Vietcong PC Game Review 

I would buy a remastered version of this game in a heartbeat.

The soldiers move very slow because of the realistic military approach of the game, you can't run into a bulletfight, and the pointman has to be slow too, it's not a regular scripted fps, actually is pretty cool because most of the things that happens depends on you and your decisions, the stealth parts are very frustrating and most of it is trial and error, but overall the game is awesome to play, I really felt almost like a true MACV. For a small company of developers I think they did a great job

Out of all the games being remastered and rebooted this one needs it the most I mean just the mechanics and immersion factor is amazing one of the best Vietnam War games

Back when the military shooters could be interesting...

Also, this game is a cult classic in Czech republic, thanks to its amazing czech localization.

Guy screams in pain when he’s been shot Gman: Seems a bit over dramatic he just got shot with a pistol

My name is Steve R. Hawkins, intelligence sergeant." Nice to meet you. "When I first arrived in Vietnam, I got stuck in the rear for three boring weeks". Man that must have been painful....

Probably one of the most under rated shooters of all time. This game was way ahead of the pack. The reason they move so slow is because you are in a FUCKEN WAR ZONE. It is not cheap, the booby traps are marked along the paths leading up to them and punish players like yourself who run through a Vietnam jungle like it is any other game. You are meant to go slow and take your time. This whole review is judging the game from a current view point which is just stupid. Just watching the footage in this review shows you didn't understand how you were meant to play this game. No wonder you feel like the game was cheap when it came to murders. Honestly this is a pretty bad review

I honostly think that your review does not do the game credit, considering you never, in my opinion, played the game the way it should have been played. The slow moving team mates are walking slow, because people never run while on patrole. The reason you missed the boobytraps, where your pointman would have told you about, is because you did not have the patience to play this game and handled it like your run of the mil run and gun first person shooter. The first time I ever played this game, I loved it. Maybe I'm biassed, but the slow moving, I thought, was immersive. Going on patrole, avoiding boobytraps, keep watching around for ambushing VC. The fact that this was one of the first games that allowed you to aim down the sights (at least of the games I played) instead of through crosshairs while shooting from the hip, just made it more beautifull. However, on some points, I agree. Like for instance the fact that some enemys can see you through everything. But in General, I still love this game and I am someone who is easily bored with games and bassicaly never finishes a game, because I mostly find some other game that makes me forget about the previous game I was playing. And with mostly, I mean every single time. But this was never the case with Vietcong. But hey, this is just my opinion.

I sank hundreds of hours in this game, and ended up creating wnd leading a clan consisting of 39 international members as a 13 year old. It was amazing. I treasure this game. The traps arent cheap. Youre supposed to use the pointman indeed. Its not a run and gun game

A graphical remake would be great ;) this game IS one of the best games ever developed.

most interesting detail about booby traps there is actualy signs of them, that vietcong soldier leave for themselfs so they can avoid it, and you can do it too if you want, and to know that you only must read your diary, there are many interesting things in there, very atmospheric

I totally loved this game, even for its graphics. It was made by a small Czech studio so it is a bit unfair comparing it to something like Far Cry. By the way, the traps set by Vietcong most of the time had a sign near them so you could avoid them if you paid attention. You could learn about the signs in the journal before taking a mission. Great review as always!

The Vietcong start menu, i remember just listening to it for hours

I played the hell out of this and shellshock

5:20 You have to check the ground before you more forward. Running through the jungle in Vietcong is a sure way to get yourself shot or blown up. It's a slower game than most shooters, the best comparison would probably be STALKER, where you have to check every corner, move carefully and enemies can kill you with a single well-aimed burst.

I have to disagree with the reviewer regarding the voice acting and graphics.....The voices i thought were great and authentic sounding and when you compare this game to medal of Honor: Allied Assault that came out the year after, the graphics in Vietcong are way better.....

I loved how I could hear each individual spend casing fall to the ground as I fired. Each weapon sounded different too. By the end of the game, I could instantly tell which weapon was being fired at me without seeing it. This game literally SCREAMS for an HD remake.

LOVED this game back in the day. It didn't have a high budget, but the ideas were solid, and I think it worked great for the most part. Walking slow with the squad only raised my immersion. Also, you forgot to mention the Co-Op campaign/missions, that were awesome to play with friends. Not just "stand here and survive waves", but actual missions. The AI was extremely challenging there though.

This is the best game based on Vietnam war.

2:22 "...teammates move so goddam slow. More often than not you just run ahead forcing them to keep up." - LOL! When the AI is actually smarter than the player. Not unless you're John Rambo, you don't run around the jungles of Vietnam during a combat patrol or in the middle of a firefight.

Best vietnam game ever.

Best singleplayer Vietnam experience.

