Visually the game boasts some really nice visuals, from the detailed environments, to the character models, everything looks very respectable indeed. The game is set in muddy swamps, dirty camps, and other locales that only a war game can provide. Each mission’s environments look convincingly magnificent and beautifully detailed, which provide for the perfect setting and realistic atmosphere. Each character is detailed, from the varying facial models, to the wrinkles in their fatigues. Rain, fog, and other special effects not only look good, but they do a great job in doing what they were meant to do, which is obscure your vision. The game’s solo player mode pits you in a story that resembles Joker’s story in Full Metal Jacket, minus Private Pile’s jelly donut of course. Online, the game is a frag fest galore that puts new meaning to the term, “War is hell.” There still is some framerate problems, even on high-end machines, but there are fixes for these issues to make life in the game more bearable. Overall, Vietcong holds up well, even a year later, and is one of the better FPS set in a war setting on the market today.

Audio puts you right in the heart of the game. Whether it’s your nagging Drill Sergeant screaming orders in your ear during training camp, the naive private that needs a hug because he just can’t hack it anymore, or natives of Vietnam that speak their own language, Vietcong brings the game to life. The sound effects are just as convincing, with great sounding gunfire, explosions, and screams of your fallen comrades all in glorious surround sound.

Gameplay is pretty basic and any FPS fan will be able to pick up and play. The controls are precise, and the default button layout is perfect from the get go. Nothing new is really offered in the scheme, but the game still plays great nonetheless. What is smart is the A.I. Both, your comrades and your enemies react with intelligence. You don’t have your friends getting in the way of gunfire, nor do you have enemies running straight at you like their life is meaningless either. This makes your journey all the more rewarding when completing mission after mission.

Vietcong: Purple Haze has plenty going for it. Not only do you have the massively huge missions from the original title, but also included is the Fist Alpha expansion pack that brings on even more weapons, missions, and fun. When you’re done taking down the ‘Cong, take out your aggressions online in a slew of online options. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Assault team game, Last man standing, Real War (Capture all the flags), and even a Co Op mode! Let’s just say the game may last as long as the war in Vietnam if you are so inclined.

All in all, if you’ve done your Call of Duty, made your way through the Battlefield of 1949, and acquired your Medal of Honor, do yourself a favor and check out this well done FPS that will put you smack dab in the middle of the Vietnam war, without the hallucinating, or shell shock side effects.