Ah, Vietnam. That fun, fun location filled to the brim with traps that make every other step one of almost certain doom, thick jungles, icky bugs, murky rivers, and, of course, good ol' Charlie, who loves hiding in the trees to give the advancing American forces a hard time. Thanks to the efforts of Electronic Arts and DICE, one of the nastiest conflicts to go down in recent history has now been totally re-enacted in an online format to offer fun for the whole family. Battlefield: Vietnam offers players the chance to hop online as either the American or Vietcong forces in an assortment of separate skirmishes encompassing the Vietnam conflict. Taking a big note from the famous Battlefield 1942 (BF1942 and BFV are actually based on the same general codebase, and BFV almost feels like an expansion pack more than a full sequel), Battlefield Vietnam plays and feels much like its predecessor, yet also offers numerous balance/gameplay changes and takes place in a totally new environment. Having just recently bagged myself a copy, here are my thoughts after putting the game through its paces.

Installation was a pretty standard affair, though the game comes on three CDs and sizes up to a fairly beefy installation (a bit over 1.8GB). After spending several minutes grappling with the damndable CD key copy protection system because I'm a moron who can't differentiate between the number "0" and the letter "O", I was up and running. First thing I noticed is that the menu interface has been modified from the original BF1942, but only to a certain extent. While almost all of the exact same functionality is there, the aesthetics have changed, with all of the menu options being piled over to the top left with a more "graphical" approach. Navigation was still fairly painless, but the change was startling at first and moving around the interface felt a little clunky until I figured out where everything was. In any case, my first stop after setting up the standard graphics/control settings was the "Single Player" option. Much like the original BF1942, players in Battlefield Vietnam can opt for offline play versus bots in all of the maps, so I thought I would steal the opportunity to practice up and learn the game a little before heading online and making an idiot out of myself. All the options to set up the ratio of bots on the enemy/friendly teams, bot difficulty, how much of a "ticket penalty" is incurred should the player die, and a few other tweakable settings were still there, so setting up a match appropriate to my taste was an easy affair. And thus, the game was launched, and I stepped forth into my first bot session of Battlefield Vietnam.

So, how does the intelligence of these offline ":pseudo-players" stack up against the real thing? Well, they're certainly improved from Battlefield 1942, with the ability and knowledge to assault objectives, use vehicles, and, most importantly, fire their gun repeatedly at a mess of distant pixels possibly resembling an enemy soldier. However, I'm sorry to say that the bots are also still completely moronic. They have the capability to respond to the player's voice commands (executed through hot keys and a toggleable guide at the top of the screen - F1 calls for a vehicular pickup, while F4 is "Follow Me!", for example) and did a fairly decent job of attacking objectives and following me around - most of the time - but in combat, their performance simply fell apart. When covering my flanks, they would commonly stand straight up in the open amidst a barrage of sniper/mortar fire, completely ignorant to the danger at hand and sometimes not even bothering to shoot. Other times they would lay down entire clips into a wall or the side of a hill without bothering to try and correct their position for a better shot. On the occasional times they DID find an enemy to shoot at and actually started landing bullets near the enemy, their aim turned out to be worse than mine (a feat within itself). Cramming bot-controlled team mates into vehicles didn't yield much better results. Gunners blissfully ignored targets as I swept by on a strafing run. Passengers in an APC didn't seem to mind sitting comfortably within the armored confines of my vehicle when I pulled up to an objective, no matter how much I shouted "BAIL OUT!". Even if I sat back and let them do the driving, the results were only slightly better, with them handling basic navigation but getting completely lost or stuck at the slightest obstacle. And for the love of god, don't ever ride with them in a chopper or plane, as bot pilots have a strange quirk which causes the aircraft they are controlling to have a magnetic attraction to any nearby tree within a 25km radius.

