Vietcong strives for realism

By Alfred Hermida
BBC News Online

A raft of video games based on real conflicts, such as Delta Force: Black Hawk Down and Conflict Desert Storm, have all hit the shops recently.

Take on the role of an American GI on a tour of duty in Vietnam

War games are perennially popular, but seemingly never more so than now. During April, as battle raged in Iraq, war-related titles dominated the US sales charts.

One of the latest to adapt a real war for the PC screen is Vietcong, which casts you in the role of an American GI on a six-month tour of duty in the Vietnam War.

The game has been mooted as one of the most realistic jungle games on the market and the developers even visited Vietnam to get a feel for the place.

The end result is a first-person shooter that relies as much on stealth as it does on firepower.

Realistic atmosphere

The game successfully puts across a sense of fear as you sneak through the jungle, not sure what it is ahead or even underfoot, with booby traps hidden in the undergrowth.

A squad serves as backup during some of the missions

Often the only sign of the enemy will be the flash of the gun muzzle through the trees.

A good variety of weapons faithful to the period are available, including mainstays such as the M16 and AK-47 rifles.

To achieve a more realistic feel, you can only carry one main weapon at a time. As well as choosing wisely, you have to think about how you use it. Firing long bursts on automatic will simply deplete your ammunition.

The use of songs from the period adds to the atmosphere and the audio quality helps to create the impression of being in the bush.

In the game, you can almost feel bullets whiz past you and your ears will start to ring if there is an explosive close to you.

Computer crashes

As with many first-shooters, the game stands and falls by the quality of the AI of your computer-controlled foes.

VIETCONG MINIMUM SPECS 500 MHz Pentium III or AMD Athlon processor 256 MB of RAM 1.8 GB of free hard disk space 16 MB video card

In Vietcong, the enemy reacts to your movements, diving for cover or retreating before emerging later.

But despite its merits, the AI does fall short at times. Members of your squad sometimes run off when you have told them to stay put or crowd after you in a tunnel, blocking the exit.

Graphically the game does a good job of rendering a jungle full of detail. But there are some blemishes, with characters at times blending into their surroundings.

And the multiplayer option is buggy. Online games are sometimes prone to sudden disconnects and can at times crash the computer.

These technical issues detract from the performance and presentation of Vietcong.

The retail game is not as polished as it could be and the first thing you have to after installing it is to download a patch to sort out some of the bugs.

Technical gripes aside, the game is a sold first-person shooter that successfully recreates jungle warfare, offering a challenging, rather than a frustrating, experience.

Vietcong is out now for the PC