Review by Kurt K

When I first tried this game I was very skeptical that I would like it. In fact, I made up my mind that it would be a waste of time since it was a bargain title. After I looked at some screen shots I noticed it didn't look half bad. So I gave it a try, here's what I think.


The graphics in the game are pretty decent and the levels are full of vegetation and such. The voice acting in the briefings are very well done as the tone of the man's voice truly captures the moment. The game play of the single player mode is bunk and the most disappointing feature of this game. Multiplayer offers co-op and death-match and redeems the game from the bins of mediocrity.

Although this game doesn't impress with revolutionary graphics, they are still quite nice. Playing this game really gives you the feeling that you are sifting through a jungle hunting out the VC. The gun models are pretty accurate to their real-life counterparts. The models are well detailed, down to a zit on the VC's face.

The trees and bushes that engulf each map look pretty real. Some look pixilated up close, but they are very commendable nonetheless. The textures on the ground are somewhat weird, but it does give the effect of some jungle terrain.

The models of the guns are very well detailed; the animations of firing and reloading are very fluid and well connected. When you fire the grenade launcher you can watch as your character drops the shell and loads a new one. It is very impressive. Watching other players reload is another story, it appears that they pull the ammo out of their crotch and jam it in the gun. While this is entertaining, it isn't terribly realistic.

The player models are intricate; you can see all the detail put into the models from afar and up close. The models are pretty good compared with today's standards.

Overall the graphics of this game are decent. They don't suck, but they aren't fantastic either. They do what needs to be done and offers a great graphical experience.
Music
The music in the game is slow and somewhat depressing. It does its job of setting the mood for the jungle scenario. There are different sound tracks, but because it plays so softly you barely notice it.

While walking around you hear tons of noises. You can hear birds chirping, crickets chirping, the bushes and trees brushing against you. A lot of detail was put into the sound effects, and it paid off.

The voices in the game are pretty realistic; you hear the briefing in the beginning of each mission, also you can hear the VC shout and scream for help when they spot you.

Gun shots and explosions are decent. The AK and M16 don't really sound that realistic, which is unfortunate. Rifles and rocket launchers do sound realistic, which is great because I only use rifles.

The sounds in the game are good, nothing great, but still better than average. They offer a dynamic mix of jungle noises and some fine voice acting to top it off.

Gameplay
This is the part of the review where the game falls short. The single player side of the game is lackluster. If I were asked to sum the single player aspect up in one word? Boring. There is a story that goes with it, but it could have been better. Your chopper gets shot down by VC and you jump out and that's where the game starts.

Basically you go through the jungle with various objectives; there is a compass that points to your objective. The bad thing is, it just isn't very exciting. With a better story the game could have been great.

The tutorial that the game gives you is short and sweet. It explains all that can be done and what to expect in the game. You also get to experience all the weapons you get to play with as well.

While playing you often have a squad, which you can control and command. You can tell them to follow, stop, cease fire, open fire, etc; or simply take control of them. This is a great feature of the game, but with the boring and simplistic gameplay it hardly makes up for it.

Another thing that makes this game disappointing is the fact that you can hardly see the enemy. They are hidden so well that it is often difficult to move around without dying several times.

The one redeeming quality is the outstanding multi-play feature.

Multiplayer
Multiplayer in this game is very fun. You have many modes to choose from, death-match, co-op; the works. Co-op is very fun, it's playing single-player mode with other people, it is fun because the missions go by a lot faster and you have many more team-mates to work with.

Death match and the like are your basic modes. Run around and kill people. The maps in the game are pretty well designed, although you can hide in the edges of the map for some odd reason.

One thing I have noticed is the awesome netcode. I played the game with a 30 ping, and I've played it with a 1160 ping. While I was playing on the high ping I was winning, I hardly noticed any side-affects from the high ping, other than it took a bit for the enemies to die. This is a 56k'ers dream come true.

This game can offer hours of fun with its multiplayer features. I really enjoyed playing it.


After playing this game for several hours, including online play, I decided that it isn't such a bad game. While the single player mode is pretty boring, their online modes more than makes up for it, since a lot of games have crappy single player modes.

I really enjoyed this game for its multiplayer features if not its somewhat simplistic single player mode. Enjoy.