Okay, so the bots are a little loopy, but at least the gameplay is solid. Just like the original BF1942, BFV's focus is on "Conquest", a mode which places two opposing teams against each other in a war of attrition. Unfortunately, all other modes (like Capture the Flag) have been cut, and while I personally won't really miss them all that much, I'm sure some players will. In any case, the two teams in a Conquest match start off with a pre-set number of "tickets", which basically determines how many times players on that team can respawn. If a team runs out of tickets, they are removed from the game and the opposing team claims victory. But wait, there's more. In order to affect the flow of the battle, each and every map has several "objectives" scattered throughout the terrain. These can be as simple as bridges, or as elaborate as entire bases filled with vehicles and encampments. Controlling an objective is simple - just run up to the location of the flag and stand around for a few seconds. An indicator on the player's HUD will appear indicating total time remaining before the objective falls under player control, which can take as short as ten seconds, or as long as thirty seconds (longer, sometimes) depending on the importance of the objective. This little HUD indicator is actually new from the original BF1942, and I found it to be incredibly handy in determining exactly how long I needed to sit around the flag getting shot at before I could run off. There is also an interesting gameplay quirk that Battlefield 1942 fans should take note of: Objective captures will not progress if an enemy player is camped out anywhere near the relevant flag. Whereas in BF1942, it was possible to at least turn an objective neutral and prevent players from spawning until the area was cleared, now the progress bar and timer won't even move at all until that relevant zone has been secured, allowing for players to consistently respawn and reinforce the area so long as one little soldier keeps his head down behind cover near the flag. I think this definitely is a change for the better, as it allows for a determined player to hold the line long enough for his downed buddies to get back into the action without having to be everywhere at once trying to keep people away from the flag.

Changes to the capture system aren't the only thing new in Battlefield Vietnam over its predecessor, however. The player's HUD has been completely overhauled, with new indicators for health and ammo, as well as some minor changes to the map display at the top right of the screen (which keeps track of the player's current location, placement of objectives, other friendlies, and even empty vehicles). But while most of these changes are primarily aesthetic, probably one of the coolest advances is the inclusion of a "3D Map" function. Simply push the associated button, and the location of all team mates and objectives will appear directly on your HUD. This is an insanely useful UI feature that cuts down on the mad zooming of the map display in an attempt to figure out what exactly is under attack or where the action is - being able to just look in the general direction of a base and ascertain its status by the icon displayed is bad ass. Aside from that, the interface and gameplay still works in a very similar manner to Battlefield 1942, but the modifications are definitely for the better.

On a more noteworthy front, character classes have totally changed. While BF1942 relied on several very distinct classes with very specialized roles (the anti-armor soldier had very poor general combat capabilities, for example, but was the only class that could effectively destroy armored vehicles on foot), BFV has now taken a much more generalized role to the different character types. The standard soldier just gets a generic assault rifle, some grenades, and a few optional secondary equipment packs (like grenades), but other classes are now quite a bit more versatile. The anti-armor soldier is one that stands out for me as being tweaked the most, as it is no longer limited to a bazooka and a dinky pistol, but instead has an M60 machinegun at his disposal, making him more of a "heavy solider" than anything else. There is also a bit more customization available beyond that thanks to the ability to choose between two separate weapon kits; soldiers can elect to grab either an M16 or a Mossberg 500 shotgun on some maps, for example, while anti-armor experts can elect for either a bazooka, or a grenade launcher to accommodate different roles. Equipment selection tends to vary not only on a map-to-map basis, but also between the two teams available in the game (Vietcong forces obviously aren't going to be running around swinging M16s everywhere), so there's a hell of a lot to play with. Unfortunately, there are a few balance issues as a result of this - the anti-armor soldier in particular ends up actually being a more effective anti-infantry choice than the regular foot soldier, simply because his machinegun is so effective at mowing down just about anybody, and he can haul a rocket launcher along to handle any other trouble that might crop up. I hear word that a patch is in the works to help resolve this, but it's an annoying balancing quirk for obvious reasons. Why take a nerfed standard soldier when you can be just as good playing as an anti-armor guy and have the ability to destroy tanks?