Best game evah

Those tunnels were hell. But I had a great time. Old school unfair gameplay. It will always rub me the right way. Overcome!

I remember not realizing that there was a flashlight(cos' It was bound to "L", like in some racing games) and had some real long, hard time when I used up my last save just before entering some really long underground tunnel. At first I could at least throw flares and go backwards looking at the light just to make sure that I'm not stuck pushing the wall, then I ran out of them half-way through, of course. Had to make It out blind, shooting from time to time, hoping for some charlie's campfire to light the way, and for that charlie not to one-shot me again. Not complaining, this stupid misunderstanding led to one of the most intense experiences I've had in gaming.

Visually the game sucks, but the combat was great. There was a GREAT gameplay mechanic whereby aim down sights close to cover, a fallen tree or a low wall, would have your avatar rest his rifle on the cover in order to shoot over it. This would happen if the cover was slightly too high or too low. I had a lot of fun with multiplayer too. I would buy a remake in a heartbeat.

An absolute classic. Excellent game.

Man...I remember playing this game in college when I built my first gaming PC and getting my first set of 2.1 speakers. One night, guy next door came and asked me (nicely) to turn my game down. I was like..."this game is awesome". Yeah it came out in 2003, I just dated myself. This game also sticks out in my memory because it's how I learned to read a topographic map, if you fucked it up you ended up calling in an artillery strike on your own position - as there was no marker on the map indicating your current position.

Just recently subscribed and been binging on all the videos pretty hard for the past two days. Really enjoying the nostalgia trip on the classic '90s and '00s titles, and also seeing some of the games I missed out on playing over the years. Anyway, keep it up and cheers from a fellow Aussie! P.s. Go the PCPP reference!

This was my first online shooter and it dragged me into the community forever :D

The multiplayer in this game was my first ever in an FPS so many good memories. It's the MP where this game really shined. That harbor map with Vietcong starting on the side of the hill with cave systems and shit...best map.

One of the best shooters ever made, hands down. The coop in this game has been by far the most enjoyable I have ever played and the reason I played it in online coop communities for almost 10 years. Shoutouts to the Sixth Sense. ;) Where ArmA offers massive combined forces gameplay, this baby offers small squads that slowly make their way through dense jungle areas. And holy cow, the AI on Vietnam mode was tough as fuck. Combined with the team respawn, you really had to cover your mates properly, watch every step you took and be on your toes and ready to instantly supress with your M60. On top of that, the radio distance or the effective range of your ingame voice added to that atmosphere and immersion and made you literally shout for backup when you were pinned down by MG or sniper fire. No unlocking crap, no achievement shite, just pure bloody coop. This game is one of the most underrated masterpieces. In fact, I have been looking for a game that comes even remotely close to the atmosphere this game offered, especially in Coop, and I have yet to find one. Oh btw: We would've laughed our ass off watching you by the way you played the game. Your teammates cannot keep up and are so damn slow, so you run ahead and step into a punji or trigger a wire trap? LOL. We called guys like you the rambo type and just waited for you to get wasted, then proceeded the mission carefully. The likes of you stayed a while till they realized they didn't respawn, tried to relog and got killed or kicked off by our AA (Auto-Admin) after a few warnings, telling them to commit suicide.^^ Man, watching your review instantly dropped so many memories of assaulting morons and the good laughs we had after hearing one single Mosin round taking one down, sitting together in the jungle, thanks for that!

I absolutely LOVED this game back when it came out. Not only did I enjoy the SP at the time (though it the story is a bit...shit) but I played the MP to death. I can't believe there is still an active MP community even these days. So awesome. Might have to find my old copy and reinstall it. I always wondered why this game (and Vietcong 2) wasn't put up on Steam though.

This game. This game is a masterpiece in its own right imo. Multiplayer, oh god the maps...while a pretty good campaign, multiplayer is where this game excels at.

why has this never been remade?!?

"Even from a pistol shot the guy starts having a wheezing attack" You ever been shot with a pistol??? Shit hurts a fucking lot dude, you'd have a goddamn wheezing attack too

Watching 2019, taking me back to 2003. I still remember the epic drill sergeant during the training. Epic title for the time, aswell as Men of Valor was a pretty decent Vietnam era game.

So you complain that in order to avoid traps you have to walk slowly and actually look for them and you call that cheap. Cheap would be if they would not be possible to spot but the grenade in can is always there sitting in plain sight. I think your complaint is out of place complainging that you have to walk slow jesus christ its vietnam game FFS.

Wish this would come out on steam

Try Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis

You can see where the mannerisms and memes he still uses today started in some cases here

One unique feature of sound design was that loud noises, like explosions or to lesser degree gunshots, would affect your hearing sensitivity. If creeping through jungle, Hush Puppy in hand, you could hear cases falling into grass and, more importantly, hear Charlie before you could see each other. There's no better stealth than one that isn't seperate mechanic to begin with.

