stretch his body and allows to shoot over many objects suitable as cover without standing up. Additionally to crouching the player is also able to go prone allowing him to hide even behind small objects such as tree trunks.
Vietcong is one of the earliest first person shooters to allow the player and other characters to not only shoot weapons from the hip but also zoom in using any weapon's sight, by default by using the right mouse button, as it became a standard in the shooter genre soon after. Doing so vastly increases accuracy but weapon sway still makes it hard to hit distance targets. Crouching or going prone increases accuracy and reduces the sway. Some weapons are scoped, vastly increasing the zoom level while aiming, while most automatic weapons can be set to fire semi automatically for increased accuracy.
Unlike most first person shooters of its time Vietcong does not feature objects healing the character when run over but rather requires the player to use bandages which are equipped like a weapon. While using them the player is unable to move and each use of bandages reduces the player character's maximum health. Additional bandages are usually found on dead bodies of enemies which can also be searched for ammunition and intel. When accompanied by a medic the latter can be called or approached in order to get healed by him. The medic never runs out of bandages but also reduces the player character's health.
The player has access to a variety of authentic weapons from the era. He is always equipped with a combat knife but can also carry a main weapon and a sidearm. Guns range from old weapons still in use since World War II, such as the M1 Garand rifle or Thompson submachine gun up to then-recently introduced ones such as the M16 army rifle or M60 light machine gun. Usually the player is able to choose the weapons he wants to go on a mission with in advance but can also replace them with weapons found on missions, giving him access to weapons used by the enemies such as PPs submachine guns or the AK-47 assault rifle. Weapons also include shotguns, pistols, revolvers and the M-79 grenade launcher. Additionally the player has access to grenades.
Quick Fight
Additionally to the main campaign, which follows Steve Hawkins' entire career while stationed at Nui Pek, a "quick fight" mode is available. The latter allows to simply engage in a fight on one of several arena-like maps with the sole objective of eliminating all enemies. The player can choose whether he wishes to be accompanied by a team, how many and what kind of enemies to engage and choose the equipment he wishes to go on the mission with. The player is also able to assume the role of a vietcong and engage American soldiers. By default only a single map and few weapons are available but more become available as the player makes progress in the game's main campaign.
Reception
The PC version of the game received generally favorable reviews, garnering a 77/100 score on the review aggregation site Metacritic.[2] GameSpot gave it the award of the Game of the Month for April 2003.[3]
The Xbox and PS2 versions of the game were not as well-received, with the Xbox port scoring 57/100 and the PS2 scoring a 48/100 on Metacritic.[4][5]
In the Czech Republic, the country where the game's developers come from, the game is very popular. Vietcong was even elected the 3rd best video game developed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in a Survey by Czech server BonusWeb when it received 1393 votes out of 13,143 as every reader could choose for three games to vote for.[6]
References
- ^ PTERODON, Ltd.: Vietcong Red Dawn
- ^ "Vietcong: Purple Haze PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
- ^ GameSpot Presents: Month in Review - GameSpot
- ^ "Vietcong: Purple Haze PS2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
- ^ "Vietcong: Purple Haze Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
- ^ "Nejlepší česko-slovenská hra? Že neuhádnete, kdo na plné čáře vyhrál". Bonusweb. Retrieved December 4, 2014.