Vietcong (video game)

Vietcong
Developer(s)	Pterodon Illusion Softworks
Publisher(s)	Gathering of Developers
Engine	Ptero-Engine II
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Genre(s)	Tactical first-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Vietcong is a 2003 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Pterodon in cooperation with Illusion Softworks 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. Another official add-on titled Red Dawn was released as a free downloadable content. 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.

Team

As mentioned above on most missions the player is accompanied by AI controlled comrades. Each of the fellow soldiers is a unique character who is not allowed to die and has a specific purpose on the team:

• Le Duy Nhut, Pointman: Nhut can be ordered to lead the way according to mission plan. He does so slowly and quietly but without any risk of stepping into a trap. If he spots a trap, enemies or something else of interest he will stop and warn the player.
• Joe Crocker, Medic: Crocker can heal the player and other soldiers and will never run out of supplies. Only he is able to save allies who have been downed and are in critical state.
• Thomas Bronson, Engineer: Bronson carries an infinite supply of ammo for the player. At some points throughout the campaign he will also perform unique actions involving explosives.
• C.J. Defort, Radio Operator: Defort carries a radio and reports to the base. On some missions the player is able to request a bombardments by using the map, the coordinates of which are passed through by Defort.
• Hornster, Gunner: Hornster is simply a highly capable fighter wielding an M60 light machine gun. Out of all comrades he is the most efficient one in open combat.

Generally allies simply follow the player around and, if enemies are encountered, engage the enemies very independently much like the enemies themselves do, using cover and flanking at will. The player is not able to give specific orders such as approaching a specific point or engaging a specific enemy but he can order the entire team to follow the player, hold their position, disperse or move more stealthily. The player is also able to call either ally's name by pressing the corresponding key, which makes them get close to the player and in case of Crocker and Bronson automatically heal or resupply him.

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.

Multiplayer

The game also features a local and online multiplayer mode which supports up to 64 players per match. The online lobby servers were hosted by GameSpy Arcade, which was since shut down, and are as such not accessible anymore.

Several gameplay modes typical for shooter games are available: Free for all deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and last man standing. Additionally a team mode is available where, similarly to Counter-Strike, players remain dead for the remainder of the current round and teams only score a point if the opposite team has been completely eliminated.

Soundtrack

The game features an original soundtrack imitating the style of contemporary rock artists, composed and performed by Czech rock band Rudé Kostry. Additionally the game also features a variety of authentic licensed songs from the Vietnam War era which play either during cutscenes or on radios found in the game world. The full list of licensed songs is:

• Hey Joe by Deep Purple
• Primitive by The Groupies
• I Wanna Be Your Dog by The Stooges
• You Don't Know by The Outsiders
• Vinyl Girl by The Living Dead
• Utopia by The Domes of Silence
• Sun Sets Fine by Davis
• Selfless by The Domes of Silence
• Hey ! by The Fur Seeds
• Girls Won't Say My Name by Northfield Shack
• Firestone Eyes by The Booby Lomax Journey
• Everybody Diggin by Cave and the Brothers of Love & The Memphis Horns
• Days of Fire by Cosmic Roulette
• Break on Free by The Jack Knives
• Soul Lovin by Francis Collins & The Memphis Horns

Modding

Despite not becoming a major mainstream success a fairly large community developed around the game, which created a variety of original content for it. Among it are new maps for the game's multiplayer mode as well as entire total conversions. The community has also developed tools that maintain the game's compatibility on newer systems and add widescreen support.

Reception

The PC version of the game received generally favorable reviews, garnering a 77/100 score on the review aggregation site Metacritic. GameSpot gave it the award of the Game of the Month for April 2003.

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.

In the Czech Republic, the game's country of origin, the game is highly popular. Vietcong was voted the 3rd best video game developed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in a Survey by Czech web provider BonusWeb when it received 1393 votes out of 13,143 as every reader could choose for three games to vote for.

External links

• Pterodon and Vietcong official website
• Vietcong at MobyGames