This series needs a reboot, or a remaster of the original. Get on it, 2K!

I remember when I was in kindergarten I learned "screw you" from this game and I thought I was hot shit because some SF guys were saying it lmao

This is one of the best shooter I have ever played :) It is nowhere near the System Shock 2 but pretty damn high on my list of awesome games (night jungle missions rocks)

It’s supposed to be a realistic military shooter - of course you can be killed in just a couple of hits! What did you expect, “HALO?”

I loved this so game so much. Played it for 6 years. I remember so many clan matches with great players.

Another great review. I love the fact you manage to squeeze so much information into such a short run time. I don't know how you do it.

Probably my favourite fps. The immersion in this game, the difference in mission types. I still remember how tense it was waiting for a chopper to pick you up at the end of a mission. Even modern games could learn a lot from the mechanics of this game. If I had enough money to make a video game a spiritual successor to this is what I'd make. Sadly Vietcong 2 didn't quite capture the magic.

A remaster/reboot of this would be dope, so long as it stayed faithful to the originals mechanics

"Hawkins looks mentally challenged" - GmanLives 2014

This game was my jam back in the day. Sound, atmosphere, setting, mission design was all great (except maybe the paranoia of the underground levels, but that just shows how awful that war actually was). Graphics were not the best even for its time, lots of clipping issues, but it's unfair to say the characters look like zombies. In general, Gmanlives doesn't do this one justice. This game deserves so much more praise than all those Call of Honor / Metal of Dickhead games.

This game had an amazing multiplayer, camouflage really worked well, when somebody goes prone you cant see him. Was fun doing ambushes. Real vietcong warfare

The idea with the radio man in the squad is really brilliant! Much more immersive and interactive than a small objective box in the upper right corner.

i wish there was a shooter with a campaign where you could play as an actual vietcong or a soldier of the north vietnamese army. It would be a most welcome thing

Hey gggman, I just now noticed that there's also a Vietcong 2. Will you review that later on maybe?

I think this review is my favorite from you! I liked how, despite its flaws, you talk about it's strengths, such as the radio man mechanic that I find interesting.

Somebody remaster this game! This game was way ahead of its time.

This game introduced me to the greatest guitar riff of all time, pseudohendrix.

I’m surprised you never mention how in any difficulty above easy any damage you take leaves a little bit of your healthbar removed when you get healed, permanently lowering your max health for the rest of the mission.

Good review. I utterly love this game. It is probably because I was so young when I played it, but this one is close to my heart :D

This game was so good back in the day. They need to remake this with today’s graphics.

This game was the best online shooter for me. Played it for years on clanbase in the top clan and also won some nations cups with the NL team. Would love an exact remake with now a days graphics.

I loved Vietcong back when I played it! However, I have to admit that looking now at the face models and teeth / animations, they are a little creepy to me :P I'd definitely join the "want a remaster" gang though.

Vietkong won't see you through the jungle - they just smell you. Kick-ass game. Best of the Vietnam-genre.

one of the most underrated pc games.

THIS GAME IS PURE GOLD! The Main menu theme inspired me to learn to play guitar! Hawkins, Nhut, Crocker, Bronson, Defort, Hornster... the Crew that brings you through this masterpiece, Huey Pilots who saves your buttock, CPT. Rosenfield on the Radar, the different tribes of Vietnam's rural area (especially the Bahna tribe! :D) The deepest Jungle, pitch black cave complexes, wide Swamps or the Ricefields: Combat takes place everywhere! Recon, search and destroy , Protecting bases, saving P.O.W.'s: you have EVERYTHING thats common for the Vietnam war! awesome AI for the enemies and so much detailed information about many items!

Not going to lie, a remake of this game would and i would buy it in a heartbeat

I love the idea of the Pointman being able to get you back on track if you're not sure where to go. In terms of immersion it beats having an artificial marker directing you, or nothing at all. Speed him up a bit compared to this game and I think it's a terrific mechanic.

Best NAM game, what I didnt like so much about it was all the tunnel stuff, preferred the action above the surface :) But still 10/10, would buy remastered version.

Quality game, currently replaying it again for the 15th time probably, this and H&D2 easy make it into my top 10 games. Good review mate.

I used to leave the mainscreen on while not playing and doing other stuff just to listen to the main theme, love it till this day.

I love this game! One of the most under rated games of all time IMO. I agree with most people here regarding the realism, but I think one of the most important reasons why it felt so realistic was the somewhat smaller scale of it. In most AAA shooters whe world is facing imminent destruction, an "only you can save us!" The nukes are already in the air, US and Russia are in open conflict and major global cities are full blown war zones. In Vietcong however, the objective will be something realistic like defending the base, recapturing a village, making it to an improvised LZ and meeting the locals. Vietnam might go south if you fail, but the world will endure. Saving the world on a daily basis gets a bit old after a while.

