The jungle settings make for tense gun battles The idea of team-based combat is one that's been hit and miss in the videogame industry. One franchise that seems to have gotten it right, however, is SCi's 'Conflict' series, which started with Conflict Desert Storm. The next game in the series moves away from the 1990s theatre of war in Iraq and goes back in time to the late 60s, to the Vietnam war. The premise behind these games is fairly simple - kill the bad guys and complete the mission objectives, such as defuse a bomb, napalm a village full of innocent civilians or go behind enemy lines to save a hostage, all with four team members at your disposal. You can order them to do various things, such as dance the funky chicken or scout a specific area. The big problem I find with Conflict: Vietnam is that it is a good game, but only after you line it up with the recent Vietnam-game competition, which has, let's be honest, been particularly crap. Seeing as we're such nice people here at Web Wombat, we've decided not to compare SCi's latest with the competition, instead judging it on it's own merit.

As such, the first fault we find is with the graphics. If C:V came out as a second-gen game, I could probably understand it, maybe even be impressed by it, but today is not 2000, it's 2004, and we've just had.

Sure, it's a PS2 game, but that's no excuse when you take into consideration efforts like Free Radical's recent. Textures are drab and blurred; character models are lacking in detail and uninspired in design, and levels look positively sparse when put side-by-side with PC games like Vietcong and Battlefield Vietnam. It's less like Vietnam and more like your next-door neighbor's untrimmed backyard. Graphically, Vietnam leaves a little to be desired More noticeable even than the above is the invisible constraints put on exploration. Specifically, one cannot wander far from the beaten path, lest you run into an ethereal brick wall that prohibits you from further bushwhacking. I know it's there to conserve memory, but in this day and age it's more than a little disappointing to see a modern developer like SCi pull such old-fashioned tricks in the name of frame-rate, particularly when the end result looks like this. A nice soundtrack and the occasional bowdlerised crack from your Marine buddies liven up the atmosphere somewhat, but it really needs some Jimi Hendrix and maybe the occasional Rolling Stones track, both of which are notable only due to their unfortunate absence.

Also leaving something to be desired is the AI, which, while decent, has some serious problems with path finding (a common occurrence in a lot of games today). While the above criticisms might make Conflict Vietnam sound like a bad game, it's actually not. There are some nice set-pieces, some of the missions are quite innovatiove and the action can get very frenetic at times. The multiplayer option also makes for a good bit of fun with friends. For those who enjoyed past 'Conflict' games or team-based shooters, this could be your cup of tea. For everyone else, it'll be good for a rental.

Conflict: Vietnam v1.1 Patch. Update your Conflict: Vietnam title with the first patch available that will bring your 3D Action title to version 1.1. Drivers para lenovo all in one c2400. Conflict: Vietnam retail patch v1.1. Customers are advised to download and install the patch for Conflict Vietnam if they are experiencing either of the following two issues: 1. Sep 25, 2004 - i'm talking about the pc version btw. Oct 3, 2004 #4. I don't think so. But i hope it does is better in multiplayer. LegacyAccount, Oct 3, 2004.

Game: Conflict: Vietnam System: PS2 Players: 1-4 Online: No Developer: Distributor: Rating: 65% Conflict: Vietnam is on the shelves now. Announcement Copyright © 1995-2016 WebWombat Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

It's enough to give you a thousand yard stare when you realise how many Vietnam War-based games we've got to lock and load this month. This being the second of four, it follows just a few months after the release of two PC-only Vietnam efforts, and also in the same week as having had a hands-on with two games based on that other games industry obsession - World War II. You honestly couldn't make it up. And as the war-hungry accidental Nam specialist, lover of late '60s rock, and decorated veteran of the two previous Conflict campaigns, your reviewer has been thrust into active service again, despite clear signs of post traumatic stress disorder, numerous shrapnel wounds, and the tendency to play air guitar at inappropriate moments. Blame Hendrix. So long as you can stop being cynical for a moment at the death of originality in the games industry, shoehorning the Conflict brand into a Vietnam setting does seem like a snug fit in theory.