The Vietnam War was the longest US overseas conflict, initially starting in 1959 when the US Government initially sent advisers, weapons and money to aid the South Vietnamese in their struggle to overcome the communist threat from the North. Almost predictably this aid soon dragged the US forces into their bloodiest and most horrific war, resulting in 58,000 deaths and over 300,000 wounded American soldiers along with over 5 million non US personnel losing their lives, a hell on earth was truly in session!

Starting as a rookie GI your character is thrust into the depths of the Vietnamese jungle back in 1967 where hope and optimism were still found within the American forces, unbeknown to both the Government and the Military the light was not quite as bright as they thought at the end of the tunnel and they were now in a war that they simply could not win!

Gameplay:

No time to settle upon arrival you are immediately flown by a Huey chopper to flush out the Vietcong (VC) from their mountain entrenchments. This is not only your first mission but doubles as your tutorial in the art of warfare; here you will learn the basic controls vital to your survival in this inhospitable and hostile environment delivering a graphically harrowing depiction of the terror of combat.

The game is played from a third person perspective; throughout you will encounter various missions that include large scale battlefield encounters, search and rescue, defending a strategic stronghold or the assassination of a VC general. As you acquire more battlefield experience your character will grow from a fresh faced cherry (rookie) into a hard edged Black Ops agent.

Initially the game from first impressions lacked any kind of polish or originality but this soon changed for the better as I progressed through the various missions and levels. The first mission which is a basic shoot to kill has little or no variation on how you can complete and progress but in later levels you are presented with various methods including a stealth attack which looks very authentic and would not look out of place in any major stealth game. The enemy A.I. at times seems to be for want of a better description – stupid, this is evident when during a firefight you manage to maneuver into an unexpected position allowing you to kill the enemy without any retaliation as you seem almost invisible to them, although this is actually quite rare.

The majority of the game, you are a participating member of a platoon whose A.I. is vastly superior to that of the enemy, although the occasional friendly fire incident might occur due to the intense and confusing unconventional warfare of the Vietnam conflict. There are also missions where you must go solo in order to complete specific tasks before moving on and possibly regrouping with the rest of the platoon.

As well as the standard third person shooter elements of the game, you are presented with varying types of gameplay that include defusing booby traps following a key sequence using the d-pad, utilizing the mounted machine gun found on the Huey helicopters to destroy enemy anti-aircraft emplacements and placing C4 charges to destroy enemy tunnels and entrenchments.

After each successful mission you return to your base of operations where you can indulge in a spot of shooting practice and conversation with fellow soldiers. You can also change your weapon at the shooting range, which you will then carry with you into the next mission. There are other recreational activities you can partake in but telling you would spoil it, but let’s just say the game doesn’t carry an 18 certificate for nothing.

Graphics and Control:

Once again the initial impression you get is one of an unpolished look which makes you wonder whether this game should have had more development time but like the gameplay, the further you progress the more definition becomes apparent and where the graphics seem poor, you will not notice due to the engrossing gameplay. The environment at times seems very restrictive, allowing you to move in between and over certain objects as long as it follows the linear path of the game. A good example of this problem is in the second mission where you are approaching a VC village via a paddy field. The undulating landscape of the paddy field is the same from left to right but yet on occasion you are unable to progress over a ridge on the far sides but can up the middle. Another disappointment in the graphics department is the very short draw distance. Trees and buildings often seem to pop up in the distance and appear from a fogging effect, which appears to be used as a way to disguise this apparent shortfall.

On a more positive note, the general presentation of the immediate area surrounding your character is of an acceptable level of detail including the members of your platoon and VC. The FMV cut scenes are however of a much higher standard than that seen during gameplay and enhance the development of your character and the war. As mentioned earlier, this title does come with an 18 certificate, this is mostly due to the graphical display of brutality one would associate with such a vicious war. Nothing is left to the imagination when you inflict damage upon the enemy, whether it is a decapitating head shot or when throwing a grenade into the approaching VC and watching various body parts fly through the air. In fact, the grenade explosions are one of the best graphical features of this title.

Controlling your character is standard issue for a game of this genre with some notable difficulties when accessing several features at once. This is most evident when you choose to lie down and shoot. The game states in the tutorial that lying down will improve accuracy, but fails to mention that your character will not remain lying down unless you keep the white button depressed, quite how I’m expected to hold down the white button, use the right thumb stick to aim and pull the right trigger at the same time to fire my weapon I’m certainly not at all sure! Other than this negative the controls are very good.

Sound:

The usual assortment of explosions and gunfire are present including the sound when you have exhausted a clip on your gun and you hear the ping when it drops out, but there does seem to be a lack of atmospheric music which subtracts the tension from the game. Creeping around the jungle, you can hear the grass being crushed underfoot and if you are wadding through water, the swish from the water is present. All the voices are in English including the Vietnamese, but they do have accents and several set phrases such as “You go home in a body bag GI” coming from the near constant onslaught of VC’s.

Longevity:

A more than fair number of hours can be spent trying to finish this game but due to the lack of variation in gameplay as well as no additional modes such as multiplayer or LIVE restricts this title some what. Raising the difficulty level does offer some replay ability and certainly offers more of an overall challenge yet the lack of any extra modes does limit the lifespan of this title.

Overall:

Despite there being several negatives with this title, the overall standard is good and those willing to persevere past the initial starting levels will find a very engrossing and enjoyable game. This game has three difficulty levels and even on the easy setting the enemy means business. Without Live or any multiplayer options being attached to this game it lacks any true replay value. Shellshock Nam 67 does although do excellent job of bringing the most harrowing and brutal conflicts to the xbox and as a game is an enjoyable experience.

Pros:

• Realistic & Unbiased account of the Vietnam War
  
• Good range of authentic weapons
  
• Game improves as you progress into the game
  
• Initial impressions deceiving
  

  Cons:
  

  • No Live or Multiplayer options
    
  • Poor draw distance
    
  • Lack of replay ability