Still my favorite Vietnam themed shooter, despite the low poly graphics. There's so much love for detail, you only start to see it the more you know a lot about this conflict. By the way most of the traps in the game had warning signs just like they used in the actual war - that's the kind of detail I'm talking about!

It was awesome to play with Xfi sound card, you really hear the bullets go passed your head and into trees. Also the ringing in the ear when a handgranade explodes too close.

you get spotted in the bush because you are moving or running. If you press capslock steve hawkins will slowly walk. You will never get spotted walking in the bush.

This game deserves a remastered version! My memories about playing this game at highschool times are still so vivid, no point of judging its graphics or 3d model in today´s perspective but indeed it is a great piece of game.

I remember this one. Tried to play the demo way back in 2003, my rig couldn't handle it. Line of Sight:Vietnam, who came out the same year, was quite good (for a 2003 game). As I am currently playing through old titles, gotta say, this one does go in my "to play"list. Awesome channel.

Wow, happy days. Brought back good memories. I played the demo multiplayer probably 23 hours a day back then.

The menu theme, Pseudo Hendrix still gives me goosebumps, such an awesome and nostalgic theme song

the multiplayer is so good , i can remember playing it on lan parties back then

I love how you mentioned PC Powerplay. I used to read that religiously.

classic ... damn 17 years passed im getting really old

despite it's flaws (i'm looking at you swamp level and unlimited grenade spam enemies) but god i love this game it's one of my favorite games i still pray that someone picks this up and remaster it

My favorite FPS ever! I was in clans and played so much Multiplayer I could play Halong port blindfolded :D Im gonna install it now after 7-8 years! Make a remaster!

Glad I am not the only one who remembers this game as being truly great. Graphics aside, this game really made you feel like you are being there.

There really needs to be a updated version of this at some point. Would be nice to play it with more better gameplay.

The mood of this game was tremendous. Total classic.

This had some of the best multiplayer for the time, especially Capture The Flag. Aim-down-sights was standard and necessary -- A newer development in the early 2000s. The weapons all kicked like mules in both directions. The maps had great flow, and the jungle environments made each match play differently. The devs even WENT to Vietnam to make their photorealistic textures of the environment -- including the Cu Chi Tunnels. There was one map in an old temple ruin that acted as the "de_dust" meatgrinder everyone wanted at the time, but even IT had great routes for sniping or flanking. I spent countless hours in this game, sometimes just spooling up the main menu to hear the "Pseudo-Hendrix" theme by Rude Kostry.

Made it through the main game and its expansion on Vietnam difficulty several times. Great game. For getting through the expansion on Vietnam, an editor I know from the German PC Games magazine sent me a gift! :) Those were good times. I sold my boxed German versions for cheap years ago; the game came out in 2003 but still had DirectX 7 graphics, so for example the water has no shader effect :(. But the gun handling was awesome, I spent hours on the shooting range trying out new weapons: Early in the game, use the Mosin Nagant, it reloads slow, but has a decent zoom and kills with one shot. Later, the MP32, or what its name is fires very fast, and even later, stick to the AK47.

I used to play this on my old laptop, crappy HP pc but it worked. I still miss it, I think this and Battlefield Vietnam are my favorites.

i love all the small,unnoticeable little things that vietcong is filled with, like for example when u stand or crouch with heavy machine gun like degateryev it has quite a bit of push-back that makes it rly hard to aim, but once u go down to crawl position, its considered that u pulled out tripod under gun for stabilization and gun in perfectly steady.

The pointman is there to show you the way AND detect traps

I don't know about you GGG but if I got pistol shot, even in the leg, I'd probably have a wheezing attack too. Or atleast I would the first couple of times.

Playing this game I felt the most unbelievable level of immersion I have ever experienced playing a videogame. To this day. It was a rainy day outside on the real world and I could feel the wind through my window. I was defending the hill from charlie on that great mission and I just completely forgot about the real world and I thought that was Vietnam wind. When I completed the mission I suddenly realized about the real world again. Immersion has nothing to do with graphics. The amazing AI of my teammates and the perfect setting of the missions made this game a jewel.

Man, the Menu music is a banger y’all should listen to it!

Amazing game series for the time. I loved them all.

5:33 lol same here, specially if you had the volume up. Great review man, Vietcong 1 is still is kind of a cult classic game. I personally enjoyed the pixle sharp eye thing to spot enemies and players on lan plays, good times.

We need a full on remake of this game. I soooo hope we can get it... In fact, one of the main devs has recently posted a little bit of info out on Twitter, asking if people would even be interested in it! .. Turns out, loads of people are.. And we just may have some form of a remaster at some point in the next.. Some.. years :')