I found myself thinking if we need another FPS on the XBOX while playing Men Of Valor. I mean, what with Halo, Timesplitters etc. bringing top quality entertainment, any new FPS has to have something special to stand out from the overcrowded market. Well, Men of Valour places you in Vietnam and offers both close-quarter and ranged battles, but is it enough to warrant the purchase of another shooter?

Gameplay:

Developers 2015 have made an effort to push away from the traditional pitfalls of the FPS genre by allowing the gameplay to produce nice scripted events that you have to react to. However, the enemies do feel like they are running in waves, aimlessly towards your direction. There is no real feeling that they are reacting to what you are doing and this makes the game feel a bit like a shooting gallery rather than the intelligent shooter the setting could have provided. You'll get to sit in turrets and man gun placements as well as running and shooting, and the fighting is furious when it gets going. However, your squad that accompanies you on your missions, are woefully stupid. Whether it be pegging it straight into the enemies line of fire or into yours, they'd be comical if they weren't so frustrating. Fortunately for some bizarre reason, your squad won't die unless it's in a scripted moment – a small mercy as they wouldn't last five seconds otherwise.

The controls are pretty standard FPS fare, everything being in the right place you want it to be and you're introduced to the controls via an interactive training session that teaches you all you need to know to take on the enemy swarms. The controls do feel a bit sluggish when taking time to aim and there is a framerate issue that dogs the game throughout. This is very frustrating as the game requires you to make some quick and precise aiming.

There are some great on-rails missions where you'll be on the good end of river boat and helicopter mounted turrets, machine guns and rocket launchers. Although simple in essence, these missions are great fun and constructed well. The subject matter is treated well, each mission is introduced via letters home from your character and some archived footage of the war. The scripted elements may be restrictive but they are well done and give a good feeling of tension and disorientation.

Multiplayer is handled very well with a multitude of different game modes and either split-screen, Live! Or system link play. It is also possible to play through the game co-operatively which I feel is definitely a plus point – there are so many games that would benefit from this so kudos to 2015 for implementing it and doing it successfully.

Graphics:

Men Of Valor is graphically schizophrenic. The environments and effects such as the water are extremely nice to look at and really involve you in the action, whereas the animation is poor and seems like it had little work done on it. The characters don't move in a realistic way and seem like they've spent their military training in the Ministry of Funny Walks. Thankfully you can take your mind off these design oversights with the well-rendered scenery and thick jungle streaming into view with no popup to be found.

Sound:

This is where Men Of Valour really stands out. The chaos of the battlefield is really bought home with the big booms of grenades and rockets, while the gunfire whizzes around you making for some very intense battles. The music is of the era with songs from James Brown and Grass Roots which all make up for an authentic feeling to the game. You'll also hear your squad mates shouting orders and big swear-words as they push on through the level, and there are a lot of big swear-words spoken in the game.

Longevity:

The game comes in at around 14-17 hours for the average player if you stick with the campaign right through to the end but it's the fantastic multiplayer that'll have you coming back for more. If online or multiplayer FPS games are your thing, Men of Valour won't disappoint in this area.

Overall:

It's a mixed bag, on one hand you have the fantastic multiplayer options and good, fun gaming moments, they are let down by shoddy design in some areas of the game. The thing is, these niggles and annoyances really add up throughout the game, making the last few levels a chore to play through. If you can see through these, you will find an enjoyable game but for others, there are better FPS games around.