Battlefield Vietnam

"How are you a G.I. Joe? It seems to me that most of you are pulling in form to bother going of the war. They say nothing about a correct explanation over your presence over here. Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die."

Battlefield Vietnam is the 2nd game in the Battlefield series. It was developed by DICE Canada and published by EA. It was released on March 15th, 2004. The maps in the game are ones that are named after and resemble historical battles such as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Battle of Hue, Ia Drang Valley, Operation Flaming Dart, The Battle of Khe Sanh and Fall of Saigon. Many parts of the game have been influenced by popular Vietnam War movies. Examples being the players ability to play Ride of the Valkyries on the radio and the tiger striped M79 from Apocalypse Now.

Objectives and Gameplay
Battlefield Vietnam was similar to its predecessor, Battlefield 1942, because In the beginning of a match the player picks from a set of kits that are like player classes. Each kit has their own weapons, tools and purpose. After the player has chosen a kit he/she was required to capture the enemy capture points and defend them until the enemy team's tickets reached zero or a number significantly lower than your team's. The player has a variety of vehicles to choose from including the other team's that appear in certain capture points around the map.

Factions
Battlefield: Vietnam features the United States Military (USMC and MACV), Army of Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), North Vietnamese Army (NVA), and the Viet Cong.

Features
Battlefield Vietnam had many new and improved features from its predecessor. The game gives the player a variety of weapons based on the war. Many weapons fill this game from CAR-15s and AK47s to punji sticks (anti-personnel booby traps) and land mines that can disable a tank. It also has several additions to it such as while in a vehicle, playing the vehicle's radio, which featured 1960s music. Players can also replace the vehicle soundtrack with their own music tracks by pasting .mp3 files in a "My Music" folder inside the game's main folder. Another notable enhancement is the ability to fire from the passenger sides of vehicles.

The game features a variety of famous military vehicles from the war, that are drivable by players. These include vehicles such as the M551 Sheridan, M48 Patton, the AH-1 Cobra, F-4 Phantom II and the Huey chopper.

System Requirements

 * Windows 98 / ME / 2000 / XP
 * 933 MHz CPU or greater.
 * 256 MB of RAM or more.
 * 16X Speed CD-ROM/DVD-ROM
 * 2.0 GB free hard drive space or more.
 * Video: DirectX 9 compatible video card.
 * Sound: DirectX 8.1 compatible.

Rifles/Carbines

 * M16A1 Assault Rifle
 * CAR-15
 * M14 Semi-Automatic Battle Rifle

Sniper Rifles

 * M40 Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle
 * M21 Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle

Pistols

 * S&W Model 19
 * Colt M1911 Handgun

Support

 * M1 81mm Mortar
 * M67 Fragmentation Grenade
 * "Claymore" Anti-Personnel mine
 * M72 LAW Anti-Armor Rocket Launcher
 * M79 Grenade Launcher
 * Mossberg 500 Shotgun
 * M60 General Purpose Machine Gun
 * XM148

Rifles

 * AK-47 Assault Rifle
 * AKMS Assault Rifle
 * SKS Type 56 Semi-Automatic Rifle

Sniper Rifles

 * M-91/30 Sniper Rifle (Mosin-Nagant)
 * SVD Semi-Automatic DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle)

Pistols/Sub-Machine Guns

 * TT-33
 * MAT-49 Mod

Support

 * 'Bouncing Betty' Anti-Personnel mine
 * NVA Mine
 * Mortar
 * RPD
 * RPG-2
 * RPG-7V
 * SA-7
 * Type 53 Machine Gun

Maps
Battlefield: Vietnam features many battles and conflicts of the Vietnam War, as well as scenarios.
 * Operation Game Warden
 * Operation Flaming Dart
 * The la Drang Valley
 * Landing Zone Albany
 * Operation Hastings
 * Operation Irving
 * Hue - 1968
 * Quang Tri - 1968
 * Fall of Lang Vei
 * Reclaiming Hue
 * Siege of Khe Sahn
 * Ho Chi Minh Trail


 * Cambodian Incursion
 * Quang Tri - 1972

Patch v1.2
The 1.2 patch adds 3 new maps:


 * Operation Cedar Falls


 * Saigon 1968


 * Fall of Saigon

Mods
Battlefield Vietnam is known for it's mods including ones that were for Battlefield 1942.

Some Notable Modifications:


 * Arsenal
 * Eve of Destruction
 * Operation Peacekeeper
 * Point of Existence
 * Xtreme Battlefield
 * Bushwar
 * HomeFront
 * World War II Mod

On March 15, 2005, EA re-released the game as Battlefield Vietnam: Redux, which includes the 1.01, 1.02, 1.1, and 1.2 patches, new vehicles, maps, and an EA-produced World War II mod, based on the previous Battlefield 1942.

Problems and Bugs
The main problem associated with Battlefield Vietnam was the lack of a singleplayer campaign. Multiplayer-only wars discouraged people from purchasing the game. Most other bugs and issues were fixed with the first or other patches added to the game.

Soundtracks
The track list for Battlefield Vietnam included throughout the game play is as follows


 * Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Fortunate Son"
 * Edwin Starr - "War"
 * Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - "Nowhere to Run"
 * The Troggs - "Wild Thing"
 * Rare Earth - "Get Ready"
 * Canned Heat - "On the Road Again"
 * The Guess Who - "Shakin' All Over"
 * Count Five - "Psychotic Reaction"
 * Deep Purple - "Hush"
 * The Kinks - "All Day And All Of The Night"
 * The Kinks - "You Really Got Me"
 * The Box Tops - "The Letter"
 * Jefferson Airplane - "Somebody to Love"
 * Bobby Fuller Four - "I Fought the Law"
 * Budapest Symphony Orchestra - "The Ride of the Valkyries"
 * The Trashmen - "Surfin' Bird"
 * Jefferson Airplane - "White Rabbit" (Instrumental Remix)

Reception
The game currently holds 84% on Metacritic. It received generally positive reviews. Critics praised the graphical improvement, vast selection of maps, vehicles, and weapons, and online multiplayer. Though critics did criticize the single-player, for the enemy AI being very unintelligent.

Links and Sources

 * Planet Battlefield
 * Intro