What began as an innocent foray into the 1942 battlefields has grown into one of the largest game phenomena of the past few years. The Battlefield 1942 player and development community is one of the largest of its kind and still quite vibrant in the face of newer and newer games. The expansion packs and user mods took the 1942 engine and added massive replay ability and new visuals which keep 1942 still in the running. Until now.

Enter Battlefield Vietnam, a name which demands nothing less than a true to life representation of some rough times for young GI and VC alike. Unpredictable attacks, booby traps, suicide bombers and some of nature’s wettest and worst weather made this a brutal, face-in-the-mud war. In a desperate war, desperate measures are taken and that’s exactly the feeling the game captures.

Hiking the Ho Chi Minh

Foliage is now a very competitive part of a game engine, especially this one. In order to accurately represent the Vietnam environment, one must be able to crawl through thick underbrush with a knife in their teeth. BF Vietnam is chock full of foliage, making for some very interesting ambushes and booby trap locations.

The landscapes are huge and varied allowing for wide range, long term combat. Sniper battles are some of the most fun; getting the drop on another sniper in the backwoods and putting your TT-33 to the back of their head is an experience like no other. The large landscapes also allow effective use of the wide range of vehicles such as fighter jets and bombers. The textures on all of the vehicles, folks and terrain are impressive for a multiplayer game of this scope. Though not quite top of the line (but damn close), the combination of contour, greenery and military emplacements make for a vicious and cut-throat battlefield.

The missions vary greatly from map to map, some requiring air dominance while others river support. Some of the best missions only involve land vehicles keeping everybody rooted in the hell-zone. The variance of maps and tactics needed to win gives the gamer a sense of variety which in turn keeps the game fresh.

From Daisy Cutter to Fire Mission

On the American side, your weapons of choice include the CAR-15, M16, M60, M79 and grenades. The automatic weaponry is best used in short controlled bursts while the M72 and grenades are great for taking out vehicles or rooms full of VC. Rattling off a burst with the M16 into a group of freshly spawned gamers is almost too exhilarating.

On the Vietnamese side, I usually stick with the AK-47 and SVD unless Anti air is needed. Switching to anti-air when under air attack is mandatory for the VC in order to survive, otherwise the choppers will make short work of your infantry. The SVD has an awesome rate of fire and you can almost hear the wet thwap as your round penetrates the deck of cards on your target's helmet and lands in their buddy’s lap.

Booby traps and mortars also play a huge part in the game. Leaving bouncing betties at the flags or mining approach roads not only racks in the kills but alerts your team to enemy intrusion. The mortars also play a key but underused role in the game, with a spotter you can rain hell down upon enemy bases and contended locations changing the whole pitch of the battle. Anyone with binoculars can give an artillery piece a birds eye-view of the battle which, with some training, can be used to bring down accurate fire missions.

One of the most vital factors for victory are mobile spawn points. On the VC side, tunnel systems amount to the poor man’s subway system. These mobile spawn points can be dropped anywhere setting up an instant spawning fire-base. The US must ferry theirs in as a crate from a chopper whereas the VC can carry a tunnel entrance as an engineer and pick it up and drop it at will. Moving a spawn point forward can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

The Vehicles

The vehicles make BF Vietnam an even more impressive battle scenario. From Flak Cannon to Plastic Patrol Boat-River or PBR, BFV includes tons of the common vehicles from the Vietnam era. They also added radio support inside the vehicle allowing you to listen to classic tunes such as Flight of The Valkeries to Fortunate Son by CCR. Driving into a combat situation blasting Vietnam era music is a truly enjoyable experience and adds a level of emotion that was previously missing.

The jeeps are nimble and weak, the choppers agile and deadly and the napalm constant. One great feature of the game is the ability to napalm from a jet. Watching a jet arc in low through the hills and glass an area, while your flak cannon is desperately trying to lead it properly is a sight to see. The vehicles are mostly 2 person allowing you to drop squads on needed areas. Infantry can jump out and parachute into combat situations firing the whole time. Mastering the Vietnam style helicopter touch and go landing is a pleasurable challenge.

Engineers are equipped with a wrench which can be used while sitting in the side seats allowing for repair during high speed dangerous driving through enemy territory. They also complement APC drivers as they can fix while a squad shoots out the side ports while gaining locations.

Sometimes the vehicles can seem to overbalance the battle, rocketing groups of infantry as they spawn, but this is usually due to an earlier ineffective use of AA. One really cool feature of heavier choppers is the ability to lift light tanks and boats. You can ferry in a large group of people in two vehicles to a remote back location for surprise attacks quite easily.

Desperate Measures for Desperate Times

The multiplayer mayhem is just that, controlled carnage. Since re-spawn is quick, taking the battle forward holds new meaning. In some of the rougher city battles, just charging in and killing furiously until you die, then repeating, can be the entire battle. On the flip side the larger helicopter maps allow for more sniping and long range vehicle battles. The game engine is top-notch, but knowing that there is another human behind that shiny round head in your crosshairs makes this game. The AI opponents are unreliable and good for training or screenshots only. If you are new to the game, try the EA servers as they often have less experienced players, and going up against a veteran is bound to be too frustrating for the amateur BFV player.

Multiplayer battle definitely outranks single player hands down as usual thanks to useful human tactics like morale, fear and aggression. Riding the wave of viscious attack after viscious attack can sometimes turn the tide of an entire battle. Spawning into napalm can really do bad things to your will to fight.

Variance of classes and vehicles makes this a game for a wide audience. Some people exclusively fly chopper missions in and out of hostile territory, while some grunts go in with an M60 firing from the hip. You can even just sit back and mortar from a distance.

Team play makes or breaks a victory in most of these maps. While individual glory can be fun, if you aren't working as a team, well, just hope the other side isn’t either. Artillery is useless without spotters and napalm is much more effective if you have a helicopter in the air to spot infantry concentrations on your mini-map.

Beaucoup Dinky Dou

It’s a stretch to find fault in this game, other than the standard multiplayer lag issues which I found were better than most other online FPS games. The single player campaign is fun but grows tired quickly, I guess the AI could be improved.

The only major issue is not with the game but with the players. Some players really really really want to fly the choppers. To do so, they will go to great lengths, like driving into people or killing teammates. This doesn't really bother me as I tend to stay on the front line, but sometimes you will lose because of these people and that’s just a kick in the nuts. The other issue is inexperienced chopper pilots. Learn to fly in single player.

Diddy Boppin’

On those days after finishing Doom 3, I was really looking for something to cleanse my palette. Booting back into BFV was as natural as cracking a beer, and that’s it in a nutshell. One of the most adrenaline pumping games to come out in a long time, well-balanced multiplayer, one of the best battle theatres in terms of gritty war and a rocking musical score to boot. I have a feeling that Battlefield Vietnam is going to be around for a long-time. Oh yeah? Miss 1942? BFV now has a WW2 mod. So grab your c-rations and I’ll see you in no-man’s land.