Men of War: Vietnam PC

Men of War: Vietnam is the third expansion for 2007’s Men of War, a real-time strategy game for PC. The production was developed by Best Way, which also designed the vanilla game and its two add-ons: Red Tide and Assault Squad. It is the first installment of the series that lets the players take part in other conflict than World War II.

Plot

In Men of War: Vietnam, the player is taken to Indochina to take part in the Vietnam War in which North Vietnam (supported by the Soviet Union and China, among others) fought South Vietnam (backed by a multinational coalition headed by the United States) in years 1955-1975. The developers prepared two single player campaigns for the purposes of the game. They also showed bravery by creating a set of scenarios for both sides of the conflict – not only for the USA, but also for the North Vietnamese forces – rather than a typical politically correct story.

Mechanics

In the majority of missions for both sides of the conflict, we have a squad of soldiers at our disposal, each one having their specialization (e.g. sniper or explosive specialist). The gameplay involves silent and precise operations, sometimes brining that of the first installment of the Commandos series, rather than open combat. Every now and then, our men receive support of the regular American army or the South Vietnamese forces but usually in the form of AI-controlled allies.

Rescuing American prisoners, clearing out bunkers, taking over important strategic points (e.g. bridges), or eliminating enemy officers are just some of the missions we will have to perform. During both campaign, we can experience, among other things, an ambush on the Ho Chi Minh trail, murderous hunts in Mekong Delta, armed raids in Cambodia, or defending a bridge during the Tet Offensive. We can do these things using completely new hardware (for the series), including the classical Huey choppers or M48 tanks.

Technical aspects

Men of War: Vietnam for PC offers pretty good graphics powered by the engine known from the previous installments of the series. Densely forested areas, where combat takes place, make quite an impression.

Last updated on 26 July 2011