Where to get it

Steam

2018

Vietcong

PlayStation console exclusive

Vietcong-survival-shooter in the first person with elements of survival, which is set in Vietnam, in the vicinity of My tho.

Released: 25 May 2018
Platforms: PlayStation 2 Windows
Genres: —
Developers: —
Publishers: —
Modes: Single-player
Themes: Action

About

Vietcong is a 2003 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Pterodon in cooperation with Illusion Softworks and published by Gathering for Microsoft Windows. It is set during the Vietnam War in 1967.

The expansion pack Vietcong: Fist Alpha was released in January 2004 and was bundled with Vietcong as Vietcong: Purple Haze for the PC. Vietcong: Purple Haze was also released in September 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, ported by Coyote Games. For the PC version, an official add-on titled Red Dawn was released as a free downloadable content. The Xbox version received the "In Country" map pack featuring two new maps downloadable from Xbox Live. A sequel to the game, Vietcong 2, was released in 2005.

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Vietcong has the player take part in military operations against the Viet Cong and later also the North Vietnamese Army. Some levels are highly linear, while others take place in more open outdoor environments, allowing for more tactical freedom. Missions typically require the player to sabotage weapons caches or simply clear areas of enemies - usually not all objectives need to be achieved in order to complete a mission. Gameplay mostly revolves around open combat in the jungle, tunnels and other locations typical for the setting but the player occasionally also has to traverse longer passages without encountering enemies during which punji pits and other traps pose the main threat.

Vietcong aims for a high level of authenticity and realism. AI characters make frequent use of cover but change the latter often, making it difficult for the player to anticipate enemies' specific locations and encouraging a tactical approach. All weapons' aim sights can be used to increase aim but a sway is present which simulates a shooter's shaking hands. The latter can be reduced by entering a crouching or prone stance.

Story

The player takes on the role of Sergeant First Class Steve R. Hawkins, assigned to the United States Special Forces ("Green Berets") camp at a strategic location of Nui Pek in South Vietnam near the Cambodian border. Hawkins and his A-Team carry out a series of various missions against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces. The game ends in a massive North Vietnamese attack on the team's base camp which is ultimately abandoned by all American forces.

The ground assault on Nui Pek is a recreation of the ground assault that happened at Special Forces Camp Lang Vei.

Reception

In the United Kingdom, Vietcong sold roughly 20,000 units during the first half of 2003. Kristan Reed of GamesIndustry.biz wrote that these were "not figures that spell H.I.T." Its sales in the region rose to around 50,000 units by year's end. In the German market, Vietcong was the top-selling full-price computer game of April 2003, according to Media Control. It remained in the top 10 through August, and placed 15th in September.

As of November 2007, Vietcong had sold more than 1 million copies worldwide.