Vietcong 2 Final Hands-On - Single-Player

The original Vietcong, which came out in 2003, has the distinction of being one of the rare Vietnam War-themed games of recent years that didn't actually suck. In fact, this atmospheric and immersive first-person shooter did a pretty good job of putting you in the thick of South Vietnam's jungles, where you tried to do your job and stay alive long enough to rotate back to the real world. Now with Vietcong 2 set to ship later this month, we got our hands on the retail version for one last look at the game before we weigh in with our review.

Like its predecessor, Vietcong 2 will feature an immersive single-player campaign that will let you experience the highs and the lows of the Vietnam War through a rich story. Your character is Daniel Boone, which is an awesome name to have, especially if you're a US Army officer attached to the United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, in 1968. Stationed in the historic city of Hue, you're about to enjoy a festive Tet New Year when the Communists launch their infamous offensive.

Vietcong 2 is going for an immersive, "you are there" approach to the story, as you seem to experience every second of the game from Captain Boone's eyes. And you know that this isn't your "typical" Vietnam War game when the opening scene is of you waking up in a brothel next to a (barely clothed) Vietnamese prostitute. Nothing naughty occurs, though, as a subordinate arrives and informs you that you're wanted at headquarters immediately. You can go directly to the jeep to drive you to HQ, or you can linger around a little and talk with your fellow officers who are hanging around for the entertainment, and you can listen to their thoughts on the war.

After you report back to base, you're saddled with a television reporter who accompanies you to a formal dinner at the mayor's house, during which the Communists attack and you must battle your way out of the building, commandeer a pink Cadillac (it's a long story), and race through the streets back to base. The game is heavily scripted, and there are moments where your squad will encounter a sniper and have to wait for a tank to take care of it (while you and the squad protect the tank from infantry attacks), while in another sequence, you have to defend the gates to the American compound from waves upon waves of attacking infantry in an Alamo-like last stand. It's clear that the game is going for a Medal of Honor/Call of Duty style of intensity, as you're constantly surrounded by your squadmates in battle, and there's a lot of screaming going on over the sound of the firefight.

The original Vietcong plunked you down in the jungle for most of the game, but the sequel seems more focused on urban combat, at least at the beginning. As you have to take back Hue from the countless Vietcong guerillas, you must go street to street, house to house, and in some cases, room to room. You have a wide variety of weapons at your disposal, and you can also pick up weapons and ammo from the bodies of enemies. Or, if you're running low, you can turn to your personable squadmates who follow you around and to whom you can give limited orders. For example, you can tell the squad medic to heal you and he'll run up and bandage your wounds, restoring your health to full instantly. Or if you need ammo, just tell the ammo guy and he'll replenish your ammo load.

In addition to the standard US campaign, Vietcong 2 also has a campaign that puts you in the perspective of a Vietcong soldier battling South Vietnamese troops. However, you have to unlock this campaign by completing the US campaign first, so we haven't had a chance to look at it yet. Needless to say, we're very interested in seeing how it depicts the war, since the Vietnam War remains a sensitive subject in America even today.

Unfortunately, while Vietcong 2 improves slightly on the visual look of the original, it hasn't kept pace with the rest of the genre in terms of graphics. You won't mistake this game for any of the glossy and slick shooters that are currently on the market. And while dated graphics usually means that the game should run smoothly on older systems, Vietcong 2 has some maddening technical issues. The frame rates can chug on a fairly powerful GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics card if all the graphical settings are maxed out, and it still struggles if you tone down the settings by a third. Meanwhile, the audio sounds alright. In case the mention of the prostitute didn't warn you earlier, this is definitely a Mature-rated game, as there is a ton of strong language thrown about, particularly during combat.

It's apparent that Vietcong 2 hopes that its gameplay compensates for its production values. While there are certainly aspects of the game we like, we're also encountering issues with it as well. It'll be interesting to see if the gameplay breaks out of the city and back into the jungle during the campaign. Plus, we'd like to find out how the Vietcong portion of the campaign pans out. We'll get back to finishing the game, and we'll give your our final verdict on Vietcong 2 soon.