New vehicles are another thing fans of the original Battlefield 1942 can look forward to seeing more of in BFV. While the standard tanks, jeeps, APCs, and planes are all still in the game (as different vehicles, of course - Vietnam was a slightly different timeframe from WW2), there are also a number of new toys to play with. One of the coolest new additions are definitely the choppers. Fans of the "Desert Combat" mod from Battlefield 1942 will instantly be familiar with these things, and will also be relieved to know that they've been refined and are now much easier to fly, thanks to the combined efforts of DICE and the DC mod team. Choppers typically have space to accommodate several passengers, a number of primary and secondary weapons, and some even have an awesome "tow cable" that can be dropped to pick up other vehicles and deliver them to specific areas, including tanks, boats, and other things. Some levels even have supply crates, which will rearm and heal up any soldier that gets nearby - these crates can be airlifted to any location on the map for the ultimate team-bolstering experience. While choppers are still quite difficult for new players to get accommodated with (and even I am still grappling with trying to execute that "perfect landing"), the controls are very intuitive and simple to grasp, making these aircraft a very awesome addition to the game. And of course, no review of BFV would be complete without a brief mention of the fighter jets, some of which haul around hefty amounts of napalm for those times when you just want to massacre every living thing inside of a specific sector. The ground vehicles in particular are also all backed up by some excellent physics detail, so seeing them roll over the terrain is a real treat.

The maps in Battlefield Vietnam are limited in selection (compared to the original), but offer a lot of content. Each map is rife with vehicles and spawn points, but the terrain itself is particularly impressive. Many graphical tricks have been pulled to give the game a huge sense of scale without requiring players to spend an hour trying to get somewhere, and wading through the thick grass and heavy jungle while keeping a constant eye open for an ambush is a tense and very immersive experience. The level design itself varies from mission to mission, with some levels involving an air-supported water assault from a distant island, or others that take place in heavy urban environments, where a bazooka-wielding crazyman can come running out from any corner, ready to ruin your day. Unfortunately, I noticed a suspicious lack of mounted guns to man on these levels - the only available turrets were artillery pieces that favored the defending team in certain levels. Sandbags and bunkers are still readily available around most bases however, ensuring there's always a place to hide.

But let's move on to the most important aspect of Battlefield Vietnam: the online performance. While the game has some limited LAN and offline playability (yay for bots), the REAL meat involves getting online and mixing it up with some bad guys. Playing BFV online is definitely a great experience (it's nice to get online and away from the tree-hugging bots), though it can obviously be marred by inexperienced and/or moronic players. Since that isn't an issue that can really be affected by the developers (aside from offering a thorough built-in tutorial, which BFV lacks), I'll focus on commenting more on the technical side of things. While the game ran solidly enough online, there are a number of nagging issues which bog the fun level down by quite a bit. While some of my experiences were very solid, others ran into quite a few latency issues that resulted in jumpiness galore for all involved - trying to fly a chopper that is teleporting around the level completely at random is one hell of a challenge. This may just be a side effect of the game being fairly new and players with truly uber bandwidth not having enough time to set up their servers yet, but it may also be a secondary issue given the number of other reports I've seen. In any case, the networking code seems to be at least as stable as Battlefield 1942 aside from these few nagging issues, so things are quite playable right now, and future patches will most likely iron out the remaining complaints.

The graphics engine is both one of the strongest and one of the weakest aspects to Battlefield Vietnam. The presentation is beautiful, and the art direction is fantastic - I already mentioned above how truly nice the maps and various objects look, but they really need to be seen up close to make out the nice little details. The view distance allows players to see far-off mountains with ease, making for a great jungle romp experience. The game also has support for a decent variety of resolutions and detail settings, so finding something suitable to your specific system should not be a problem. After playing for an extensive period of time, however, I started to notice some really annoying problems with the rendering engine. Heading the list is the fact that Battlefield Vietnam really, really sucks at handling indoor areas. While there are numerous buildings to take cover in, even getting up close to these structures caused these framerates to drop into a stuttery mess (I run an XP2500+ with a Radeon 9600 Pro). The game also apparently doesn't get along very nicely with any driver-side FSAA settings that might be enabled, and even anisotropic filtering can cause a huge graphical mess to occur in places. On top of all that, the game felt like a huge memory hog, with level load times exceeding the one minute mark (I sometimes counted close to two), and the game turned into a hard-drive-paging slideshow if I had the texture detail and overall graphical quality turned up to maximum. Quitting out is even more annoying, as the game takes a good 30-40 seconds to remove itself from my screen due to the extensive unload time. This might jut be a result of my slightly bloated operating environment, but I have at least 512MB worth of a decent pair of RAM sticks, and have never noticed a loading problem this excessive in other games. Make sure you've either got bucketloads of RAM, a really clean OS install, or just huge amounts of patience before trying to tackle this title.